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Midday Magazine

Abortion medication user says she has 'no regrets,' 25 years since the FDA approved the medication

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Samantha Simmons
Published October 4, 2025 at 11:56 AM EDT
FILE - Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on March 16, 2022. The Supreme Court is deciding whether women will face restrictions in getting a drug used in the most common method of abortion in the United States, while a lawsuit continues. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)
Allen G. Breed/AP
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AP
FILE - Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on March 16, 2022. The Supreme Court is deciding whether women will face restrictions in getting a drug used in the most common method of abortion in the United States, while a lawsuit continues. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)

Last week marked the 25-year anniversary of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Mifepristone. It comes at a time when reproductive health care rights are under attack by federal administrators.

Meantime, protections for healthcare providers and reproductive care continue to expand in New York State. Governor Kathy Hochul has signed several pieces of legislation that strengthens shield law protections, doctors, and access to care.

To discuss the impact of this medication, that serves as an at-home medication used, in conjunction with misoprostol, to end an early-stage pregnancy, we spoke to a mother who used the drug.

Marissa “Sunni” Rudd is a content creator and founder of For the Family, a New York City Based family services organization. Rudd. who had a successful medication abortion and vlogged about it, sharing the experience with millions of viewers and WAMC's Samantha Simmons.

This week, federal officials approved another generic version of the pill that’s approved for pregnancies through 10 weeks.
Tags
News Abortion Protectionsabortion rightsMifepristonemisoprostol
Samantha Simmons
Weekend Edition Host/Reporter.


She covers Rensselaer County, New York State politics, and local arts and culture.

She can be reached by phone at (518)-465-5233 Ext. 211 or by email at ssimmons@wamc.org.
See stories by Samantha Simmons
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  • FILE - Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., March 16, 2022. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Sunday, April 9, 2023, stressed that women for now continue to have access to the abortion medication mifepristone after the Texas judge stayed his ruling for a week so federal authorities could file a challenge. The drug was approved by the FDA in 2000. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)
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