Welcome!
This site provides medically accurate and evidence-based information about medication abortion to researchers and health service providers, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, midwives, counselors, community health workers, and office staff. Educational information is also provided for women considering the option of medication abortion.
Information contained in this website is derived from literature published in international medical journals. The content of the website has been reviewed by experts in the field and is updated periodically.
Since the launch of the website in 2003, medicationabortion.com has become a global resource. The website receives more than a million visitors a year from over 200 countries and territories. We have optimized this text-heavy website to accommodate users in low resource settings.
What is medication abortion?
Medication abortion, also known as medical abortion, the abortion pill, non-aspiration, or non-surgical abortion, refers to a family of safe and effective methods for terminating an unwanted pregnancy. Through the use of a drug or combination of drugs that are administered orally, vaginally, buccally, sublingually, and/or intramuscularly, medication abortion causes the pregnancy to terminate and the uterus to expel the products of conception. Worldwide, three methods of medication abortion are in practice for early pregnancy termination:
Questions?
If you have questions about medication abortion, please visit our frequently asked questions section.
"I am 22 years old and I am from Peru. Abortion is very restricted in my country but I was able to get misoprostol pills from a pharmacy in my town. I am planning on taking the first dose tomorrow. What kind of bleeding will I have after I take the pills? My last period started seven weeks ago."
About the creators of this website: Ibis Reproductive Health and Cambridge Reproductive Health Consultants
Ibis Reproductive Health is an international nonprofit organization with a mission to improve women’s reproductive autonomy, choices, and health worldwide. Our core activity is clinical and social science research, focused on issues receiving inadequate attention in other research settings and where gaps in the evidence exist. Our agenda is driven by women’s needs and prioritizes increasing access to safe abortion, expanding contraceptive access and choices, and integrating HIV and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services. We partner with advocates and other stakeholders who use our research to improve policies and delivery of services in countries around the world. To learn more about Ibis, please visit the Ibis website (English only).
Cambridge Reproductive Health Consultants (CRHC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving reproductive health and fostering reproductive justice worldwide. By leveraging the skills of professionals from a variety of fields and disciplines, CRHC focuses on increasing access to safe, legal, high quality, and affordable abortion care, reducing harm from unsafe abortion, increasing access to emergency contraception and long-acting reversible contraceptive methods, and advancing new reproductive health technologies in low resource environments and protracted refugee and conflict settings. CRHC accomplishes its mission by conducting action- and intervention-oriented research, creating and incubating new and innovative programs, and developing and delivering evidence-based reproductive health information, resources, and trainings. To learn more about CRHC, please visit the CRHC website (English only).