How is the abortion pill different from Plan B? Are there age limits to take it?
As the F.D.A. makes it available by mail, here are 7 simple questions about the abortion pill answered by a gynecologist.
ANSIRH
As the F.D.A. makes it available by mail, here are 7 simple questions about the abortion pill answered by a gynecologist.
ANSIRH
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00:00Really, as soon as someone has a positive pregnancy test, the most important criterion
00:21is how far along they are in their pregnancy.
00:24So the FDA has approved these medications for use through 10 weeks of pregnancy, counting
00:29from the first day of the last menstrual period.
00:31There's actually evidence that they can be used up through 11 weeks.
00:35But if patients are much past that, then this isn't the best method.
00:39Emergency contraception works by preventing an unwanted pregnancy after someone's had
00:49sex.
00:50If a pregnancy has already been established, emergency contraception has no effect.
00:56It won't cause an abortion.
00:58But these two pills for medication abortion work to end an already established pregnancy.
01:12So the abortion pill is actually two pills.
01:16The first one is called mifepristone, and the second one is called misoprostol.
01:22So mifepristone works by blocking the progesterone receptor, and progesterone is really important
01:28in helping to sustain the early pregnancy.
01:31And by blocking that effect, it causes the lining of the uterus to become thin, and the
01:36pregnancy starts to kind of separate from the uterine wall.
01:39The second medication, misoprostol, is a prostaglandin, and prostaglandins have the effect of causing
01:47the cervix to open up and causing the uterus to contract.
01:52And so the effect of this medication is to essentially expel the early pregnancy.
01:58Very similar to miscarriage.
02:05Patients can use medication abortion really at any age.
02:08I've had patients who are, you know, young, younger than 15 years of age who have used
02:15medication abortion.
02:16There's no evidence that having a medication abortion has any effect on future fertility
02:24or outcomes with a future pregnancy.
02:27Some states may have certain requirements in terms of parental notification or requiring
02:33parental consent, but usually that process is no different for medication abortion compared
02:40to having a vacuum aspiration abortion.
02:47Serious complications are really, really rare.
02:51Things like having to be hospitalized, needing to have a blood transfusion, needing to have
03:00surgery like abdominal surgery.
03:04In studies that have looked at this, it's less than half a percent of patients who have
03:09a serious complication like that.
03:12The risk of blood transfusion is generally less than one in a thousand.
03:17So again, it's normal to have bleeding, but it would be abnormal to have excessive bleeding.
03:23If people have a fever, that could be a sign of developing infection.
03:26People should be on the lookout for that.
03:27And if they have that, get seen.
03:34Someone has a bleeding disorder or takes blood thinning medications, again, causing heavy
03:39bleeding.
03:41Or if someone has an IUD, intrauterine device for birth control inside the uterus, that
03:48needs to be removed first.
03:50People who have been on steroids for a long period of time might also not be the best
03:59candidates.
04:04Medication abortion is generally available in most clinics that provide abortion care.
04:14Some private OBGYN offices or primary care clinicians like family medicine doctors also
04:21provide medication abortion.
04:24There are many registries online where you can go and actually see where services are
04:31available.
04:32The past year or so, there's been a development of several online telehealth services that
04:39are providing medication abortion.
04:41They can only operate in some states.
04:45Sometimes it involves talking to a clinician directly.
04:47Sometimes it involves putting your health information into the online portal that then
04:51gets reviewed by a clinician.
04:54And then the medications are sent through a mail-order pharmacy.
04:57It may be very different in other states.