If you’re considering abortion, you may have questions about how the abortion pill or a surgical abortion could affect your health. Both involve physical changes to the body and come with potential side effects and risks that are worth understanding.
Your medical history and details about your pregnancy are also relevant to your health and safety as you consider your options.
Haven Health offers no-cost, lab-quality pregnancy testing and limited OB ultrasounds in a professional, welcoming setting. Make an appointment with our medical team to learn more about your pregnancy and get informed about the risks of abortion.
What Are the Risks of the Abortion Pill?
The abortion pill, also known as a medical abortion, uses two drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, to end a pregnancy. The abortion pill is FDA-approved to end an intrauterine pregnancy through 10 weeks of gestation.
Mifepristone may cause serious side effects. Heavy vaginal bleeding and abdominal cramping are expected during a medical abortion. Other possible side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, fever, and chills.
Potential complications can include:
- An incomplete abortion that requires additional treatment
- Heavy bleeding
- Infection
- Fever
- Digestive symptoms
- An ongoing pregnancy if the drugs do not completely end the pregnancy
The abortion pill also does not end an ectopic pregnancy, which occurs when a pregnancy implants outside the uterus. An ectopic pregnancy requires immediate medical treatment and can become life-threatening if left untreated.
What Are the Risks of Surgical Abortion?
Surgical abortion is performed using suction, medical instruments, or both to manually remove the pregnancy from the uterus in a hospital or clinical environment. The specific procedure used can depend on how far along the pregnancy is and generally involves dilation followed by a mixture of suction and scraping.
Potential risks can include:
- Heavy bleeding
- Infection
- An incomplete abortion that requires additional treatment
- Injury to the cervix
- Perforation of the uterus
- Complications related to sedation or anesthesia, when used
Why Learn More About Your Pregnancy First?
A positive pregnancy test measures human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a hormone produced by the placenta during pregnancy. A pregnancy test alone, however, cannot tell you how far along you are, where your pregnancy is located, or whether your pregnancy is developing.
A limited obstetrical ultrasound can provide this information. Gestational age matters because the FDA has approved mifepristone with misoprostol only through 10 weeks of gestation. Pregnancy location is also important because the abortion pill cannot end an ectopic pregnancy.
Get Informed at Haven Health
At Haven Health, our medical team can help you learn more about your pregnancy and answer your questions so you can leave informed and equipped with accurate information about your health and pregnancy.
Reach out to schedule a no-cost, confidential appointment with Haven Health and get your questions answered.
Haven Health does not provide or refer for abortions.
All abortion information in this blog is based on accurate information available at the time of writing.
