The Abortion Pill: How Dangerous Is It Really?

Science Vs

Spotify Studios

Science, Education, Health & Fitness

4.4 • 11.7K Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2024

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Abortion Pill is now the most common way to have an abortion in the US. Yet what exactly happens when you take these pills is shrouded in mystery. Even many doctors don't know how well they work! Today, we're letting the sun shine on the abortion pill. We'll walk you through what happens when you take these pills: what they do to your body, and how safe are they for your physical and mental health? To explore all this - and more - we speak to Dr Sara Whitburn, Professor Oskari Heikinheimo, and Professor Ushma Upadhyay. Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsTheAbortionPiill The Abortion Project's Instagram @theabortionproject Science Vs's Instagram @science_vs If you want to talk to someone - there's some great resources in here: spotify.com/resources In this episode, we cover: (00:00) The battle over the abortion pill (04:28) How does the abortion pill work? (09:05) How it feels to take the abortion pill (14:34) How often do people hemorrhage? (21:22) What's "normal" bleeding? (24:11) Does taking the abortion pill affect your mental health? (32:02) Why some people prefer the abortion pill This episode was produced by Meryl Horn and Wendy Zukerman, with help from Rose Rimler, and Michelle Dang. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Diane Kelly. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Bobby Lord, Emma Munger, So Wylie, Bumi Hidaka and Peter Leonard. Thanks to all the researchers we spoke to including Dr. Tiffany Green, Dr. Ned Calonge, Professor Jenny Higgins, Dr. Daniel Aaron, Dr. Beverly Winikoff, and Dr. Abigail Aiken. Also thanks to Lauren Silverman, the Zukerman Family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, I'm Wendy Zuckerman and you're listening to science verses.
0:03.4	Today on the show, The Abortion Pill.
0:08.4	It's the most common way to get an abortion in the US these days.
0:16.4	And there is a huge spotlight on these pills right now.
0:20.3	Now to the abortion pill battle.
0:23.4	The Justice Department is...
0:24.4	We've got some breaking news now here in the US who saw the Louisiana House passing a bill
0:28.5	that could make that state the first in the country to criminalize abortion pills.
0:33.0	And that spotlight is about to get even brighter,
0:37.0	because soon the Supreme Court will decide if the FDA has made these pills too easy to access.
0:42.8	Supreme Court deciding the future of the abortion pill.
0:45.6	This is now a case about how easy is it going to be to get that pill.
0:49.6	You see now in some US states you can have abortion pills sent in the mail without ever seeing a doctor in person.
0:57.6	And some say that this is bananas and totally dangerous.
1:01.6	And how is it safe when one in 25 women will have to visit the ER?
1:06.0	Others say that all that talk, it's just politics.
1:10.0	But amidst all of this attention on the abortion pill.
1:13.6	What's kind of wild here is just how little some people know
1:18.3	about the basics of these pills.
1:21.4	A recent review paper found that even many primary care doctors
1:24.8	don't know how well they work or their side effects. And this can leave the folks
1:30.4	who are taking the pills stuck in the middle, unsure of what's about to happen to their
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Spotify Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Spotify Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.