2023: Jennifer Balkcom Was The Primary Sponsor Of A Bill To Require Doctors To Inform Women About Medically Unsound And Potentially Dangerous So-Called Abortion Pill “Reversals” Before Performing Abortions

April 2023: Balkcom Was The Primary Sponsor Of A Bill Requiring Doctors To Inform Women About The Possibility Of Reversing The Effects Of Abortion Medication Before Administering Medical Abortions

April 2023: Balkcom Was The Primary Sponsored Of H.B. 788, “An Act To Provide Information Related To The Reversal Of Chemical Abortions.” In April 2023, Balkcom was the primary sponsor of H.B. 788, “an act to provide information related to the reversal of chemical abortions.” [North Carolina General Assembly, H.B. 788, 4/19/23]

• H.B. 788 Would Require Physicians To Inform Women At Least 72 Hours Before A Medical Abortion “That It May Be Possible To Reverse Its Intended Effect If The Second Pill Or Tablet Has Not Been Taken Or Administered.” “No abortion shall be performed upon a woman in this State without her voluntary and informed consent. Except in the case of a medical emergency, consent to an abortion is voluntary and informed only if all of the following conditions are satisfied: … (2) The physician or qualified professional has informed the woman, either by telephone or in person, of each of the following at least 72 hours before the abortion: That the woman is free to withhold or withdraw her consent to the abortion at any time before or during the abortion without affecting her right to future care or treatment and without the loss of any State or federally funded benefits to which she might otherwise be entitled. g. That it may be possible to reverse the effects of a chemical abortion if the pregnant woman changes her mind, but time is of the essence. If a woman has taken mifepristone as part of a two-drug regimen to terminate her pregnancy, also known as ‘RU-486’ or ‘Mifeprex,’ it may be possible to reverse its intended effect if the second pill or tablet has not been taken or administered. If the woman wishes to continue the pregnancy, she should immediately consult a physician for more information. Information regarding the reversal of a chemical abortion is also available by calling the Abortion Pill Reversal Hotline at 877-558-0333, or visiting https://www.abortionpillreversal.com/.” [North Carolina General Assembly, H.B. 788, 4/18/23]
• H.B. 788 Would Require Physicians To Tell Women To Call The Abortion Pill Reversal Hotline If They Sought Information Regarding The Reversal Of A Medical Abortion. “No abortion shall be performed upon a woman in this State without her voluntary and informed consent. Except in the case of a medical emergency, consent to an abortion is voluntary and informed only if all of the following conditions are satisfied: … (2) The physician or qualified professional has informed the woman, either by telephone or in person, of each of the following at least 72 hours before the abortion: That the woman is free to withhold or withdraw her consent to the abortion at any time before or during the abortion without affecting her right to future care or treatment and without the loss of any State or federally funded benefits to which she might otherwise be entitled. g. That it may be possible to reverse the effects of a chemical abortion if the pregnant woman changes her mind, but time is of the essence. If a woman has taken mifepristone as part of a two-drug regimen to terminate her pregnancy, also known as ‘RU-486’ or ‘Mifeprex,’ it may be possible to reverse its intended effect if the second pill or tablet has not been taken or administered. If the woman wishes to continue the pregnancy, she should immediately consult a physician for more information. Information regarding the reversal of a chemical abortion is also available by calling the Abortion Pill Reversal Hotline at 877-558-0333, or visiting https://www.abortionpillreversal.com/.” [North Carolina General Assembly, H.B. 788, 4/18/23]

So-Called Abortion “Reversal” Treatment Was Not Based On Science And Did Not Meet Clinical Standards

American College Of Obstetricians And Gynecologists Headline: “Facts Are Important: Medication Abortion ‘Reversal’ Is Not Supported by Science.” [American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, accessed 9/9/25]

American College Of Obstetricians And Gynecologists: “Claims Regarding Abortion ‘Reversal’ Treatment Are Not Based On Science And Do Not Meet Clinical Standards.” “Facts are important, especially when it comes to policies and discussions that impact patients. Claims regarding abortion ‘reversal’ treatment are not based on science and do not meet clinical standards. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) ranks its recommendations on the strength of the evidence and does not support prescribing progesterone to stop a medication abortion. Despite this, in states across the country, politicians are advancing legislation to require physicians to recite a script that a medication abortion can be ‘reversed’ with doses of progesterone, to cause confusion and perpetuate stigma, and to steer women to this unproven medical approach. Unfounded legislative mandates like this one represent dangerous political interference and compromise patient care and safety.” [American College of Obstetricians And Gynecologists, accessed 9/3/25]

American College Of Obstetricians And Gynecologists: “So-Called Abortion ‘Reversal’ Procedures Are Unproven And Unethical.” “So-called abortion ‘reversal’ procedures are unproven and unethical. A 2012 case series reported on six women who took mifepristone and were then administered varying progesterone doses. Four continued their pregnancies. This is not scientific evidence that progesterone resulted in the continuation of those pregnancies. This study was not supervised by an institutional review board (IRB) or an ethical review committee, required to protect human research subjects, raising serious questions regarding the ethics and scientific validity of the results. Case series with no control groups are among the weakest forms of medical evidence. Subsequent case series used to support use of medication abortion reversal have had similar limitations, including no ethics approval, no control group, under-reporting of data, and no reported safety outcomes. A 2020 study intending to evaluate medication abortion reversal in a controlled, IRB-approved setting was ended early due to safety concerns among the participants.” [American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, accessed 9/9/25]

Vox Headline: “Abortion Pill Reversal: An Unproven Treatment Offered By Crisis Pregnancy Centers.” [Vox, 11/11/19]

According To Reproductive Health Experts, There Was No Evidence Abortion Pill Reversal Treatment Actually Worked To Stop An Abortion From Happening. “‘Even if you’ve taken the abortion pill, you can still change your mind,’ proclaims the website of a group called Alternatives Pregnancy Center. The center offers what it calls ‘abortion pill reversal,’ a treatment it claims can stop a medication abortion that’s already been started. Many organizations around the country are beginning to offer the procedure, and a growing number of states require that patients seeking abortions be told about it. But there’s a problem. ‘All of the evidence that we have so far indicates that this treatment is not effective,’ Daniel Grossman, an OB-GYN and the director of Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, a research group at the University of California San Francisco, told Vox. Pioneered by an anti-abortion doctor in California, abortion ‘reversal’ involves taking the hormone progesterone after the first dose of abortion medication. However, reproductive health experts, including the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, say there’s no evidence the procedure actually works to stop an abortion from happening. And, they warn, no one knows what the side effects might be of taking progesterone in an effort to reverse abortion medication. In fact, a University of California Davis study into the effects of abortion ‘reversal’ had to be stopped early due to safety concerns after three patients were rushed to the hospital with severe bleeding, NPR reported on Thursday.” [Vox, 11/11/19]

So-Called Abortion “Reversal” Treatment Was Potentially Dangerous

2019: A Study Designed To Test The Effectiveness Of “Abortion Pill Reversal” Was Stopped Early Because Of Safety Concerns And Resulted In Three Women Transported To The Hospital For Treatment. “A study designed to test the effectiveness of a controversial practice known as ‘abortion pill reversal’ has been stopped early because of safety concerns. Researchers from the University of California, Davis, were investigating claims that the hormone progesterone can stop a medication-based abortion after a patient has completed the first part of the two-step process. For the study, the researchers aimed to enroll 40 women who were scheduled to have surgical abortions. Before their surgical procedures, the women received mifepristone, the first pill in the two-medication regimen that’s used for medical abortions. The women were then randomly assigned to receive either a placebo or progesterone, which advocates claim can block the effects of mifepristone. But researchers stopped the study in July, after only 12 women had enrolled. Three of the women required ambulance transport to a hospital for treatment of severe vaginal bleeding.” [NPR, 12/5/19]

2019: The Medical Director Of The Sole Abortion Clinic In North Dakota Testified “Scientists Thus Do Not Know What Impact, Including Potential Birth Defects, The Administration Of These [Abortion Reversal] Drugs Could Have On The Children.” “North Dakota’s law violates the First Amendment rights of physicians by requiring them to spread false and nonscientific information, according to Molly Duane, a staff attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights.’ The notion of ‘abortion reversal’ is based on junk science,’ Duane said. ‘This law effectively forces physicians to lie to their patients, and it forces them to violate their medical ethics to do no harm.’ This can compromise the patient-provider relationship, which is built on trust. ‘Physicians need to be able to have the ability ― without interference from the state ― to provide their patients with accurate information,’ she said. Kathryn Eggleston, the medical director of the state’s last remaining abortion clinic, wrote in an affidavit that she could not ethically recommend the treatment. ‘For one thing, the impact on patients of mifepristone combined with high doses of progesterone is virtually unstudied,’ she wrote in the affidavit obtained by HuffPost. ‘Scientists thus do not know what impact, including potential birth defects, the administration of these drugs could have on the children.’” [Huffington Post, 8/1/19]