SAFETY OF THE ABORTION PILL

Is the abortion pill safe enough for terminating pregnancy?

Unplanned or unwanted pregnancies do happen and not every woman is capable of seeing it to the last term or caring for the baby afterwards for a variety of reasons. Abortion pills under medical supervision are a comparatively safer way to end pregnancies and a better option over surgical abortion, if the pregnancy is less than 9 weeks.

Abortion pill is not without its complications and no abortion procedure should be considered as a viable alternative to contraception. The procedure is done in two sessions. The abortion pill known as RU486 (Mifepristone-Mifeprex) is first ingested by the woman and after two days, another medicine called Misoprostal- Cytotec is administered which makes the uterine wall contract and expel the pregnancy tissue. In the second session, doses of Methotrexate are given and a week later, another does of Misoprostal is given to cause more uterine contractions for expelling the pregnancy tissue.

A common error is to confuse abortion pills with the morning-after pills which are not the same thing. Abortion pills terminate established pregnancies while morning-after pills prevent pregnancy after sex.

As in any medical intervention, even safe abortion pills have a fair share of controversies and doubts but according to the World Health Organization, abortion pills are a safe and effective method of terminating pregnancy and the rate of maternal death is very low. It is also a less invasive and cheaper option.

Before embarking on this procedure it is necessary that the woman be counseled and given important information and guidelines. There are certain safety criteria to be followed for the comparative success of this procedure.

The first thing is to establish that pregnancy exists. An ultra sound should be done to determine the number of weeks of the pregnancy because after 9 weeks of established pregnancy taking abortion pills becomes complicated and must be avoided.

The patient must be willing to undergo this procedure and give informed consent. The patient also has to have access to reliable transportation and a telephone, and should be living within a 2 hour distance of a hospital. The patient also has to be willing to come back to the abortion clinic for follow-ups. The patient must also agree to a surgical abortion if the abortion pill fails.

To ensure the safety and health of the patient, women are advised against abortion pills for the following reasons:

If the patient has adrenal failure, severe anemia, diarrhea, or inherited porphyria, an abortion pill is not a viable option. Taking anti-coagulant medicines or long-term corticosteroids are also discouraging for this procedure. Women having a mass in the ovaries or tubes or suspected ectopic pregnancy are also not eligible for these pills. Allergy to mifepristone, misoprostol or any prostaglandin medicine is a deterrent for medical abortion.

The risk of heavy vaginal bleeding is higher for this procedure and a very small percentage of women may need surgical intervention to complete the process. The safety of abortion pills can only be comparative and never definitive but it should never be done without medical supervision.