# How do "abortion pills" work?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-abortion-pills-work/966893>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Tags:** roe\_vs\_wade\_abortion\
**Created:** [June 26, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-abortion-pills-work/966893 "2022-06-26T14:39:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-abortion-pills-work/966893/21 "2022-06-30T00:44:51Z")

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> [@md-2000](#):
>
> We just also have more generic drug makers who make lower-cost copies

Can you provide a cite for Canada having more generic drug makers than the US ?

It seems Canada increasingly imports more pharmaceuticals from India; with 2021 imports worth about half a billion dollars.

> **[Canada Imports from India of Pharmaceutical products - 2023 Data 2024...](https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/imports/india/pharmaceutical-products)**
>
> Canada Imports from India of Pharmaceutical products was US$566.85 Million during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. Canada Imports from India of Pharmaceutical products - data, historical chart and...

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**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-abortion-pills-work/966893/22 "2022-06-30T01:56:40Z")

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Note: the USA has a US pharmacopoeia, UK has BP, India has IP, there is also a WHO Pharmacopoeia Internationalis online:  
[https://digicollections.net/phint/2020/index.html#d/b.1](https://digicollections.net/phint/2020/index.html#d/b.1)  
etc. On the other hand, there can’t be too many discrepancies, if any, can there?

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**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-abortion-pills-work/966893/23 "2022-07-07T21:30:13Z")

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Welp, looks like off-label medication abortions are going to be harder to come by in red states. And a lot of sick people who aren’t pregnant but need those drugs for their labeled use are going to get screwed too.

> **[Abortion Restrictions May Be Making Methotrexate Harder to Access](https://time.com/6194179/abortion-restrictions-methotrexate-cancer-arthritis/)**
>
> Some people with arthritis have said they had trouble refilling prescriptions for the drug they need

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