Via Dana Goldstein, this New York Times article on immigrant women's use of misoprostol, a drug designed to treat ulcers, for self-induced abortions is on the rise in immigrant neighborhoods in New York. The women are getting charged with illegal use of the drug and imprisoned. Dana points out that these women shouldn't be punished for their lack of access to medical treatment -- the drug is legal with supervision of a doctor and often prescribed in conjunction with mifepristone, or RU-486 -- and desperation.
To me this article just shows that access to abortion is vitally important for everyone. If women don't have access to a doctor for medical treatment, they will just turn to illegal means of obtaining the drug and risk dangerous side effects of using it. The black market for abortion drugs will always exist as long as they are illegal or inaccessible. Those who pretend making abortion illegal will stop it are kidding themselves. People need to use these drugs safely and with a doctor's supervision.
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