Regardless of their legality status in various countries, one definite thing that research tells us, is that more and more American women terminate their pregnancy with home abortion kit, however the question begs – how safe is it?

The Roe Vs Wade case legalized pregnancy terminations almost half a century ago, the access to abortion however still remains restricted till this day. These restrictions to abortion, make it more difficult as well as costlier for anyone to access.

Due to such restrictions, many women have started to buy abortion pill online and have the pregnancy terminated at home by themselves. Such steep rise in women using abortion pills at home, leads us to the question whether one can safely end pregnancy with medications at home.

Accessing abortion pills

Many women who struggle to find an access to a clinic that provides abortive care, order abortion pill online or travel to a place where they are readily available.

In fact, in the previous year alone, millions of search queries could be found on Google, such as for e.g.– ‘buy MTP Kit’ or ‘online abortion pills’ etc. Therefore, several connected services are also popping up, these ones offer advice on how to use the abortion pills, as well as its indications, precautions, contra-indications as well as side effects etc.

They type of abortion pills used

When women first access medical abortion, they are surprised that there is just not one abortion pill, but two are required for completion of the process. This first drug that is administered is called Mifepristone [ also called Mifeprex/ RU-486] which is given in one pill of 200 mg dosage.

The other drug is called the Misoprostol [ also called Cytolog], which is given in 4 pills dosage 200 mcg each.

Abortion pills working

The Mifepristone pill is an anti-progesterone which stops the pregnancy-essential hormones from continuation of conception. Due to the blockage of this hormone, the uterine lining which keeps the embryo attached is broken. This leads to the separation of embryonic cells from the uterus. This drug additionally widens and softens the cervix, so that the conception parts can easily pass through vaginal discharge.

The Misoprostol pill is a prostaglandin analogue and an ecbolic medication in nature. It causes uterine contractions as a result, which help the detached parts of embryo to be expelled from the uterus.

This pills are to be taken in the following regimen as per the FDA protocol –
First, swallow a tablet of mifepristone [ 200 mg] then after 24-48 hours of mandatory interval, put 4 tablets of Misoprostol 2x2 in each cheek pouches. Let them dissolve for 30 minutes before swallowing them.

Are they safe?

Doctors say that abortion pills are to be taken to terminate pregnancies that are within 10 weeks of gestation and are one of the safest medical procedures. In fact, science and research tells us that the combination of Mifepristone and Misoprostol is 97-98%, making it the safest pills for medical pregnancy termination.