{"id":3864,"date":"2026-05-28T12:39:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T12:39:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/28\/us-abortion-restrictions-are-hindering-access-to-miscarriage-care-study-finds\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T12:39:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T12:39:43","slug":"us-abortion-restrictions-are-hindering-access-to-miscarriage-care-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=3864","title":{"rendered":"US abortion restrictions are hindering access to miscarriage care, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"c0c1e30f-f4b2-445d-b810-8e0d7e303e3e\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"People hold signs that read 'abortion saved my life' and 'abortion is healthcare' at a rally\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/dd8874aca60112a34fc6d65f2c9e1a48840c53f7\/0_0_5000_3333\/master\/5000.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"309.969\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Pro-choice supporters face anti-abortion protesters at a rally for reproductive rights on 14 May 2022 in Austin, Texas.<\/span> Photograph: Montinique Monroe\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"c0c1e30f-f4b2-445d-b810-8e0d7e303e3e\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Pro-choice supporters face anti-abortion protesters at a rally for reproductive rights on 14 May 2022 in Austin, Texas.<\/span> Photograph: Montinique Monroe\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">US abortion restrictions are hindering access to miscarriage care, study finds<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>States with abortion bans are turning away from medications to a wait-and-see approach, with care falling below standards<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Abortion restrictions in the US have made it more difficult to access care for miscarriages, a new study stays.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The new research found that since the June 2022 Dobbs v Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization decision overturning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/roe-v-wade\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Roe v Wade<\/a>, pregnancy care has fractured along state lines; it\u2019s getting increasingly harder to access healthcare for miscarriages in US states with abortion restrictions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In states where abortion bans went into effect following Dobbs, miscarriage management is shifting away from medications, especially mifepristone, and toward a wait-and-see approach, restricting the options for patients experiencing miscarriages and falling beneath standards of care in the US.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe wanted to understand how, when you restrict access to abortion, that might affect people who are having a pregnancy loss or an early miscarriage,\u201d said Maria Rodriguez, lead author of the study, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and director for the Center for Women\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/health\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Health<\/a> at Oregon Health &amp; Science University. \u201cWhat we found was that people had fewer choices to the type of care they got, and they were receiving lower-quality care as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"3ac842a9-a631-4614-98f8-5809d4c301d9\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-47fhrn\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-4 | 4\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1kyw41h\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-ak3j0c\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/may\/16\/abortion-providers-advocates-next-legal-challenges\" class=\"dcr-1m887w9\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-ut4tvs\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1h5b6rb\">\n<div class=\"dcr-169d7yv\">Abortion providers brace for more disruptions after mail-order mifepristone whiplash<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-eurq8n\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fkf7vq\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The study, <a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/article-abstract\/2849131?resultclick=1\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">published<\/a> by the Journal of the American Medical Association on 18 May, looked at a total of 123,598 people with private insurance. Some 54,181 of the patients lived in states with restrictions on abortion after six weeks that were triggered by the Dobbs decision, while 69,417 lived in comparison states.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">States with trigger bans saw a 2.8 percentage point increase in expectant management \u2013 meaning more patients were sent home to wait and see what would happen with their miscarriages \u2013 and a 2.2 percentage point decrease in medication management \u2013 meaning fewer people were prescribed standard-of-care medications for managing miscarriages. Patients who were prescribed medication, but lived in ban states saw a 13.8 percentage point increase in misoprostol-only treatment, which is safe but is not the standard of care in the US and may take longer, resulting in more discomfort.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u200b\u200bSpontaneous abortion \u2013 the medical term for miscarriage \u2013 is \u201cthe most common complication of early pregnancy and requires the same treatment options as induced abortion\u201d, the authors write.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe use the same medications, it\u2019s the same procedure,\u201d said Rodriguez.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The study is probably an under-estimate, because it only looked at people with private insurance, Rodriguez noted. \u201cThis is among privately insured people who are generally wealthier and have a lot more resources than people who don\u2019t have health insurance or are on Medicaid, so the fact that we\u2019re seeing this big of a difference in this population means that the population at the highest risk for maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity \u2013 people on Medicaid \u2013 it\u2019s going to be worse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">More than a million people experience pregnancy loss each year in the US, and at least 400,000 miscarriages are happening in states with abortion bans, according to a September 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/core.wisc.edu\/2024\/09\/06\/study-abortion-restrictions-threaten-miscarriage-management-for-hundreds-of-thousands-of-americans\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">study<\/a> in Health Affairs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe need to have medical capacity in place to support people, because mismanaged miscarriage care can be extremely dangerous,\u201d said Jenna Nobles, lead author of the 2024 study and a professor of demography at University of California, Berkeley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">About 25% to 30% of recognized pregnancies \u2013 when a test turns positive or pregnancy is confirmed in other ways \u2013 end in miscarriage, she said. \u201cIt\u2019s enormous. It\u2019s absolutely enormous.\u201d And, she added, \u201cmiscarriage is something that affects all of us\u201d \u2013 not just patients but also partners, families and friends.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Rodriguez has been an obstetrician-gynecologist for 20 years. \u201cI\u2019ve had a miscarriage myself. I\u2019ve taken care of, at this point, thousands of women that have had them, and for each person, it\u2019s really different,\u201d she said. \u201cBut what people want, when they\u2019re in that kind of pain, is to be able to pick how they\u2019re taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Miscarriage management usually involves three choices that are all medically appropriate, Rodriguez said. Expectant management involves waiting to see if the pregnancy loss passes on its own. There are usually two medications taken in the US, mifepristone followed by misoprostol, a combination recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). And a procedure can clear the pregnancy quickly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Not treating miscarriages according to medical standards can lead to life-threatening infections, decrease fertility and cause deep pain and trauma, Nobles said. And \u201canything that constrains standard forms of medical care has spillover effects\u201d, she added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Making it harder for miscarrying patients to access mifepristone, for instance, increases the risk of complications, Nobles said. Yet \u201cbecause there are increasing penalties or sanctions on providers, on insurers, on pharmacists, people may be less likely to prescribe mifepristone, people may be less likely to cover it, people may be less likely to fill prescriptions. And as a result, a smaller fraction of people who need miscarriage care are getting the ACOG-recommended miscarriage care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Restrictions on reproductive healthcare have made it harder for some patients to access fertility treatment and it\u2019s made it significantly more difficult for obstetrician-gynecologists to practice \u2013 leading to healthcare deserts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Even though one in four American women have an abortion by the age of 45 \u2013 a rate approaching cesarean births \u2013 it\u2019s still silenced and stigmatized, Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Many people don\u2019t realize that miscarriage management is the same kind of care as abortion, and that banning abortion makes it harder to treat miscarriages, Rodriguez said. \u201cWe have to get away from thinking about pregnancy care \u2013 it\u2019s not abortion care, it\u2019s not miscarriage care, it\u2019s not ectopic care or live birth care, it\u2019s pregnancy care, and it\u2019s very much a continuum, and there\u2019s a lot more gray and nuance in this than people realize.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/roe-v-wade\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Roe v Wade<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/society\/womens-health\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Women&#8217;s health<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/world\/abortion\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Abortion<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/society\/women\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Women<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/society\/health\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Health<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=US%20abortion%20restrictions%20are%20hindering%20access%20to%20miscarriage%20care,%20study%20finds&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/28\/abortion-restrictions-miscarriage-healthcare?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F28%2Fabortion-restrictions-miscarriage-healthcare&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/28\/abortion-restrictions-miscarriage-healthcare\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pro-choice supporters face anti-abortion protesters at a rally for reproductive rights on 14 May 2022 in Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}