The Roe v. Wade leak is bringing an onslaught of medical misinformation and dangerous DIY interventions
Since news broke that the U.S. Supreme Court is now in favor of overturning the historic Roe v. Wade decision, which would ban or significantly restrict abortion access in at least 22 states, the internet has been awash with misinformation. Everything from fake narratives about women’s fertility, to “DIY” abortion alternatives, to conspiracy theories and misconceptions about reproductive health has permeated TikTok, Instagram and Twitter.
The majority of the American public do not want to see an overturning of Roe v. Wade. For those who might need to circumvent state-imposed abortion bans, mail-order abortion pills — or abortifacients — are a key strategy. Abortion advocates campaign for them as a way to help millions of people safely end unwanted pregnancies themselves. But among patients and doctors alike, public knowledge about abortion in the U.S. is lacking. A study conducted in 2020 showed that 36% of respondents had never heard of a medication abortion, made up of mifepristone and misoprostol, the drugs that are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to induce one. Nurses and OB-GYNs have taken to social media to reassure their followers that medical abortion and taking Plan B (also known as the “morning after” pill) are not the same thing.
Of course, it was only a matter of time before people started sharing information about DIY abortion options, with some promoting herbal methods that go right back to antiquity. It goes without saying that herbal abortion methods can be toxic and cause liver damage or even death. On wellness and new-age TikTok, users have been advocating for their use in light of the Roe news. “Guys! Be careful! Herbs such as sage, mugwort, fennel and goldenrod are unsafe! In large amounts, they could “accidentally” cause miscarriage,” one TikToker said, with a disclaimer “they can also cause organ failure, be safe.” The video has almost 36,000 likes. “It’s really sad that this is the type of information we need to spread now,” one commenter wrote. “Casually adding them to my Amazon cart,” said another.
In another corner of the internet, an anarchist collective has issued a video instructing people how to make DIY misoprostol pills. Misoprostol, an abortifacient, has various uses by obstetricians, but is also used to treat horse ulcers. The makers of the video obtained the drug from a veterinarian and pressed it into a three-dose pill regimen. This practice is reminiscent of the Ivermectin craze, which saw people buying the anti-parasite horse drug in huge quantities as an unproven treatment for Covid. Conspiracy theorists and QAnon adherents, who have been touting Ivermectin for months, jumped on the misoprostol video with angry responses, lamenting that it was suddenly socially acceptable to take “horse pills” (it’s not) while they had been lambasted for years for promoting alternative Covid treatments.