News Health & Medicine

As U.S. courts weigh in on mifepristone, here’s the abortion pill’s safety record

The data counter claims that the drug is not safe to use

A photo of four orange Mifeprex pill boxes in a pile on a wooden background.

Mifeprex, or mifepristone, is a medication that temporarily thins the lining of the uterus, helping to terminate a pregnancy.

Robin Marty/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

By Meghan Rosen

A widely used abortion medicine is in legal jeopardy, despite decades of data supporting its use.

The medicine, called mifepristone, is part of two-drug regimen that can end a pregnancy, and was used in more than half of abortions in the United States in 2020.