CompassCare was contacted by Mary a few weeks ago in the late afternoon on a chilly fall day. Her voice was shaky on the phone and she sounded distressed by something. Mary hurriedly explained that she had taken the first dose of a medical abortion. “I’ve made a terrible mistake! But I’ve changed my mind. I don’t know what I was thinking! Is there anything you can do?” she gushed on the phone to CompassCare’s scheduler, April.
April calmly described CompassCare’s abortion pill reversal process and how if treatment is started within 72 hours there is a good chance the pregnancy can be sustained and the baby saved. Mary was ecstatic and immediately scheduled an appointment for that night, driving 70 miles to meet with her CompassCare nurse and start the treatments.
During her appointment Mary told the story of how she had gotten herself in this predicament. A widow for several years after her husband passed away suddenly, Mary was left alone to raise her three children. A few months before, she had a breakdown on the anniversary of his death and she threw herself into partying as a way of processing her grief. That ultimately led to her getting pregnant.
Mary wept as she described her strongly held, life-long pro-life stance. But in her moments of weakness, she listened to the voices of her friends and went to an area abortionist to get a medical abortion. Before even thinking about it and at the urging of the abortionist she took the first pills of RU-486, the abortion drug (mifepristone, which effectively kills the baby by starving him of naturally produced progesterone) and was instructed to take the second dosage (misoprostol, which causes her uterus to contract and expel her baby).
But Mary began to deeply regret her decision and started searching online to see if anyone had ever successfully reversed the effects of the abortion pill. She found CompassCare’s website and information, called right away, and scheduled an appointment.
Mary was given an ultrasound and it revealed a 4 weeks and 5 days old baby. Her nurse was able to see a gestational sac, but there was no heartbeat, which is not unusual given the early gestational age. Mary consented to the progesterone therapy needed to overwhelm the effects of the mifepristone, fervently assuring the nurse, “I am willing to do whatever it takes to reverse the effects of the pill and save my baby.”
The treatment is extensive and involves returning frequently to the office until she is 12 weeks along. To make getting the treatments easier for Mary, CompassCare made arrangements with a pro-life OB/GYN near her home to continue the therapy. Everything seemed to be going well and both Mary and CompassCare were optimistic.
A week later, Mary’s doctor, told her some devastating news after she had an ultrasound. The doctor gently told her that she had miscarried and the treatment she was receiving to sustain the pregnancy was preventing her body from completely miscarrying. Mary was crushed. Her hopes to save her baby from her awful mistake seemed to have failed.
Mary’s doctor was not be able to see her on Sunday, the day of her next scheduled progesterone treatment, but she could see her the following Tuesday and that would be their last appointment. Mary refused to believe the news that all her efforts to save her baby had been in vain. She contacted CompassCare again, explained the situation, and set up an appointment to continue the therapy. CompassCare arranged to have her nurse meet her here at the office that same Sunday.
She once again drove the 90 minutes to her appointment, hoping that her baby would be fine. When she sat down across from her nurse, she was deeply distressed and agitated. Her nurse compassionately listened as Mary tearfully voiced how she was feeling and her anxiety over what the doctor said. Her nurse reassured her as best she could and told her she would perform another ultrasound to see what was going on.
Mary and her nurse were overjoyed to see her baby’s image on the screen, and both wept when a strong, steady heartbeat was heard. The baby appeared healthy and Mary could barely contain her delighted relief.
Mary still has a long road ahead of doctor’s visits and treatments. She will not be “out of the woods” until she is 12+ weeks along. Please pray for her, her children, and her preborn baby.