Abortifacient 323793 224805450 2008-07-10T14:23:12Z Sardanaphalus 427947 updating link using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] An '''abortifacient''' is a substance that induces [[abortion]]. Abortifacients for [[animal]]s that have [[mating|mated]] undesirably are known as [[mismating shot]]s. Common abortifacients are [[mifepristone]] and [[misoprostol]]. In addition, there are several herbal mixtures with abortifacient claims, however there is no available data on the efficacy of these plants in humans. == Pharmaceutical abortifacients == [[Mifepristone]], a [[progesterone receptor]] [[competitive antagonist]], was first approved in 1988 under the trade name Mifegyne for medical termination of early pregnancy in conjunction with a [[prostaglandin analogue]]. Mifepristone, also known as RU-486, is marketed under the trade name Mifegyne in France and countries other than the U.S., and under the trade name Mifeprex in the U.S. [[Misoprostol]], a synthetic [[prostaglandin]] E<sub>1</sub> (PGE<sub>1</sub>) analogue, was first approved in 1988 under the trade name Cytotec for reducing the risk of [[Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug|NSAID]]-induced [[peptic ulcer|gastric ulcer]]s. Misoprostol is approved in France under the trade name GyMiso for use with mifepristone for [[medical abortion]]. Misoprostol is used [[off-label use|off-label]] with mifepristone for medical abortion in the U.S. Misoprostol alone is sometimes used for [[self-induced abortion]] in [[Latin America]]n countries where legal abortion is not available, and by some people in the [[United States]] who cannot afford a legal [[abortion]].<ref>John Leland: "[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/weekinreview/02leland.html Abortion Might Outgrow Its Need for Roe v. Wade]", ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 2, 2005</ref> ==Herbal abortifacients== Many herbs and plants sold "[[over-the-counter drug|over the counter]]" today are claimed by herbalists to act as abortifacients if taken in certain doses or mixtures. Examples include [[brewer's yeast]],<ref>''[[King's American Dispensatory]]'' of 1898</ref> [[vitamin C]],<ref>''A Woman's Book of Choices: Abortion, Menstrual Extraction, RU-486'' by Rebecca Chalker and Carol Downer</ref> [[wild carrot]], [[black cohosh]], [[slippery elm]], [[pennyroyal]], [[nutmeg]], [[mugwort]], [[papaya]], [[vervain]], [[Rue|common rue]], and [[tansy]]. Typically, the labeling will contraindicate use by pregnant women, but will not contain an explanation for this warning. There is no available data on the efficacy of these plants in humans. Some [[Animal testing|animal studies]] have found some of them to be effective.<ref name="riddle1">Riddle, John M. (1992). ''Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance.'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.</ref><ref>Riddle, John M. (1997). ''Eve's Herbs: A History of Contraception and Abortion in the West.'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.</ref> The use of herbs to induce abortion should be avoided due to the risk of serious side effects. <ref>"Plants used as abortifacients and emmenagogues by Spanish New Mexicans." Conway and Slocumb. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 1979 October (v. 1, iss. 3, pp. 241-261)</ref> == Pre-implantation labeling controversy== {{main|Beginning of pregnancy controversy}} Some substances might prevent implantation and thus destroy the [[blastocyst]], although their known primary effect is to prevent fertilization. The existence of these post-fertilization mechanisms is debated.<ref name="hormonal">{{cite journal |title=Emergency Contraception's Mode of Action Clarified | journal = Population Briefs | volume = 11 | issue = 2 |publisher=Population Council |date=May 2005 |url=http://www.popcouncil.org/publications/popbriefs/pb11(2)_3.html Article |accessdate=2007-07-08 }}<br> {{cite web |author=Crockett, Susan A.; Harrison, Donna; DeCook, Joe; Hersh, Camilla |title=Hormone Contraceptives Controversies and Clarifications. | url=http://www.aaplog.org/decook.htm | year=1999 |publisher=[[American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians & Gynecologists|American Association of Pro Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists]] | accessdate=2007-07-08}}<br> {{cite web |last=Alcorn |first=Randy |title=Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions? |publisher=Eternal Perspective Ministries |year=2004 |url=http://www.epm.org/pdf/bcpill.pdf |accessdate=2007-07-08 }}</ref> There is controversy as to whether pregnancy begins at the moment of [[Fertilisation|fertilization]], or at the moment the [[blastocyst]] implants in the [[Endometrium|uterine lining]]. American federal law and British law mark the beginning of pregnancy at implantation; thus, even if post-fertilization mechanisms were proven, these substances would still be labeled as [[contraceptives]], rather than abortifacients. The following birth control methods have been proposed to sometimes prevent implantation of a blastocyst, although (except as noted) they primarily work by preventing fertilization: * [[Hormonal contraception|Hormonal contraceptives]]<ref name="hormonal" /> * Some herbal contraceptives may work primarily by preventing implantation.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Sharma MM, Lal G, Jacob D |title=Estrogenic and pregnancy interceptory effects of carrot daucus carota seeds |journal=Indian J. Exp. Biol. |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=506–8 |year=1976 |pmid=992821 }}</ref> * [[Intrauterine device]] (IUD)<ref>{{cite journal |author=Stanford J, Mikolajczyk R |title=Mechanisms of action of intrauterine devices: update and estimation of postfertilization effects | journal = Am J Obstet Gynecol | volume = 187 | issue = 6 |pages=1699–708 |year=2002 | pmid = 12501086 | doi = 10.1067/mob.2002.128091}}, which cites: :{{cite journal |author=Smart Y, Fraser I, Clancy R, Roberts T, Cripps A |title=Early pregnancy factor as a monitor for fertilization in women wearing intrauterine devices | journal = Fertil Steril | volume = 37 | issue = 2 |pages=201–4 |year=1982 | pmid = 6174375}}</ref> Although not substances, and therefore not technically abortifacients, the following techniques have also been proposed to sometimes prevent implantation of a blastocyst: * [[Fertility awareness]] methods — a [[philosophy]] professor has speculated that intercourse during the less-fertile times of the cycle might create embryos incapable of implanting (due to aged gametes at the time of fertilization).<!-- --><ref>{{cite journal |author=Bovens, Luc |year=2006 |title=The rhythm method and embryonic death |journal=J Med Ethics |volume=32 |issue=6 |pages=355–6 |pmid=16731736 |url=http://jme.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/32/6/355.pdf |doi=10.1136/jme.2005.013920}}</ref> * The [[lactational amenorrhea method]] may cause a [[luteal phase]] defect (LPD). LPD may interfere with the implantation of embryos.<!-- --><ref name="Diaz, S. et. al">{{cite journal |author=Díaz S, Cárdenas H, Brandeis A, Miranda P, Salvatierra A, Croxatto H |title=Relative contributions of anovulation and luteal phase defect to the reduced pregnancy rate of breastfeeding women | journal = Fertil Steril | volume = 58 | issue = 3 |pages=498–503 |year=1992 | pmid = 1521642}}</ref> * [[In vitro fertilisation]]{{Fact|date=April 2008}} == History == The ancient [[ancient Greece|Greek]] colony of [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]] at one time had an economy based almost entirely on the production and export of [[silphium]], a powerful abortifacient in the [[Apiaceae|parsley]] family. Silphium figured so prominently in the wealth of Cyrene that the plant appeared on the obverse and reverse of [[coin]]s minted there. Silphium, which was native only to that part of [[Libya]], was overharvested by the [[Greece|Greeks]] and was effectively driven to extinction. The standard theory, however, has been challenged by a whole spectrum of alternatives (from an extinction due to climate factors, to the so-coveted product being in fact a recipe made of a composite of herbs, attribution to a single species meant perhaps as a [[disinformation]] attempt). As [[Christianity]] and in particular the institution of the [[Catholic]] Church increasingly influenced European society, those who dispensed abortifacient herbs found themselves classified as [[witch]]es and were often persecuted (see [[witch-hunt]]). <ref name="malleus">Kramer, Heinrich, & Sprenger, Jacob. (1487). ''[http://www.malleusmaleficarum.org Malleus Maleficarum].'' (Montague Summers, Trans.). Retrieved [[June 3]], [[2006]].</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} {{Birth control methods}} [[Category:Abortifacients| ]] [[ca:Abortiu]] [[cs:Abortivum]] [[de:Abortivum]] [[sk:Abortívum]]