Planned Parenthood Golden Gate offers medication abortion services for women who are less than 8 weeks pregnant. Medication abortion is a way to end pregnancy without surgery. Our medication abortion services include pregnancy options, counseling, lab tests, the medications which end pregnancy, and follow-up care.

What is Medication Abortion
Effectiveness
Deciding if Medication Abortion is Right for You
Before the Medication Abortion
Beginning the Medication Abortion
How Long it Takes
What it Feels Like
After the Abortion
Why Some Women Prefer Medical Abortion
When Medication Abortion is Not Recommended
Additional Resources

Medication abortion is a way to end pregnancy without surgery. It is done with medications up to 56 days after the last period begins.

Medication abortion using mifepristone involves three steps. First, the doctor will give you mifepristone pills which block progesterone, a hormone needed to maintain pregnancy. One to two days later you will take misoprostol orally. Misoprostol causes the uterus to contract and empty which completes the abortion. Finally, women must return to the clinic a few days after taking the misoprostol for a follow-up exam.

[top of page]

Medication abortion with mifepristone is 92-95% effective.

[top of page]

Before you decide to have a medication abortion, you will meet with a counselor to discuss the three options regarding a pregnancy—parenthood, adoption, or abortion—and to address any questions or concerns you may have. You will also discuss the risks associated with both medical and surgical abortion. Because mifepristone and misoprostol can cause serious birth defects, if the medication abortion does not work, a surgical abortion must be done. In order to have a medication abortion, you must agree to have a surgical abortion if the medication abortion does not work. You can change your mind at any time before beginning the procedure. Remember that it is entirely your choice to have an abortion.

[top of page]

Before you get the mifepristone, you will have:

• Some blood taken from your finger or arm to see if you are anemic (have a "low blood count"), and to see if you are Rh negative. If you are Rh negative, you will get a shot of immune globulin.
• A vaginal ultrasound (a small wand is placed in the vagina to "see through the tissues" to tell how long you have been pregnant). Vaginal ultrasound works with sound waves so there is no radiation. You may need additional ultrasound examinations at Planned Parenthood.
• A pelvic examination. You will also have testing for sexually transmitted infections, if needed. Vaginal infections will be treated if present.

[top of page]

You will take the mifepristone pill orally.

You will be given the misoprostol to take home with detailed instructions from the clinic staff about when and how to take orally.

[top of page]

About 10 percent of women will have the abortion before they take the misoprostol. Most others will start bleeding within four hours of taking misoprostol. For a few women, it may take up to 24 hours. Rarely it can take several weeks for the abortion to occur.

[top of page]

For most women, medication abortion feels like an early miscarriage. You might:

• Feel strong cramps
• Feel nauseous or vomit
• Have diarrhea
• Feel temporary abdominal pain
• See large blood clots or tissue at the time of the abortion
• Have some bleeding or spotting for 9-16 days

Acetaminophen (such as Tylenol® or Excedrin®) or non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory painkillers such as ibuprofen (such as Motrin® or Advil®) can reduce most of these symptoms.

[top of page]

It is very important to return for check ups to be sure that the abortion is complete.
The first follow-up visit may take place anytime you think you may have passed the tissue, to confirm that the abortion is complete, or if you want to check on your progress. At the follow-up visit another ultrasound examination will be done.

If you are still pregnant after taking the medicine, your clinician will help you decide what to do. You may:

• Wait 2-6 weeks and see if the tissue is expelled
• Take more misoprostol
• Need a surgical abortion

After you take the medicine and before your follow-up exam:

• Do not take a vitamin with folic acid
• Do not take aspirin
• Do not drink alcoholic drinks
• Do not take anti-coagulant (anti-clotting) drugs

[top of page]

• No anesthesia or surgery
• Can be done early
• More control
• They may feel it is less invasive
• More "natural"
• They may feel it is more like a miscarriage
• More privacy
• They may have the abortion at home
• Decreased risk of damage to the uterus

Abortions are safest early in pregnancy. 96% of women in clinical trials would recommend medication abortion to a friend.

[top of page]

Medication abortion is not recommended if you:

• Are more than 56 days pregnant
• Are unable to stop smoking for a few days. If you are 35 years or older and smoke 10 or more cigarettes a day, you will be advised to stop smoking for up to 5 days. You cannot smoke for 24 hours prior to taking mifepristone and for 24 hours after taking misoprostol
• Take anti-clotting medication or have blood-clotting disorders
• Have severe heart, liver, or active inflammatory bowel disease
• Have certain severe kidney problems
• Have a serious immune system problem, such as AIDS
• Have seizures more than once a week
• Take any medicine that should not be combined with mifepristone or misoprostol
• Cannot return for follow-up visits
• Would not have a surgical abortion if medication abortion fails
• Have an IUD (removing the IUD is necessary to use mifepristone)
• Have a pregnancy outside the uterus (ectopic pregnancy)
• Have problems with your adrenal glands (chronic adrenal failure)
• Take corticosteroids

For a small number of women who cannot take mifepristone due to one or more of the medical contraindications listed above, there is another option for medication abortion using methotrexate and misoprostol. Methotrexate is administered as an injection and takes slightly longer to act. After the methotrexate injection you will take misoprostol orally. 50% of women will have the abortion the same day they take the misoprostol, while another 35-40% will have the abortion within a week. Methotrexate acts by stopping pregnancy in the uterus or in the fallopian tubes (ectopic pregnancy) and is 90% effective. Because methotrexate and mifepristone affect the body differently, a clinician can help you decide which is best for you.

[top of page]

Early Option Pill: 1-877-7-EARLY OPTION

[top of page]