04/03/2024

American Women are Traveling to Mexico for Abortions

They're being told, '‘In 24 hours, you'll have your pills'

At 6 p.m., after a long day at work and with her children out of the house, Tania (not her real name) takes four pills and waits for them to melt under her tongue. Six hours later, the pills having dissolved and dispersed through her body, she begins to expel blood clots that she doesn't look at. She bleeds, but she was told that this could be normal; her belly is in great pain, but she was also told that this would be normal. She cries in the darkness of her room in San Diego. She is afraid to be alone.

The pills Tania took traveled amid the more than 90,000 people who cross the border every day between Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego. At the world's busiest border crossing, the lines can stretch for blocks. People pass by hostile immigration officers searching for "illegals" among the thousands making the journey. Hidden in a suitcase are boxes of mifepristone and misoprostol, two abortifacients used in conjunction with one another. When Tania took them, she put them under her tongue to speed up the effect, as she was instructed. Mifepristone stops the production of progesterone, while misoprostol, which was originally indicated to treat ulcers, causes contractions and bleeding similar to a miscarriage.

"I called a friend who lives in Tijuana," she said. "I was desperate, and she put me in touch with an organization there. Within 24 hours, I had the pills in my hands. They brought them to San Diego, and, since I was scared because I had never been through anything like that, they followed up and were with me through the entire process."

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.