Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsDo You Need a Prescription for Abortion Pills?How Safe and Effective Are Abortion Pills?Should You Order Abortion Pills Online?

Table of ContentsView All

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Table of Contents

Do You Need a Prescription for Abortion Pills?

How Safe and Effective Are Abortion Pills?

Should You Order Abortion Pills Online?

“Abortion, including use of abortion pills at home, is very safe. What’s dangerous is stigma and policies that restrict people from accessing reproductive health care,” Robin Wallace, MD, MAS, medical advisor of family planning standards at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told Verywell in an email.

Medication abortions involve either a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol or misoprostol alone. Mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone to stop a pregnancy, while misoprostol causes contractions and bleeding to empty the uterus.

Mifepristone has about a five-year shelf life, and misoprostol lasts about two years.

Some people wonder if they should stock up on abortion pills before Trump takes office next year. Here’s what you need to know.

Abortion pills are not the same as over-the-counter emergency contraceptives like the morning-after pill. You will need a prescription to access abortion pills.

The non-profit organizationPlan Ccan help you find information about accessing medication abortions in your state. Another non-profit,AidAccess, can help you get a prescription for abortion pills in all 50 states for $150 or less.

“With the expansion of telehealth provision of medication abortion, persons living in states that ban abortion have been able to obtain prescriptions for abortion pills through clinicians who work in states where abortion is available,”Joanne D. Rosen, JD, MA, co-director of the Center for Law and the Public’s Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Verywell in an email.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mifepristone in combination with misoprostol through the 10th week of pregnancy, but some experts say medication abortion is safe up to 15 weeks.

“Both mifepristone and misoprostol are safe and effective. Millions of people have used these medications for decades to end early pregnancies safely,” Wallace said.

Most people use abortion pills without complications, and the medications generally do not affect future pregnancies. However, they can cause allergic reactions, infections, blood clots in the uterus, or excessive bleeding. In rare cases, the pregnancy may continue, or some tissue may remain in the uterus.

Contact a healthcare provider if you do not experience bleeding within 24 hours or if you have heavy bleeding, large clots, fever, or persistent cramps despite taking pain medication.

“If a person does need to seek medical care after having a home abortion, they can decide whether or not they want to tell their healthcare provider that they had a home abortion. The medications used for home abortion are the same medications used to treat miscarriage,”Misa D. Perron-Burdick, MD, an Idaho-based OB/GYN and Physicians for Reproductive Health fellow, told Verywell.

Perron-Burdick added that the standard treatment for abortion complications is the same as for miscarriage, regardless of whether mifepristone or misoprostol was used.

TheRepro Legal HelplineandMiscarriage and Abortion Hotlineare two helpful resources for answers to your specific questions about your legal reproductive rights.

It’s still uncertain how the Trump administration might handle access to medication abortion. However, many are concerned about Project 2025—a conservative policy agenda that mentions plans to enforce the Comstock Act of 1873. This 19th-century law restricts the distribution of “obscene” materials or “any article or thing designed or intended for the prevention of conception or procuring an abortion.”Enforcing this act could potentially ban the mailing of abortion medications nationwide, even in states where abortion is legal and protected.

“Enforcement efforts that would go after the legal prescription of medication abortion would be a complete misuse of the Comstock Act. The Comstock Act has never, in its 150-year history, been used to pursue doctors who are performing legal abortion care,”Linda C. Goldstein, JD, a senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Verywell.

Even if the Comstock Act is not enforced, accessing abortion pills via telehealth may become more difficult.Project 2025 also mentioned potentially revoking the FDA approval for mifepristone.

Even if you’re not currently pregnant, AidAccess can help you get abortion pills now to store for the future.

While having this medication on hand is important for some people, stockpiling the pills can lead to shortages. This might make it harder for people already struggling to get reproductive health and abortion care, according to Perron-Burdick.

What This Means For YouAbortion pills are a safe and effective option for early pregnancy termination, but access may become more restricted under future political changes. If you’re considering stocking up on abortion medication, weigh the decision carefully to avoid creating shortages for others in need.

What This Means For You

Abortion pills are a safe and effective option for early pregnancy termination, but access may become more restricted under future political changes. If you’re considering stocking up on abortion medication, weigh the decision carefully to avoid creating shortages for others in need.

12 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Guttmacher Institute.Medication abortion accounted for 63% of all US abortions in 2023—an increase from 53% in 2020.

Planned Parenthood.The abortion pill.

Plan C.How people get abortion pills online in every state: frequently asked questions.

Planned Parenthood.Is there an over the counter abortion pill that I can take without a prescription?.

Kapp N, Andersen K, Griffin R, Handayani AP, Schellekens M, Gomperts R.Medical abortion at 13 or more weeks gestation provided through telemedicine: a retrospective review of services.Contracept X. 2021;3:100057. doi:10.1016/j.conx.2021.100057

Food and Drug Administration.Questions and answers on mifepristone for medical termination of pregnancy through ten weeks gestation.

Yale Medicine.Medication abortion: your questions answered.

Planned Parenthood.How safe is the abortion pill?

KFF.The Comstock Act: implications for abortion care nationwide.

Guttmacher Institute.How Project 2025 seeks to obliterate sexual and reproductive health and rights.

AidAccess.Abortion pills for future use.

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