Posted on May 9, 2022
Mexican border town sees an increase in sales of abortion drugs to women from the US
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https://www.npr.org/2022/05/09/ [login to see] /mexican-border-town-sees-an-increase-in-sales-of-abortion-drugs-to-women-from-th
Since Texas passed a strict anti-abortion law in September, more and more women along the southern border have been going to unregulated pharmacies in Mexico to get abortion pills. Border health professionals fear the Mexican pharmacies have become a last resort for some women. Observers say it's a sign of what's to come if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
The main street of Nuevo Progreso, Mexico — just across the sluggish Rio Grande from Weslaco, Texas — is a chaotic border bazaar that caters to American day-trippers looking for bargains and exotica. The street is packed with businesses that sell prescription eyeglasses, dental care, switchblades, tequila shots, statues of ghoulish drug saints and over-the-counter medicine.
You can buy many medications in Mexican pharmacies without a prescription, including the pills that have transformed the way women are ending pregnancies. Today, more than half of all abortions in the United States are achieved by what's called a medication abortion, as opposed to a traditional surgical abortion.
One drug, Mifepristone, blocks the hormone needed for a pregnancy to continue; the other drug, Misoprostol, causes cramping and bleeding to empty the uterus. The FDA has approved them as safe and effective in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
Since Texas passed a strict anti-abortion law in September, more and more women along the southern border have been going to unregulated pharmacies in Mexico to get abortion pills. Border health professionals fear the Mexican pharmacies have become a last resort for some women. Observers say it's a sign of what's to come if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
The main street of Nuevo Progreso, Mexico — just across the sluggish Rio Grande from Weslaco, Texas — is a chaotic border bazaar that caters to American day-trippers looking for bargains and exotica. The street is packed with businesses that sell prescription eyeglasses, dental care, switchblades, tequila shots, statues of ghoulish drug saints and over-the-counter medicine.
You can buy many medications in Mexican pharmacies without a prescription, including the pills that have transformed the way women are ending pregnancies. Today, more than half of all abortions in the United States are achieved by what's called a medication abortion, as opposed to a traditional surgical abortion.
One drug, Mifepristone, blocks the hormone needed for a pregnancy to continue; the other drug, Misoprostol, causes cramping and bleeding to empty the uterus. The FDA has approved them as safe and effective in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
Mexican border town sees an increase in sales of abortion drugs to women from the US
Posted from npr.org
Mexico
Abortion
Medical
Health
Pharmaceuticals
Posted 2 y ago
Responses: 3
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No surprise. I predict they will see an increase in tourism starting in July
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""Probably the most common complication with the medication will be incomplete abortion," he says. "That means not all the tissue comes out. If the patient doesn't look for care, that can cause an infection."
Since Texas' anti-abortion law has been in force, some women in the Rio Grande Valley say they've gotten a foretaste of a post-Roe world.
"It's had a chilling effect on people trying to obtain abortion care," says Nancy Cardenas Pena, Texas state director for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice.
But activists have resisted.
"People in red states still deserve access to abortion care and so we'll continue fighting every step of the way in areas like the Rio Grande Valley," she says.
She offers two examples of pushing back.
When the city of Edinburg tried to declare itself a "Sanctuary for the Unborn" last summer, after hours of public comments against the ordinance it went nowhere. And last month, when a 26-year-old woman was arrested and jailed for murder in Rio Grande City for having "a self-induced" abortion, the abortion rights community swung into action to win her release. Ultimately, the charges were dropped.
Says Cardenas Pena: "We had a very good victory that day."
...""Probably the most common complication with the medication will be incomplete abortion," he says. "That means not all the tissue comes out. If the patient doesn't look for care, that can cause an infection."
Since Texas' anti-abortion law has been in force, some women in the Rio Grande Valley say they've gotten a foretaste of a post-Roe world.
"It's had a chilling effect on people trying to obtain abortion care," says Nancy Cardenas Pena, Texas state director for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice.
But activists have resisted.
"People in red states still deserve access to abortion care and so we'll continue fighting every step of the way in areas like the Rio Grande Valley," she says.
She offers two examples of pushing back.
When the city of Edinburg tried to declare itself a "Sanctuary for the Unborn" last summer, after hours of public comments against the ordinance it went nowhere. And last month, when a 26-year-old woman was arrested and jailed for murder in Rio Grande City for having "a self-induced" abortion, the abortion rights community swung into action to win her release. Ultimately, the charges were dropped.
Says Cardenas Pena: "We had a very good victory that day."
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