Medical abortion

A medical abortion, also known as medication abortion, is a type of non-surgical abortion in which medication is used to bring about abortion. An oral preparation for medical abortion is commonly referred to as an abortion pill. Medical abortion became an alternative method of abortion with the availability of prostaglandin analogs in the 1970s and the antiprogestogen mifepristone (also known as RU-486) in the 1980s. For pregnancies of gestational age up to 7 weeks, the World Health Organization recommends the following medications for abortions: Surgical abortion via vacuum aspiration is an alternative option recommended by WHO for pregnancies up to 12–14 weeks in gestational age. Contraindications to a medical abortion may include: