Roe v Wade: Herbal abortion misinformation goes viral on TikTok

Following the overturn of Roe v Wade in the US, TikTok videos recommending poisonous herbs to treat “late periods” are clocking up millions of views.

The video starts out like any other TikTok makeup tutorial: A content creator with glowing skin and a scrunchie on her wrist applies blush to her cheekbones, while music plays in the background.

That is until text reading, “If you’re a female in America worried about your future, just know there is an herb for every ‘situation’” flashes onto the screen, followed by a list of so-called herbal abortifacients, including pennyroyal, mugwort and blue cohosh.

The clip, created by a user named Alexis, is part of a dangerous, fast-growing trend on the social media platform where women spruik remedies that they declare could cause miscarriages when ingested. This comes in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling which made access to abortion a constitutional right in the country.

At first the posts, which have steadily gained traction on TikTok since a draft of the decision leaked in May, appear to be warnings on substances that pregnant people should avoid, but use sly language like “definitely *don’t* do this”.

The TikTok trend of videos recommending poisonous herbs to treat “late periods” have come in the wake of the US Supreme Court decision. Picture: TikTok

“This is caution not to drink mugwort tea while pregnant because it may simulate your menstrual cycle resulting in loosing [sic] the fetus [sic]. Once again, please don’t do this,” the text said on one video, which had more than 350,000 views before it was removed.

The caption, though, was far more revealing of its true intentions: “Life hack #roevwade #womensrights.”

It’s unsurprising that, particularly in America’s red states – where in some, abortion was immediately banned off the back of the Court’s ruling – women are turning to the internet for advice.

Abortion clinics in states such as Texas have shuttered, doctors are facing fines of up to $100,000, and women are stockpiling the morning after pill. Picture: Robyn Beck/AFP

Women from Texas and other states are travelling to clinics such as this one in New Mexico for legal abortion services. Picture: Robyn Beck/AFP

Clinics have shuttered, doctors are facing fines of up to $100,000 for facilitating abortion, and increasingly desperate women are stockpiling the morning after pill and burning through their savings to fund last-minute trips to other states for treatment.

But the solutions being proffered by “WitchTok” are “going to kill people”, gynaecologist and clinical professor at the Yale University School of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Sciences, Mary Jane Minkin, told Rolling Stone.

“I’m horrified … It’s terrifying because 49 years ago, that’s how women died,” Dr Minkin said.

While some of the TikTok users’ suggested remedies – like eating papaya or sesame seeds – simply won’t work, others, like ingesting mugwort, blue cohosh, angelica root or pennyroyal, can in some cases be poisonous and result not just in the death of the foetus, but the woman herself.

Pennyroyal, for example, contains pulegone, emergency medicine physician and medical toxicologist Josh Trebach explained to Rolling Stone, which gets metabolised in the body and forms toxins that can cause liver necrosis.

PLEASE DO NOT TAKE PENNYROYAL AS AN HERBAL ABORTION

this is incredibly dangerous--it can cause liver failure, seizures, and DEATH pic.twitter.com/tStSkEzOoJ

— Josh Trebach, MD (@jtrebach) June 28, 2022

Side effects of ingesting the plant – which is used in essential oils and insect repellents – can include vomiting and abdominal pain, seizures, coma, liver failure and death.

Blue cohosh, meanwhile, contains methylcytisine, which in large doses can result in not just vomiting and abdominal pain, but also heart arrhythmias, muscle weakness, excessive drooling, seizures, coma and death.

“People may, at the end of the day, perceive these to be potential solutions because they have no other options. As a toxicologist that really scares me,” he said.

Because of a lack of research, “we don’t know if this works well to cause abortions”.

“But we do know it can get people really, really sick,” he said.

Some of the TikTok remedies can be poisonous. Picture: TikTok

In some cases, ingesting the herbs can be fatal to the woman. Picture: TikTok

In states where abortion laws have always been particularly stringent, women have never stopped attempting DIY abortions – a 2015 survey found that between 100,000 and 240,000 women aged 18 to 49 in Texas had tried to end a pregnancy by themselves.

But Dr Trebach said he first started noticing people posting about herbal abortifacients in May, shortly after the impending Roe v Wade decision was leaked.

According to Google Trends data in the US, searches for “pennyroyal”, “mugwort” and “diy abortion” skyrocketed in the weeks since – rising by 62 per cent, 68 per cent, and 86 per cent respectively.

Dr Trebach said he had a great deal of sympathy for TikTok creators who are advocating for herbal abortifacients, because he knows they’re simply trying to provide resources to those in need.

“Do I think everyone is maliciously out there trying to spread misinformation? No. People are trying to find answers and solutions in navigating this space between uncertainty and Supreme Court rulings,” he said.

“I think it’s a very, very challenging time. My biggest concern is that these home remedies, these DIY herbal plant abortions, are being viewed as an alternative to medical treatment and that is not correct.”

Originally published as Roe v Wade: Herbal abortion misinformation goes viral on TikTok