Myths About Medical Abortion That Need to Be Busted

Abortion is the deliberate termination of a pregnancy. In general, there are two different types of legal abortions: medical abortion (also known as medication abortion or pill abortion) and surgical abortion.

Medical Abortion

A medical abortion, often known as a pill abortion, is a method of terminating a pregnancy by the use of medicine. You can undergo a home abortion with the most effectual medications of Mifepristone and Misoprostol, or by utilizing misoprostol in multiple doses.

Abortion pills work by relaxing the cervix (which opens the uterus) and causing uterine contractions. This results in bleeding and cramps, as well as the pregnancy's termination. Abortions performed under medical supervision are quite similar to spontaneous miscarriages. Pain or discomfort caused by drug side effects can be controlled with adequate treatment.

Medical abortions are safe and successful in pregnancies up to 12 weeks, according to research. Medical abortions may be performed in a clinic or discreetly in the woman's house, depending on local regulations and her preferences. Now, abortion pills are available online too.

Abortion Myths Busted 2021

We come across a lot of ambiguous and misleading claims concerning abortions. Many of these remarks are made to divert attention away from the important discourse that needs to be had about abortion. They are frequently the result of anti-abortion campaigns that purposefully propagate disinformation. Facts, however, remain facts.

Myth #1: Medical abortions are harmful.

Fact: Medical abortions are rather safe and reliable. Serious issues are uncommon, but like with any medical operation, there are dangers. Major problems occur in fewer than 1% of medical abortions. This is to claim that the chances of anyone dying as a result of a medical abortion are the same as the chances of anyone dying as a result of a coconut falling on their face.

Myth #2: Medical abortions are unsafe for adolescents.

Fact: Being a teenager has no bearing on the safety of medical abortion. Adolescents can undergo medical abortions in a safe environment, but they must overcome considerable challenges to treatment. While many young women engage a trusted adult, not every adolescent has a supportive family, and others fear being kicked out or worse if their parents find out.

A court can rule that an adolescent is mature enough to have an abortion without the involvement of her parents, but this process needs time, finances, and assistance. Despite the fact that it is medically safe for teens, they may require additional emotional assistance. It is critical to look after the teenager's emotional health as well as their physical health.

Myth #3: Abortion drugs and contraceptives are interchangeable.

Fact: Those two medicines are not the same, have distinct functions, and are used in different ways. Emergency contraceptive pills, often known as the morning-after pill or Plan B, are high-dose birth control tablets that prevent pregnancy after having intercourse without using birth control. Taking a morning-after pill does not imply having an abortion. Abortion is a technique that terminates an already formed pregnancy.

The use of emergency contraception minimizes the necessity for a subsequent abortion as a result of an unwanted pregnancy. Abortion is not and cannot be caused by emergency contraception. It does not terminate a pregnancy, but rather prevents it from happening in the first place.

Myth #4: Abortion may be reversed medically.

Fact: Abortion reversal is just not feasible. There have been certain risky therapies that have recently gained popularity. The myth of "abortion reversal" is a cautionary story about what occurs when stigma and pseudoscience collide to produce poor health-care policy. People and organizations promoting the unverified idea that medical abortion may be reversed by administering significant amounts of the hormone progesterone also claim that many women change their minds midway through the abortion procedure.

Abortion-reversal procedures are as credible as slimming belts that guarantee an alarming amount of weight loss in a week.

Myth #5: Medical Abortion induces infertility.

Fact: A safe, simple, legal abortion has no effect on a woman's future capacity to have children. Abortion has little effect on a woman's fertility unless there are major problems, such as a damaged cervix. The study, published in the August 16 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, discovered that medication-induced abortions do not hold a menace of ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, premature delivery, or low birth weight infants in successive gestations any more than surgical abortions do.