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Chemical Abortion and Abortion Pill Reversal

If you have taken RU-486 and have changed your mind about abortion, there may still be time to save your baby. Call 1 (877) 558-0333 or visit abortionpillreversal.com for more information now.

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What is Chemical Abortion?

A chemical (or medical) abortion is a non-surgical form of abortion in which the mother takes pills containing Mifepristone (RU-486) and Misoprostol (or Cytotec) to end the unborn human life. This procedure is performed during the first trimester of pregnancy. The drugs are approved by the FDA for use up to ten weeks since the first day of her last menstrual period (LMP).

Performing a Chemical Abortion at a Clinic

  1. The mother visits an abortion clinic or doctor’s office and ingests pills containing Mifepristone (also known as RU-486) at the clinic.

  2. This drug blocks the action of the hormone called “progesterone,” which is naturally produced by the mother’s body to enable the mother to sustain and nourish the pregnancy.

  3. When RU-486 blocks progesterone, the lining of the mother’s uterus breaks down, cutting off blood and nourishment to the fetus, who then dies inside the mother’s womb.

  4. Twenty-four to forty-eight hours later, the mother ingests another drug called Misoprostol (also called Cytotec), administered orally or vaginally, which causes contractions and bleeding to expel the fetus from the womb.

Abortion Pill Reversal

If a mother has changed her mind about aborting, there is an option to reverse the abortion pill. The abortion pill reversal process is as follows:

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  1. An ultrasound will be done as soon as possible to confirm heart rate, placement, and dating of the pregnancy.

  2. The doctor or other medical provider will prescribe progesterone, given as a pill to be taken orally or vaginally or possibly by intramuscular injection.

  3. The treatment will usually continue through the first trimester of pregnancy.

 

Mifepristone blocks progesterone’s actions by binding to progesterone receptors in the uterus and the placenta. Progesterone is the natural hormone in a woman’s body that is necessary to nurture and sustain a pregnancy. By giving extra progesterone, we hope to outnumber and outcompete the mifepristone in order to reverse the effects of mifepristone. Initial studies of APR have shown that APR has a 64-68% success rate.

Online Sales of Chemical Abortion

In March 2018, Charlotte Lozier Institute reviewed sites on the worldwide web that offer the two-component abortion pill regimen, either as their business focus or as part of a larger online pharmacy. A brief recap is below (for the full fact sheet click here: www.lozierinstitute.org).

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  • There are 30 abortion-pill focused websites and 42 online pharmacy websites that sell the abortion pill.

  • A total of 39% of the 72 websites mention the FDA

  • The website’s gestational limits at which the regimen can be used varies between 7 weeks to 12 weeks.

  • Side effects/precautions listed on these sites include a variation of the following:

    • (Heavy) bleeding

    • Cramping

    • Fatigue

    • Headache

    • Back/abdominal pain

    • Vomiting

    • Nausea

    • Fever

    • Don’t drink alcohol or smoke

    • Remove IUDs before using the drugs

    • Don’t take in cases of ectopic pregnancy

    • Don’t take if you have liver/kidney/heart disorders

    • Don’t take if allergic to Mifepristone and Misoprostol

    • Don’t breastfeed while using drugs

  • Of the abortion-pill focused sites, only nine of the 30 ask for at least some medical information.

    • Five have medical questionnaires, although for three of the five, the purchaser may simply leave the default answers in place to proceed with a purchase

  • Prices vary from $95 to $488.

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CLI’s review of 72 websites selling chemical abortion kits directly to consumers reveals a significant problem with medical standards oversight, potentially placing the health of many women at risk. Most of the abortion-focused websites do not require any medical background or prescription from the buyer and some sites do not note any limitation based on the gestational stage of pregnancy. That one person can buy 3, 4, 5, and, in some cases, even 9 abortion kits in one purchase – some hundreds of dollars less than those sold at an abortion center – raises major concerns about the possibility of stockpiling the abortion drugs and the reasons one might do so. With as many as 39 percent of these websites claiming to sell FDA-approved abortion drugs, the largely unregulated, easy-access availability of abortion pills on these websites is a situation warranting urgent attention beyond a statement of caution from the FDA.

Child Development at Time of Chemical Abortion

Chemical abortions via abortion pills are performed on mothers who are up to ten weeks pregnant. See the following for information about fetal development up to the ages of ten weeks LMP (since the first day of the mother's last menstrual period).

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Weeks 4-5: During this stage of pregnancy, the preborn child is developing rapidly. At four to five weeks LMP — that is, four to five weeks since the first day of the mother’s last period, and just two to three weeks following fertilization (conception) — the baby’s organs start to develop, and the heart begins to beat. These developmental milestones often take place before the mother even knows she is pregnant.

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Week 8: At eight weeks LMP, the preborn baby’s hands and feet are developing, and the neural pathways in the baby’s brain start to form. The child is constantly moving in the uterus, although the mother cannot feel it.

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Week 9: By nine weeks LMP, the child can suck its thumb, open and close its jaw, stretch, and sigh. The baby’s teeth begin to form and the heart completes dividing into four chambers.

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