Herbal Abortions Are Going Viral on TikTok. They Could Kill You

[Nevilledog]

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Ej Dickson
@ejdickson
·
Jun 29, 2022
Replying to @ejdickson
It’s clear that the people sharing these videos have the best of intentions and want to empower pregnant people, which makes curbing the misinfo particularly difficult. But herbal supplements are widely unregulated which creates even greater risk

rollingstone.com
Herbal Abortions Are Going Viral on TikTok. They Could Kill You
TikTok videos advocating for people to end pregnancies using herbs like mugwort and pennyroyal are getting hundreds of thousands of views.

Ej Dickson
@ejdickson
·
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The physicians I spoke to said that misoprostol and mifepristone re safe and effective and can currently be accessed via orgs like @AidAccessUSA. “My concern is these home remedies are being viewed as an alternative to medical treatment,” says @jtrebach

rollingstone.com
Herbal Abortions Are Going Viral on TikTok. They Could Kill You
TikTok videos advocating for people to end pregnancies using herbs like mugwort and pennyroyal are getting hundreds of thousands of views.
2:46 PM · Jun 29, 2022

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/tiktok-abortion-herbs-misinformation-death-1376101/

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https://archive.ph/sYqkq


At first, the TikTok video seems like your average makeup tutorial: Alexis, a content creator with glowing skin, perfectly groomed brows, and a scrunchie on her wrist, is applying blush to her cheekbones as “Flesh” by Ghostmane plays in the background. Then the text flashes on screen: “If you’re a female in America worried about your future, just know there is an herb for every ‘situation.'” A list of herbs then flashes onscreen, including pennyroyal, blue cohosh, and mugwort.

Such herbs have become the focal point of a new wave of discourse on TikTok focusing on herbs that can induce abortion. In the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned last Friday — prompting an onslaught of terror and protests from reproductive rights advocates across the country — people on social media are taking matters into their own hands by offering grassroots solutions to those seeking abortions. Some of these solutions, such as a TikTok trend set to the Chainsmokers’ “Paris,” with women in blue states offering to help people in red states procure abortions, have been helpful; yet medical experts are concerned about the growing trend of TikTok creators promoting these herbal abortifacients — some of which can also have devastating health effects.

“I’m horrified. They’re going to kill people,” says Mary Jane Minkin, MD, a gynecologist and clinical professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the Yale University School of Medicine. Minkin had been hearing whispers about people promoting herbal abortifacients on TikTok, as well as home vacuum aspirations, which can potentially result in sepsis or death. “It’s terrifying because 49 years ago, that’s how women died,” she says.

One of the most commonly cited abortifacients on TikTok is pennyroyal, a minty, sweet-smelling plant also used in essential oils or insect repellents. Yet pennyroyal contains pulegone, which gets metabolized in the body and forms toxins that can cause liver necrosis, says Josh Trebach, emergency medicine physician and medical toxicologist in Iowa City. Side effects of ingestion can include vomiting and abdominal pain, as well as seizures, coma, liver failure, and death. Blue cohosh, another plant that has been suggested as an abortifacient on TikTok, also contains methylcytisine, which in large doses can result in not just vomiting and abdominal pain, but also excessive drooling, heart arrhythmias, muscle weakness, seizures, coma, and death.

*snip*

[Irish_Dem]

1. Women used to try all kinds of things to end a pregnancy.

Often with very bad consequences.

[dalton99a]

2. Kick

[RockRaven]

3. TikTok is awash in dangerous nonsense. Not only bad home remedies.

Dangerous home improvement tips, dangerous cooking tips, dangerous DIY projects. That's on top of viral stunts/challenges which could result in injury or death. And, of course, conspiracy theories and social/historical bunk which lead people to make very bad decisions if believed.

[Runningdawg]

4. And soon a wave of women will arrive in ERs.

I wonder if hospitals in red states will treat them? Or prosecute them if they live?

[SheltieLover]

5. Kicking for visibility

[Deep State Witch]

6. Herbalists That I Know Are of Two Minds

Some want this information out there, but others are concerned about situations just like this.