Are the abortion pills an option for me?

The abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol are a safe option for many people choosing to end a pregnancy. In other words, most people are eligible to take the pills.

Your health care practicioner will ask questions to make sure medicationabortion is a safe choice for you.

Eligibility Factors

• Gestational age. We calculate the estimated gestational age by the first day of bleeding of the last period. Rarely, we check an ultrasound to confirm the dates. We see patients up to 11 weeks from their last period. The FDA approves the use of mifepristone up to 10 weeks, and Medi-cal covers services until this point. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization suggests its use up to 13 weeks.

• Ectopic pregnancy. Medication abortion does not treat confirmed ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside of the uterus) and is contraindicated in these cases.

• Intra-Uterine Device. If someone becomes pregnant while an IUD is in place, their IUD must be removed before they can take the abortion pills or having an abortion procedure like manual uterine aspiration.

• Medical conditions. If someone has the following conditions, they likely need to consider having an abortion procedure for safety reasons.

  • Ongoing, long term systemic corticosteroid therapy

  • Chronic adrenal failure

  • Bleeding conditions like coagulopathy, on anticoagulant treatment, inherited porphyria

  • A known allergy to mifepristone or misoprostol

What if I’m not eligible for medication abortion?

If the abortion pills are not an appropriate choice for you for medical reasons, your health care practitioner will discuss other options for you. For example:

• Manual uterine aspiration in office procedure for patients up to 13-14 weeks, who do not have an ectopic pregnancy and no other contraindications.

• Dilatation and evacuation (D & E) surgical procedure for patients in their 2nd trimester.

• Ectopic pregnancy treatment, which either entails an injected medication or a surgical procedure depending on the case.

Still Not sure if you’re eligible?

Contact us with your questions!