An abortifacient is a substance that induces abortion. This is a nonspecific term which may refer to any number of substances or medications, ranging from herbs to prescription medications. Common abortifacients used in performing medical abortions include mifepristone, which is typically used in conjunction with misoprostol in a two-step approach. Synthetic oxytocin, which is routinely used safely during term labor, is also commonly used to induce abortion in the second or third trimester. Historically, a variety of herbs have been used globally to induce abortion, although many of these have not been studied and may have unintended and lethal side effects.
Medications
Because "abortifacient" is a broad term used to describe a substance's effects on pregnancy, there is a wide range of drugs that can be described as abortifacients or as having abortifacient properties. The most commonly recommended medication regimen for intentionally inducing abortion involves the use of mifepristone followed by misoprostol 1-2 days later. The use of these medications for the purpose of ending a pregnancy has been extensively studied, and has been shown to be both effective and safe with fewer than 0.4% of patients needing hospitalization to treat an infection or to receive a blood transfusion. This combination is approved for use up to 10 weeks' gestation. Other drugs with abortifacient properties can have multiple uses. Both synthetic oxytocin and dinoprostone are routinely used during healthy, term labor. Pitocin is used to induce and strengthen contractions, and Cervidil is used to prepare the cervix for labor by inducing softening and widening of this opening to the uterus. When used this way, neither medication is considered an abortifacient. However, the same drugs can be used to induce an abortion, particularly after 12 weeks of pregnancy. Misoprostol is also used to treat peptic ulcers in patients who have suffered gastric or intestinal damage from use of NSAIDs. Because its use in treatment of ulcers makes it easier to access, misoprostol alone is sometimes used for self-induced abortion in countries or regions where legal abortion is not available or readily accessible. Not all abortifacient agents are taken with the intention to end a pregnancy. Methotrexate, a drug often used for management of rheumatoid arthritis, can induce abortion. For this reason contraception is often advised while using methotrexate for management of a chronic condition.
History
In the Bible, many commentators view the ordeal of the bitter water as intended to cause the abortion of a potential bastard. The wife drinks "water of bitterness," which, if she is guilty, causes the abortion or miscarriage of a pregnancy she may be carrying. Others dispute this interpretation, saying that "There is no reason to suppose that the woman was pregnant at the time" and "Final proof of the woman's innocence would be pregnancy, final proof of her guilt would be the 'belly swelling and thigh falling' which possibly describes the prolapsed uterus." The ancient Greek colony of Cyrene at one time had an economy based almost entirely on the production and export of the plant silphium, considered a powerful abortifacient. Silphium figured so prominently in the wealth of Cyrene that the plant appeared on coins minted there. Silphium, which was native only to that part of Libya, was overharvested by the Greeks and was effectively driven to extinction. The standard theory, however, has been challenged by a whole spectrum of alternatives. In aboriginal Australia, plants such as cymbidium madidum, petalostigma pubescens, or Eucalyptus gamophylla were ingested, inserted into the body, or were smoked with Erythropleum chlorostachyum. As Christianity and in particular the institution of the Catholic Church increasingly influenced European society, those who dispensed abortifacient herbs found themselves classified as witches and were often persecuted in witch-hunts. Medieval Muslim physicians documented detailed and extensive lists of birth control practices, including the use of abortifacients, commenting on their effectiveness and prevalence. The use of abortifacients was acceptable to some Islamic jurists provided that the abortion occurs within 120 days of conception, the time when the fetus is believed to receive its soul, though others considered the procedure fully prohibited. In English law, abortion did not become illegal until 1803. English folk practice before and after that time held that fetal life was not present until quickening. "Women who took drugs before that time would describe their actions as 'restoring the menses' or 'bringing on a period'." Abortifacients used by women in England in the 19th century included diachylon, savin, ergot of rye, pennyroyal, nutmeg, rue, squills, and hiera picra, the latter being a mixture of powdered aloe and canella. During the American slavery period, 18th and 19th centuries, cotton root bark was used in folk remedies to induce a miscarriage.
Dangers of abortifacient herbs
The use of herbs as abortifacients can cause serious - even lethal - side effects. Such use is dangerous and is not recommended by physicians.
