Stop the action of the tablets

A group of pro-literal activists teaches Russians to “cancel” the abortion begun

Sometimes women who have just accepted a pill for drug abortion doubt this decision. Some even try to stop the effect of medication for termination of pregnancy. There is a whole movement that advertises the unproven methodology of “stopping” drug abortion. This movement is quite popular: it is even supported by some officials. The Ministry of Health knows about this situation, but does not intervene. "Cold" tells what is happening with those who are trying to "cancel" abortion.

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"Have you changed your mind to an abortion?"

Lyudmila Ganina from Orekhovo-Zuevo says: in 2018, when she was 29 years old, she found out that she was pregnant for the fourth time, and thought about abortion. The husband did not begin to dissuade or support - as Lyudmila says, he “completely shifted” the choice of her and promised “to help with what he could.” All previous births were given to her hard: each time they made a cesarean section. Lyudmila realized that she was not ready for this again.

“I had no abortions,” she recalls. - The girlfriends reassured: “Eight weeks are nonsense, just drink a pill .” They made a doctor’s contact in a private clinic, I went there. I made an ultrasound, gave pills. They said: “You drink this one now, this one later.”

Medication abortion is a method of termination of pregnancy, which can be used in the early stages. It consists of two stages. First, the woman takes Mifepriston in tablets. It blocks the effect of the hormone progesterone necessary for the development of pregnancy. This leads to her fading. At the second stage, you need to take the pills of the Misoprostol to clean the uterus. The gap between the stages can be one or two days.

Lyudmila hesitated. It seemed to her that she was doing well. She nevertheless accepted Mifepriston, but after that she doubted even more. Then she began to read on the Internet materials about the termination of pregnancy and found a “drug abortion” group on VKontakte. The post was fixed on top: “How to stop a drug abortion? Have you changed your mind to an abortion, but drank pills? Write in group messages or on a hotline at a stopping stop. ”

It was further said: “There is an effective method that allows you to stop the effect of an abortive tablet. For this, a woman needs to accept progesterone. ”

The group members shared their experience. Some wrote that with the help of this method they managed to preserve the child. Others asked for dosage tips. Some said that they performed actions according to the instructions received in the group, and they began to bleed, but it was not possible to preserve pregnancy.

Lyudmila decided to trust the public administrators and wrote a message on the indicated number. She was sent a scheme for taking the hormonal drug Dufaston, and she followed the instructions. Soon she felt bad.

“For several days I had severe bleeding, anemia began,” she recalls. - I called a nurse for money, who pricked me a hemostatic drug. It was very strong blood loss. ” Later, the ultrasound showed that it was not possible to maintain pregnancy.

“At the age of 29, I was still at some optimism,” Lyudmila argues. “But now I understand: what happened to me is very serious.” She says that after an unsuccessful attempt to stop the abortion, she had psychological problems that she could not cope with: "Everything resulted in some kind of internal conflict."

Now she regrets that she turned into a public “drug abortion”, and believes that it was necessary to “think more with my head” and protect himself . And if you interrupt the pregnancy, then "immediately bring to the end without any kickbacks."

"Uncontrolled research experiment"

The idea of ​​an interruption of drug abortion is not new. In the United States, it is common among conservatives and Christian activists. Her main popularizer is the family doctor George Delgado from California. In 2012, he published an article in which he claimed: if the woman had already taken the first step and drank mifepriston, she can still maintain pregnancy. To do this, take a large dose of the hormone progesterone. He said that he conducted a “study”, during which four of the six women, having accepted progesterone after mifeperiston, carried out healthy children.

Around Delgado, a group of supporters began to form, they launched the initiative of the Abortion Pill Reversal - APR (abolition of drug abortion). Now the organization’s website says that it consists of more than a thousand doctors who help women preserve pregnancy after taking the first drug.

In 2018, APR became a partner of the major religious organization HeartBeat International, opposing abortion. Its website claims : 64–68% of women who turned to APR for help were able to “abolish” abortion.

At the same time, medical organizations of the United States and European countries do not approve and do not recommend APR protocol. “Uncontrolled Research Experiment” - this is how Delgado is described in the article of the Medical Journal of New England. The American college of obstetricians and gynecologists called Delgado's methods "unproven and unethical."

In 2019, a group of scientists from Sacramento tried to study the effectiveness and safety of the APR method - but it had to be stopped, because several participants were hospitalized with severe bleeding.

Nevertheless, the “discovery” of Delgado has become a part of a wide campaign in the United States aimed at restricting the reproductive rights of women. In some states, they introduced a requirement for doctors: when conducting drug abortion, inform the patients that the process can be stopped.

"Bear and give birth, relying on the will of God"

In Russia, the APR protocol was started in 2014. Psychiatrist Alexei Fokin, doctor Inna Kornienko and many children Anna Fenina translated into Russian an article by Delgado and began to publish materials about the “cancellation” of abortion on VKontakte. So the project “changed your mind” appeared. In 2016, the website “changed your mind.ru” launched, in 2019-a hot line.

The organization is doing the same as its American predecessors, - advises women who want to “cancel” abortion, and disseminates information about the APR protocol. In addition, “changed your mind” collaborates with Heartbeat International.

It is the project “changed your mind” that the Public of Medication Abortion, where Lyudmila turned. In it, administrators talk about the APR protocol and communicate with women who adopted Mifepriston and regretted their decision.

The public says: before “cancel” an abortion using progesterone, you need to consult a doctor. But there are also detailed instructions on how and in what dosage to take the drug. In addition, administrators give participants specific medical councils with dosages of drugs.

Those who are afraid for the health of the child after such a “treatment” are reassured: “Bend and give birth to the baby, relying on the will of God .” They also offer, "if he still turns out to be not very healthy in something, do everything possible for him."

The project does not conduct statistics on the health status of women who have used the APR method. The page only claims that thanks to the hot line, "232 saved baby" were born. They refused to answer the questions of the “cold” in the project “changed your mind”.

"Specialists for Death"

The head of the initiative “changed your mind”-Alexey Fokin, psychiatrist and Orthodox activist from the Leningrad Region. He also calls himself a “medical research specialist”, but does not provide any data in support of this.

Fokin holds Internet seminars for social workers on “anti-sample counseling”. At one of these seminars, he said that he supposedly had a patient who saw nightmares because she began to take hormonal contraceptives (many Christian activists believe that such contraceptives are a variety of abortion).

The psychiatrist also says that in countries where many abortions are carried out, people more often suffer from alcohol dependence and commit suicide, and believes that this is interconnected: "A woman is trying to drown out her pain of child loss and begins to drink."

Fokin gives lectures to students, doctors and psychologists. He performed at the International Congress on Reproductive Medicine in Sochi and at the All-Russian Conference of Obstetro-Gynecologists in St. Petersburg. In 2017, he founded a public organization for the protection of children and pregnant women “two strips”, which actively fights for “traditional family values”. On his personal page on VKontakte, the psychiatrist advocates a complete ban on abortion, supports the war with Ukraine and criticizes vaccination.

Fokin says that the project “changed your mind” launched with the assistance of the All -Russian charity program “Save Life” - this is the initiative overshadowed by the Russian Orthodox Church. The program’s website says that its goal is to “do everything possible so that there are fewer abortions.” Administrators of the public “Save Life” in VKontakte propose to share gynecologists and doctors who are abortion. The latter they call "specialists at death" and "abortions."

"Sister, children, we will bury"

In the public, "drug abortion" consist of almost two and a half thousand people. There are several active users who encourage other girls and claim that the abortion method helped them give birth to healthy children.

One of these participants-41-year-old Elena Semenova-told the cold her story. According to Elena, in 2018 she returned to her native Tyumen from China, where she went through language practice. At home, she suddenly “stopped like everything”: both food and the climate seemed “not like that.”

It soon became clear that Elena was pregnant with the fourth child. She says that for her it “became a shock” - it was not easy with her younger son, he had to rock his arms until three years old, and she did not feel the strength to give birth again.

Elena went to the clinic to consult about a drug abortion. The doctor, according to her, turned out to be a “ordinary soulless woman” and said that “it would be difficult to raise four children, and here it is enough to drink a pill.” Elena accepted three tablets of Mifepriston and went home, "having tuned in at all not to think about anything bad."

The scandal was waiting for her at home: “The husband looks at me, says that he lived with me and did not know who I was. Let me reproach me: “Is it possible, but the baby is tormented in you now.” I am in tears, and he called the children of the elders, says: “Start bake pancakes. Sister, children, we will bury.”

After such words, Elena “could not stand it” and agreed to try to “return everything back”. The couple went to the hospital, but the “indifferent female doctor” told them “not to engage in nonsense and drink a second pill” so as not to regret, “if any freak is born”.

The husband was not ready to give up and drove Elena to a familiar nurse in a female consultation. An ultrasound showed that there is a threat of termination of pregnancy, but the fetal heartbeat is listening. The nurse advised to take a large dose of progesterone for a week, and if it does not help, then “move on”.

According to Elena, at home she began to study information about the action of progesterone for pregnancy and found the site "changed their minds". There she read about the APR method and decided to follow the advice of the nurse.

She says that in a week she began strong bloody discharge. But the ultrasound showed that everything is in order with the fetus. Elena later gave birth to a girl - there was no problem. In July 2018, she told her story in the public “Medication Abortion”.

Elena says she saw in the group of the history of girls who failed to preserve pregnancy in this way, and understands that the method does not give any guarantees. “My friends say: you are just lucky, Mifepriston did not work on you,” she argues. “I don’t believe in all this, probably God saved me.”

"Do not refuse a gift of fate"

Administrators in posts write that you should not “cancel” an abortion if a woman has already taken the second drug - Misoprostol. They warn that this can cause a child's malformations or lead to stillbirth.

But 36-year-old Alena Mikhailova (the surname is changed) says she turned to the public for advice when she had already drank both pills.

She says that this happened in 2018. Alena was worried about a difficult parting with her husband when she suddenly found out that she was pregnant. She immediately decided to have an abortion and took both drugs for seven weeks.

“After that, my bleeding began, my stomach was very ill, the discharge of clots began,” she says. - But there were New Year holidays, and I got to the control ultrasound for a period of 11 weeks. It turned out that the child is alive, move his hands. The doctors were in shock. They said to go cleaning, but I could not. "

Alena found a “medical abortion” group on VKontakte and turned there with the question of what the probability of pathologies in the child, “whether he would be normal or already finished.” The coordinator of the group Anna Fenina replied: “I think you should not refuse a gift of fate. If there were pathologies, an ultrasound would show. ”

Then Alena began to take the drug Duphaston on the APR protocol. She says that the pregnancy was not easy. At 16 weeks, her uterine hypertonicity was diagnosed, and the birth passed with two stimulations. The child had deformation of the neck, and in the early years he ended up in the hospital several times due to hypoxia-oxygen starvation. Nevertheless, Alena says that she does not regret his decision to “cancel” abortion.

Now in a public she encourages other women who are trying to preserve pregnancy . In 2019, a girl wrote to the group whose friend tried to make an abortion, but does not know if the pills had affected. She wanted to know how to "get rid of pregnancy." Alena answered her: "The child wants to live, and no longer your right to deprive him of his life."

"I can hardly decide to appoint this scheme"

Obstetrician-gynecologist Anna Barkovskaya collaborates with the clinic of evidence-based medicine in St. Petersburg. She says that the APR method seems to her at least doubtful. Firstly, the studies on which the creators of the “changed their minds” project are based do not comply with the standards of evidence-based medicine-the Delgado theory was not checked using a multicenter blind randomized study.

Secondly, in the public, Duphaston with the active substance of Didrogesterone is often recommended. Modern studies show that it can be unsafe in the early stages of pregnancy. “I'm afraid that there are no pharmaceuticals’s nose here,” says Barkovskaya. “I consider an indication of pharmacological drugs with trade names in such non -profit projects.”

The doctor adds that the treatment regimen that are published in the public “are taken almost from the ceiling” and “it is impossible to consider them as a universal tool.” In her opinion, if a woman decides to use such a technique, she should warn her that this is an experimental method and no one can guarantee the safety and lack of defects in the fetus after a miffrained mifepriston.

“I have never heard of this method until today,” says Barkovskaya. - If a woman with such a request comes to me, I hardly decide to officially appoint this scheme, because she is not recommended anywhere and no one. If something happens to the woman and the investigator has questions for me, I will not be able to protect myself. ”

At the same time, as the doctor explains, the fact that some girls manage to preserve the pregnancy after the drunk mifepristone is likely. But whether the large doses of progesterone really helped them is unknown. The fact is that the situation is not uncommon when, after a drunk mifeperon, pregnancy remains without taking any other drugs.

However, it is unlikely that progesterone in this case carries any additional risks: its drugs are often prescribed for women during pregnancy. According to Barkovskaya, the fact that women may begin to begin to “abolish” abortion in women is more likely to be due to the fact that they accepted the first tablet for termination of pregnancy, but did not accept the second.

At the same time, the gynecologist says that she understands why some girls are forced to look for help from such initiatives. “I believe that the days of silence must exist,” says Barkovskaya. “But not in order to prevent an abortion, but that a woman can make a balanced decision.” The government initiative to conduct psychological consultations with pregnant women initially viable. It is a pity that in practice these are often actions according to the manual, and a woman is pushed to a specific solution - not to abortion. ”

The medical law lawyer Dmitry Bartenev is sure: the project “changed your mind” violates “all conceivable and inconceivable orders” and actually carries out medical activities without a license.

As Bartenev explains, the creators of the project have the right to “theoretically” describe the methods of stopping abortion - indicating that only a competent doctor can help a woman, but in no case do not disseminate the protocols for taking “hormonal preparations, no less serious than mythiprophiston”. Такая деятельность должна осуществляться в лицензированной клинике врачом, имеющим соответствующее образование.

Специалист, осмотрев конкретную пациентку, должен понять, действительно ли в ее случае можно остановить аборт, какие есть противопоказания, а также предупредить женщину о возможных побочных эффектах и осложнениях. Также от нее нужно получить добровольное согласие на медицинское вмешательство.

Подход проекта «Передумала» Бартенев называет «дилетантским». Он считает, что руководители проекта могут быть привлечены к ответственности вплоть до уголовной по статье о «незаконном осуществлении медицинской деятельности». Также он говорит, что информация на сайте проекта не должна открыто распространяться в интернете и ей мог бы заинтересоваться Роскомнадзор.

В 2021 году издание openDemocracy выпустило расследование об «отмене» аборта и о том, как эта практика распространяется в России. Журналисты сообщили, что передали информацию Минздраву и ведомство «согласилось обратить внимание на опасность методики».

Тем не менее в 2022 году в Татарстане местная уполномоченная по правам ребенка Ирина Волынец объявила , что в регионе начинается реализация проекта «Передумала». В 2023 году Российское общество акушеров-гинекологов в рекомендациях по медикаментозному аборту указало, что «при письменно оформленном заявлении» пациентки с требованием остановить аборт «возможно назначение препаратов прогестерона в условиях стационара или дневного стационара». В рекомендациях специалисты сослались на статью Дельгадо.