EXCLUSIVE: Many Women Blindsided By Abortion Pill Complications, New Study Shows

Many American women feel uninformed about the abortion pills’ potential complications, according to a new Charlotte Lozier Institute study.

The study — first obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation — found that 52.5% of participants cited bleeding as the abortion-related complication they desired more information on than was provided during the informed consent process. Forty-eight percent said pain was the complication they desired more information about, compared to 33.7% who mentioned mental and emotional health.

Of those surveyed, 29.3% said incomplete abortion with retained tissue was the complication they wanted more information about, compared to 21.3% who cited “failed abortion with continued living fetus,” according to the report.

“These findings raise real questions about whether women are being given all the information they want and need to be fully informed,” CLI Senior Research Associate Tessa Cox told the DCNF. “Our results underscore a serious reality: Informed consent for abortion drugs needs to be far more than just a box to check. Given the broader context of the increasing availability of abortion drugs online and through the mail, there are serious ramifications, not only as the lives of unborn babies are ended by these drugs but also as women’s safety is put at risk.”

“The stakes are too high for informed consent to be treated as a formality,” Cox continued.

CLI’s research found that some of the most frequently listed complications women experienced were unexpected levels of bleeding and pain. Nearly 5% of respondents reported other abortion-related complications such as incomplete abortion with retained tissue and the need for additional treatment, the study shows.

“This study’s design allowed us to draw on two independent sources of evidence pointing in the same direction,” CLI Associate Scholar Maka Tsulukidze told the DCNF in a statement. “When findings converge like this, it gives us greater confidence that we are capturing something real about women’s experiences. The goal of this research is to ensure that the evidence base for informed consent practices for drug-induced abortions is as rigorous and complete as possible.”

The emotional responses most commonly reported by participants included relief, sadness, anxiety, guilt, depression, stress and grief, according to the study. Nineteen percent of respondents reported feeling happiness, 17.4% said they felt regret, while 14.4% felt anger and 6.3% expressed a desire to stop or reverse the abortion, the poll shows.

“This study’s design allowed us to draw on two independent sources of evidence pointing in the same direction,” CLI associate scholar and lead study author Maka Tsulukidze told the DCNF. “When findings converge like this, it gives us greater confidence that we are capturing something real about women’s experiences. The goal of this research is to ensure that the evidence base for informed consent practices for drug-induced abortions is as rigorous and complete as possible.”

The study also found that experiencing pain and bleeding was seemingly a “point of confusion for many women,” as they felt “unsure whether their experience was ‘normal’ when it was just ‘spotting bleeding and light cramping’ as they expected ‘loads of blood and pain.’”

“The findings from this research underscore the critical role of comprehensive information provision in the context of medication abortion,” per the report. “Healthcare providers should seek ways to enhance women’s informed consent for medication abortion.”

An estimated 1,126,000 clinician-provided abortions were conducted in the U.S. in 2025, according to a Guttmacher Institute fact sheet.

The study’s survey eligibility criteria included women aged 23 to 55 who obtained medication abortion in the U.S. The final sample included 508 women, 362 of whom responded to the survey.