What should you know before considering an online or at-home abortion?
Before ordering abortion drugs or scheduling a virtual appointment, it is important to understand how the process works, the potential risks involved, and what information about your pregnancy you may not have without an in-person medical evaluation.
Pregnancy Care Center of Rincon offers free and confidential pregnancy services provided by licensed medical personnel. Our staff can help you learn more about your pregnancy and provide factual information about your options before you make a decision.
What Does “Online” or “At-Home” Abortion Involve?
An online or at-home abortion generally refers to a medical abortion performed outside a clinical setting. The process uses two drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, to end a pregnancy.
There is no physical exam, no ultrasound, and often no in-person follow-up with anyone who has reviewed your medical history. Without an in-person medical evaluation, important information about your health and pregnancy may not be confirmed beforehand.
What Does the FDA Say About Abortion Drugs Purchased Online?
The FDA warns against buying abortion drugs from online vendors because there is no way to confirm the quality, dosage, or active ingredients of medications shipped from unknown or overseas sources.
Products purchased from unknown sources could be counterfeit, contaminated, expired, or contain inaccurate amounts of the active ingredients.
Why Does an Ultrasound Matter Before Anything Else?
There is more to know about your pregnancy than a positive test can tell you. How far along are you? Is the pregnancy developing? Is the pregnancy located inside the uterus?
An ultrasound can provide answers to these questions.
Gestational age matters because the FDA-approved abortion pill regimen is approved for the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. An ultrasound can provide information about how far the pregnancy has progressed and whether the pregnancy is developing or a miscarriage may have occurred.
An ultrasound also screens for an ectopic pregnancy, which happens when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, often in a fallopian tube.
Ectopic pregnancies cannot be treated with the abortion pill and can rupture, causing internal bleeding and life-threatening complications if left untreated.
Without ultrasound imaging, you have no reliable way to know where your pregnancy is located.
What Are the Risks of Taking Abortion Drugs at Home?
Certain health conditions and other factors can affect the safety and risks of taking abortion drugs. Without an in-person medical evaluation, some of these factors may go undetected, leaving you without important information about your health.
You become the responsible party for monitoring yourself for serious complications, rather than your doctor, and also disposing of the remains of your pregnancy.
These complications can include heavy or prolonged bleeding, infection, incomplete abortion, severe abdominal pain, and high fever lasting more than 24 hours.
Any of these symptoms can escalate quickly and may require emergency care.
You’ve Got This. We’ve Got Your Back.
Before considering an online or at-home abortion, get the facts about your pregnancy in person.
Pregnancy Care Center of Rincon offers free pregnancy testing, an on-site ultrasound following a positive test, and information about all available pregnancy options.
Contact us today to schedule your free and confidential appointment.
The Pregnancy Care Center of Rincon does not provide or refer for abortions.