The Abortion Pill: A Woman’s Right to Reproductive Health

February 21, 2024

If you’re unexpectedly pregnant, you may be looking at the abortion pill as an option. However, it’s essential to know everything you can before undergoing this procedure, including how it works, if you’re eligible, and the side effects and risks involved.

How It Works

The abortion pill, also known as a medical abortion, is actually a combination of two drugs used to terminate a pregnancy. 

First, a woman takes mifepristone to block the hormone progesterone. About 24-48 hours later, she would take misoprostol to cause contractions and expel the pregnancy from the uterus.

Am I Eligible?

It’s critical that you know some various conditions and criteria that would make it inadvisable for you to seek the abortion pill. These include if you:

• You have or may have an ectopic pregnancy. 
• Your pregnancy is further than ten weeks gestation.
• You have an intrauterine device (IUD) currently in place.
• You have certain medical conditions, including bleeding disorders; certain heart or blood vessel diseases; severe liver, kidney or lung disease; or an uncontrolled seizure disorder.
• You take a blood thinner or certain steroid medicines.
• You can’t make follow-up visits to your provider or don’t have access to emergency care.
• You have an allergy to the medicine used.

West Virginia prohibits all abortions except in the cases of nonmedically viable fetuses, ectopic pregnancies, and medical emergencies, as well as rape and incest up to 14 weeks into a pregnancy. This would mean you would need to go out of state to get the abortion pill.

What Are The Side Effects And Risks?

It’s essential to be aware that the drugs used for a medical abortion are typically used at home. Following their intake, it’s common to undergo abdominal cramping and vaginal bleeding. Some individuals have reported experiencing pain that is more intense than anticipated.

Additional side effects of the abortion drugs include:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Fever
• Chills
• Diarrhea
• Headache
• Weakness
• Dizziness

You should also take into consideration the risks, which can be severe and include:

• Seeing fetal parts expelled
• Incomplete abortion, which is when parts of the terminated pregnancy remain in your uterus
• An ongoing pregnancy if the procedure doesn’t work; Misoprostol may cause birth defects
• Heavy and prolonged bleeding; 1% of women need a D&C to stop hemorrhaging
• Life threatening Infection
• Fever
• Digestive system discomfort
• Undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy

Your Right To Reproductive Health

You deserve the best care and the full scope of information on the abortion pill during your pregnancy. We want you to be able to move forward.

Women’s Care Center is a medical clinic that provides complimentary pregnancy services, such as pregnancy testing, limited obstetrical ultrasounds, and more, to protect your right to reproductive health.

Call now at 304-485-7113 or 800-595-7113 to schedule an appointment. You can click here to learn more.