What Are Abortion Pills

This section will walk you through what pills are used for abortion. You take two medicines that do two different things - mifepristone and misoprostol. They work together to safely and effectively end a pregnancy.

Mifepristone is the first pill you take in an abortion with the pills. It blocks a hormone called progesterone. Progesterone is the hormone that keeps a pregnancy going. Mifepristone gets the uterus ready for the next pills, called misoprostol.

We send you one (1) mifepristone pill. You swallow it with water. Some people bleed after taking it. Some people feel nauseous. But many people don’t feel any symptoms from mifepristone. Everyone is different.

Misoprostol is the second pill that you take in a medication abortion. We send you 12 of these pills. You will start taking misoprostol 24 to 48 hours after taking the mifepristone pill. Follow the instructions we email to you.

Misoprostol causes cramps and bleeding which pushes out the pregnancy. For many people, bleeding will start within 2 to 10 hours of taking the first misoprostol dose. For very early pregnancies, it can take up to three days for bleeding to start. Contact us if you are worried.

There are three ways to take misoprostol:

• Buccal: You put the pills between your gums and cheeks to dissolve over 30 minutes

• Sublingual: You put the pills under your tongue to dissolve for 30 minutes

• Vaginal: You put the pills in your vagina to dissolve for 30 minutes

Having a medication abortion is a two-step process. Mifepristone is what stops the pregnancy from continuing to grow. Misoprostol is what empties the pregnancy out through your vagina. You need to take both medicines in order for an abortion to work as well as possible. If you take the mifepristone, it’s really important to keep going and take the misoprostol as well.

There’s a lot of mis and disinformation out there about abortion, including the difference between abortion and birth control. Here are the facts.

The difference between abortion pills and Plan B is that one ends a pregnancy and the other prevents pregnancy from happening in the first place.

Abortion pills end an existing pregnancy. So if you’re pregnant and you don’t want to be, abortion pills are an option.

Emergency contraception (also known as the morning-after pill or by the brand name Plan B) prevents pregnancy from happening in the first place. It works because it takes several days for sperm and egg to meet and cause a pregnancy after sex. So if you have unprotected sex, you have up to 5 days to use emergency contraception to prevent fertilization, and therefore pregnancy. Taking emergency contraception won’t harm an existing pregnancy. It also won’t work as an abortion if you’re already pregnant.

There are two ways to have an abortion: taking abortion pills or having an abortion procedure in a clinic. Both are safe, and both are really good at ending a pregnancy. There are some differences though:

• Abortion pills are usually used earlier in pregnancy, up to 14 weeks. An in-clinic abortion can be done much later into pregnancy.

• An in-clinic abortion is usually very quick (it takes about 5-10 minutes), and you can generally go back to your normal activities the same day. If you take abortion pills, it will take hours or even a day or two for the abortion to be done.

• You can get abortion pills mailed to you anywhere in the US and have the abortion in the comfort of your own home. An in-clinic abortion means you have to find and go to a clinic that provides abortion.

• Abortion procedures later in pregnancy (after around 18 weeks) may take longer. Sometimes you need a small procedure on one day, then you have to come back to the clinic the next day to complete the abortion.

The choice between the abortion pill and an abortion procedure depends on things like how many weeks pregnant you are, where you live, and personal preference.

Lots of people wonder: are abortion pills safe and effective? The answer is yes to both.

Abortion pill effectiveness depends on how many weeks pregnant you are, but it’s always more than 85% effective. Here’s what that looks like at each stage:

• At 4 weeks or less: 85% effective

• At 4-5 weeks: 92% effective

• At 6-14 weeks: 98% effective

You need to take more doses of misoprostol if you’re more than 9 weeks pregnant to make sure it works as well as possible.

Lots of people wonder: are abortion pills safe? Abortion pills are extremely safe. They’re even safer than some other medicines that are available over-the-counter at pharmacies, like tylenol. Abortion pills are safer than viagra. They’re also safer than the risks that come with staying pregnant.

Mifepristone and misoprostol were studied and tested for years before being FDA-approved. Since being approved, millions of people around the world have had an abortion with pills safely.

The medicines are the same ones used to treat a miscarriage. These medicines also can’t be detected in the body by any test. This means that no one can tell if you’re having a miscarriage or if you’ve taken abortion pills.