FAQ

Chemical abortion (also known as RU-486, medical abortion, at-home abortion, self-managed abortion, & pill abortion) is the abortion of a baby typically in the first trimester using powerful drugs called Mifepristone and Misoprostol. This type of abortion makes up more than half of all abortions in the U.S. and has killed 24 women and injured thousands more since its legalization in 2000.

Simply put, chemical abortion works by blocking key pregnancy hormones then stimulating the expulsion of the baby’s remains. When a mother begins a chemical abortion, she is first given mifepristone, which blocks progesterone. This hormone is responsible for many facets of pregnancy, from the health of the uterine wall to the stimulation of the mother’s body to provide nutrients to the baby. Next, the woman is given a second drug, misoprostol, which artificially stimulates strong contractions to expel the remains of the baby. About 5 percent of the time, the drug combination won’t work and a surgery is required to either end the pregnancy or remove the dead infant and placenta. The older the child, the higher the failure rate of chemical abortion.

Side effects and/or complications that accompany chemical abortions are:

• pain, possibly severe
• heavy and/or prolonged bleeding for multiple weeks
• fever
• infection
• incomplete abortion (requiring surgical follow-up)
• nausea and vomiting
• diarrhea
• feeling dizzy or heaving a headache
• short-lasting hot flashes
• hemorrhage
• blood clots
• undetected ectopic pregnancy, which is life-threatening
• permanent infertility, if an Rh negative mother is not administered RhoGAM as is done with dangerous “no-test” abortions and telemedicine chemical abortions. Read more about Rh dangers here.
• maternal death

A 2018 study in Sweden, where abortion is legal and not altogether controversial, reported:

• Complications occurred in 7.3% of the medical abortions < 12 weeks. Over time, the rate of complications for medical abortions < 12 weeks increased from 4.2% in 2008 to 8.2% in 2015. [...] The most common complication (57%) related to medical abortions < 12 weeks was incomplete abortions, which occurred 153 times, comprising 4.1% of all medical abortions.

WATCH: What You’re Not Told About Fertility & Chemical Abortion Pills

No. Sadly, sellers of chemical abortion are actively trying to muddy the differences between chemical abortion and birth control pills. Already, there is a similarity in that a woman consumes a pill in order to avoid bearing a child. But that is where the similarities end.

Hormonal birth control (pills, implants, IUDs, injections) is not a guaranteed abortifacient. That is, while it is capable of ending the life of a very new human (and says so on the box), its primary function is not to do so. Hormonal contraception works, in layman’s terms, via four lines of defenses.

Hormonal contraception is administered constantly in order to suppress a woman’s fertility. In order, the four defenses against pregnancy are: Suppressing Ovulation, Thickening of Cervical Fluid, Changing Movement of Cilia in the Fallopian Tubes, and Thinning of the Uterine Lining. That last line of defense, the thinning of the endometrium, is the part that can be abortifacient. If the first three defenses fail and a new human is conceived, that new human (called a blastocyst, at that stage) may not be able to implant and dies as a result. Because of the possibility of abortion, consistent pro-life advocates oppose its use.

Chemical abortion is not a preventative attempt. Human offspring has been created, implanted, and is living and developing. Chemical abortion is the intentional termination of that human life within the first trimester by blocking necessary hormones to end the life then stimulating the expulsion of the remains.

The disregard for women’s safety is blatant in research about chemical abortion, too. A recent “retrospective case study of abortions at 13 or more weeks gestation provided by Women on Web between 2016 and 2019,” for instance, turned up some frightening results.

After buying mifepristone and misoprostol online and taking them at home…

• 10% of women reported a continuing pregnancy.
• 29% reported adverse events (heavy bleeding, fever).
• 43% needed to seek subsequent medical help from a health provider.
• 18% of all cases required a subsequent surgical abortion.

These are not good numbers. Yet the abortion-friendly researchers (including Rebecca Gomperts, the abortionist who founded Women on Web, an online distributor of chemical abortion drugs, whether its legal or not) concluded, “Provision through telemedicine at 13 to 15 weeks appears safe and effective.”

They go on to say, “Limited data suggest that medical abortion through telemedicine services may be a safe option through 15 weeks gestation in settings where there is ready access to the formal health system.”

So… nearly half of women needing to seek medical care afterwards is a statistic they’re comfortable with. Then, they have the gall to suggest that second-trimester chemical abortion is safe – provided you live very near to a hospital.

In a different study, 1000 women who attempted chemical abortions were surveyed for adverse outcomes. The results were similarly concerning:

• 7 of them reported needing a blood transfusion afterwards.
• 26 reported needing antibiotics for an infection.
• For 50 women, the drugs failed and a surgical abortion was sought.
• 93 reported experiencing any symptom for which they were advised to seek medical advice, and, of these, 87 sought attention.

Yet still, the researchers here conclude that webcam chemical abortion is “highly effective.” In fact, they say that “outcomes compare favourably with in clinic protocols.” The risk of chemical abortion takes a turn for the worse when women are sent away to deal with it alone, but the fact that it’s comparably dangerous with medical supervision isn’t good news for women, either.

The FDA and other regulatory entities have proven that they are not interested in regulating chemical abortion drugs. Recently, the abortion lobby succeeded in pressuring the FDA to remove safety protocols (called REMs– Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy) to make it easier to sell the deadly pills by cutting out health and safety standards. This puts women at risk of injury, infection, lost fertility, and even death. 

Regulation of the drugs is abysmal across the board. Abortion facilities nationwide advertise the pills up to varying gestational ages, including those that exceed the FDA’s safety recommendation of 70 days (10 weeks) LMP. If you search “medical abortion” online, you’ll find results containing many different assertions as to the cutoff for “safe” chemical abortion, ranging anywhere from 5 weeks to 15+ weeks.

Read: Why Do Some Pills Have a “Get Out of Regulation Free” Card?
Read: Injury, Infertility, and Death from Chemical Abortions are A-OK with the FDA

The rise of chemical abortion is decisive proof that abortion vendors’ mission is money, and their plan is to abandon women to whatever happens next. They fight to remove safety regulations, ignore research that says women are hurt by it, and even advise women to lie to their doctors if the chemical abortion goes awry and they need to go to the ER.

In a piece for The Atlantic, it notes: “However, if women using these regimens experience heavy bleeding or some other complication—as about 3 percent of women have—they are generally advised to go to a hospital and say they had a miscarriage.” To clarify, 3% of women who seek chemical abortions is 7,435 annually.

They formally instruct women who take powerful drugs by themselves at home to go to the ER and lie to doctors about what’s wrong with them. With only false information to work with, doctors’ attempts to heal (or even save) the post-abortive woman are at a disadvantage. Chemical abortion is growing rapidly in part because of its appeal to the sellers; there is no liability for them, little time and money involved, and it’s difficult to regulate.

Deception attempts continue in other ways, including a chemical abortion distributor naming themselves “Plan C” and abortion industry focus groups testing out rebranding chemical abortion to be called “missed period pills.” If it wasn’t clear that they don’t respect women and think we’re idiots, that last one proves it.

Please call the 24/7 abortion pill reversal hotline at (877) 558-0333 or visit abortionpillreversal.com to speak to a live representative who can help you right now!