Women in Costa Rica where abortion is restricted can now use the internet to buy the medication enabling them to perform abortion at home. However, according to new research, one in ten need surgery afterwards.
For 70 Euros, women in Costa Rican can access the website (name withheld) and purchase online the abortion pill. Costa Rica is one of the 70 countries from where orders will be taken.
However, abortions in Costa Rica are illegal and is punishable from six months to two years in prison.
The website states the testimony of a Costa Rican woman named “Gloriana” who used the website to order the abortion pill. However, it is not clear if the testimony from Gloriana is real or made up to spur sales in Costa Rica.
The drug, Mifepristone, belongs to a group of medicines known as anti-progesterones.
Mifepristone acts by blocking progesterone receptors in the uterus and this reduces the effectiveness of the natural hormone progesterone. Progesterone plays an important role in the maintenance of pregnancy such as the successful implantation of the fertilized egg into the wall of the uterus and prevention of uterine contractions during pregnancy. By blocking progesterone receptors in the uterus, mifepristone significantly reduces progesterone levels so that pregnancy cannot be maintained. Abortion may occur solely as a result of the actions of mifepristone, but surgery may also be necessary to remove the fetus. If required, contraception can be started 3 to 9 days after taking mifepristone.
According to the Ministerio de Salud (Health) officials, the drug is available in Costa Rica only by medical prescription, costing ¢80.000 colones for 28 pills. The sale of the drug over the internet is totally illegal.
The vice minister de Salud, Lidieth Carballo, has ordered an investigation into the matter, saying that no woman should consider an abortion, unless therapeutic to save the life of the mother and that using the drug is very risky and can result in death.
Although health officials are against the sale of the drug over the internet that can be easily purchased by anyone in Costa Rica and have it delivered to the mailbox, the problem is that there is no government control of what can and cannot be purchased over the internet.
Rigoberto Rodríguez, head of the Policía Fiscal (Customs police), believes the pill is entering Costa Rica camouflaged to avoid customs controls.
