The abortion pill is often described as a “safe and effective way to end an early pregnancy,” at least according to Planned Parenthood. But is it? Recently, the Ethics and Public Policy Center released a study that analyzed insurance data codes for over 865,000 cases in which women took mifepristone (the abortion pill) and found that “serious adverse events” for the drug occurred at a rate approximately 22 times higher than the rate reported on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) label for the drug.

A new, first-of-its-kind study asserts that serious adverse events from mifepristone, the first drug in the abortion pill regimen, occur at a rate approximately 22 times higher than the rate reported on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) label for the drug.

Birth control is touted as one of the greatest medical advancements ever made for women, allowing them to take charge of their sexuality without worrying about unplanned pregnancies — or so the narrative goes, anyway. But birth control has risks that go along with it, and those who use it should weigh those risks before taking it. Unfortunately, many women aren’t properly informed of the risks beforehand. For certain kinds of birth control, those risks include an increased susceptibility to getting a sexually transmitted disease (STD).