Although the drugs are typically used in US medication abortions, they are also regularly used in an array of other circumstances, such as to help with miscarriage management, treat ulcers and soften the cervix during labor and other procedures.

Normally, at the Louisiana hospital where OB-GYN Dr Nicole Freehill works, misoprostol is kept in so-called hemorrhage carts, which can be easily wheeled into the rooms where patients deliver babies and which carry medications normally used to treat hemorrhaging, including misoprostol. It takes about 15 seconds to pull the misoprostol out of the cart, Freehill said.