Women who rely on the black market for access to drug abortion mean they may not follow the best medical practices. When Recife’s 24-year-old teacher C. bought misoprostol from a drug dealer last year, she searched Google to find out how to take it. “It was illegal, so there was no information on how to take it or what to take,” she said.
Her search recommends inserting the pill into the vagina as if the doctor were in the clinic, but if she was admitted to the hospital, it would leave a mark and could let her go. I was careful. Instead, she melted them under her tongue. This works, but it’s not that fast.
Fearing prosecution, C. asked to identify only the initials of his middle name, bleeding a few weeks later and wanted to seek advice from his mother, an obstetrician and gynecologist. But her mother is an anti-abortion activist. Finally, C. Said she thought she had a miscarriage, and her mother took her to see her colleague who had a dilation and curettage under her anesthesia.
“When I was doing curettage, I had to keep telling myself over and over again.” Don’t say anything, you can’t say anything. “-It’s torture. I did, “she said. “I was completely convinced that I wanted an abortion, but there was no doubt. I can’t talk about it, so I still feel like I’ve done something wrong.”
Restrictions on misoprostol complicate regular obstetric care using medications to induce labor, Dr. Delike said. At Rio Public Maternity Hospital, where she is the medical director, doctors need to fill out a drug request three times, have Dr. Derraik sign it, take it to a pharmacy, and have the supervisor sign it before removing the drug. .. Locked cabinets, and doctors, need to administer medicines with witnesses so that they are not diverted for sale in the black market.
“Not all of these steps are officially required,” said Dr. Terraik. “But hospitals do them because of the intense delusions around the drug.”
