Abortion Pill Myths & Facts

This page Includes: Thinking about Abortion Pill?—Myths & Facts Overview—Myths & Facts Details—Get Help—Glossary—Citations.

An unplanned pregnancy can be a shock and confusing. It can create many emotions and thoughts. If you are already thinking about the Abortion Pill (medication abortion or medical abortion), it could be overwhelming with the many details and issues that are involved.

Because your current and future health are important, you probably want confidence that you are getting accurate pregnancy options and abortion facts.

This information will help you understand and reject the myths and misinformation that you may hear, and become informed enough to embrace the accurate Abortion Pill facts. This will help you make good decisions now and in the future. It is your pregnancy, your right to know, and your decision.

As your best first step, it is important to get a medical grade pregnancy test to confirm an accurate pregnancy test, and then an ultrasound, to confirm the viability of the pregnancy. This will help to define your options including details about the pregnancy and about the Abortion Pill.

We are available to help answer your abortion questions and provide information and resources as you consider your pregnancy options. All our services and information are FREE.

We are not an abortion provider or abortion referral agency, so we do not benefit financially from your decision.

On this page is a list of some of the more common Abortion Myths and Facts topics – click on each item below to jump to that section on this page.

• Women’s abortion experiences
• Abortion Pill side effects, risks, and complications
• Abortion clinics – what they tell you
• Abortion Pill can be taken by who?

Here are the Abortion Myth statements discussed on this page.

• All women have the same abortion experiences.
• There are no consequences to having an abortion.
• Abortion Pill side effects and risks are tiny or so rare it doesn’t matter.
• Abortion Pill doesn’t have any mental health impact.
• Abortion Pill is completely safe.
• The US government has assessed the Abortion Pill drugs as being completely safe.
• Abortion clinics always provide you with complete and unbiased information.
• Some abortion clinics say or imply the Abortion Pill does not have potentially significant physical risks, so it must be true.
• Abortion clinics don’t make money on abortions.
• Any pregnant woman can take the Abortion Pill.

Four Abortion Pill Myths and Facts are listed below. Check back here again as we may expand this list.

Feel free to ask about these or other Abortion Pill Facts and Myths at your appointment.

In this myth statement, there are other related myths often included:

• Since some women experience Abortion a certain way, this means you will likely experience it the same way.
• There are no consequences to having an abortion.

The American Psychological Association (APA) research indicates women who have an abortion have a “diversity of experiences” ¹. Before an abortion, some women ask important questions about abortion pros and cons and about abortion facts, and some do not. During or after a medical abortion, some women have experienced a high intensity of pain and bleeding, possible complications, and confusing emotional/mental reactions. Some women have expressed surprise at the intensity of the Abortion Pill experience. Some have expressed regret taking the Abortion Pill. Therefore, it is important that women’s varied experiences of abortion be recognized, validated, and understood.

It is a logical and medical error to state that what occurs for some women will occur for all women.

Women’s abortion experiences may include a wide range of possible physical and mental/emotional side effects, risks, and complications. ^2,3,4,5,6,7

In this myth statement, there are other related myths often included:

• There are no consequences to having an abortion.
• Abortion does not increase your risk of having mental health problems.
• The Abortion Pill does not have potentially significant physical risks.

If you’re thinking about getting a medical abortion, learn all you can about the procedure. Understand what it involves and what types of medicine can be used. Be aware of the possible side effects and risks too. ² This will help you have clarity and peace about your decision. In addition to obvious physical issues, the experience of abortion has risks for mental health issues and emotional responses – for example it can lead to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and problems with interpersonal relations.³

Emotional / Psychological Side Effects

It is not unusual for a woman to experience a range of psychological and emotional responses after having an abortion. ^2,3  Any pregnancy loss (abortion, miscarriage) can lead to an interruption in a woman’s hormone cycle. As you may know, when a hormone cycle is interrupted or changed, it can have a deeply emotional, psychological, and physical impact on a woman.

The negative feelings a woman has after a planned pregnancy termination (elective abortion) may be at least partly due to hormonal changes, like those that occur after a spontaneous unplanned pregnancy loss (miscarriage, or spontaneous abortion). Also, for some women, how they cope with crisis, their existing mental health and stressors, and their support system can all affect how they deal with an abortion.³

Abortion Pill Side Effects ^2,7,9

Mayo Clinic lists about 30 possible abortion pill side effects.⁷  Here are just a few of them:

• Intense cramping of the uterus
• Pelvic / abdominal pain
• Vaginal bleeding – excessive bleeding may require surgery to stop it
• Fever and infection
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Nausea / digestive system discomfort
• Vomiting
• Emotional / psychological impact / distress ^{2, 3}

Abortion Pill Risks

• Telehealth (virtual / remote) audio or video assessment – limited medical contact
• Ectopic pregnancy – can be life-threatening
• Hemorrhaging – may require surgery to stop it
• Infection – incomplete removal of the fetus or surrounding tissues may require antibiotics and/or surgery

U.S. FDA Drug Warnings & Use

The U.S. FDA has enough of a safety concern that they have one of the medical abortion drugs under their Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program. This program is for certain medications with serious safety concerns to help ensure the benefits of the medication outweigh its risks. While all medications have labeling that informs healthcare stakeholders about medication risks, only a few medications require a REMS.^{8, 9}

Before using one of the Abortion Pill drugs, the FDA has a requirement that the patient must sign a Patient Agreement Form indicating that the patient received counseling from the healthcare provider regarding the risk of serious complications associated with one of the abortion drugs. ⁸

Abortion Clinics may have certain motives – Abortion clinics can make substantial money from abortions, so they can have a strong interest in doing abortions.

U.S. FDA Drug Warnings & Use – is sometimes missing or not very prevalent on Abortion Clinic websites. The U.S. FDA has enough of a safety concern that they have one of the medical abortion drugs under their Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program. This program is for certain medications with serious safety concerns to help ensure the benefits of the medication outweigh its risks. While all medications have labeling that informs healthcare stakeholders about medication risks, only a few medications require a REMS.^{8, 9}

Within this myth statement, there are other related myths often included:

• The Abortion Pill is completely safe for any pregnant woman.
• Since some women experience pregnancy and Abortion a certain way, this means you will likely experience it the same way. (See Myth and Fact #1)

A woman should not take the Abortion Pill if it has been more than 70 days since the first day of their last menstrual period, or if they: ¹⁰

• have an ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy outside of the uterus)
• have problems with the adrenal glands (the glands near the kidneys)
• are currently being treated with long-term corticosteroid therapy
• have had an allergic reaction to the abortion pill medications or similar drugs
• have bleeding problems or are taking anticoagulant (blood thinning) drug products
• have inherited porphyria (a rare disorder that can affect the liver and other organs)
• have an intrauterine device (IUD) in place (it must be removed before taking one of the abortion pill drugs)