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Medical abortion is safer than surgical abortion
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Even the best conditions and careful selection of a clinic for the procedure of termination of pregnancy cannot guarantee the absence of complications after an abortion and, as a result, the woman’s infertility.
According to the Australian authors of a large-scale study, medical abortion is a safe and effective alternative to abortion performed by surgical intervention. However, this procedure is only performed in the early stages of pregnancy, namely up to 63 days from the first day of the last menstrual period.
Scientists studied the drug's action and the nature of complications caused by its use, and also interviewed women who had undergone the medical abortion procedure. The research analyzed the results of more than 13,000 women who used mifepristone, or as it is also called, the abortion pill RU-486, between 2009 and 2011.
All women underwent non-surgical early pregnancy termination at Marie Stopes International in Australia.
Co-author of the study, clinic director Dr Philip Goldstone and a team of experts calculated that taking mifepristone, which blocks progesterone receptors and is temporary and reversible, is effective in 97% of cases of its use. However, there are isolated cases of bleeding and possible infections in patients.
Reviews of women who have used the abortion pill indicate that the process of terminating a pregnancy is well tolerated and without complications. The drug eliminates trauma to the cervix, causes moderate pain and uterine contractions, does not affect the reproductive function of women, and therefore the risk of post-abortion infertility after using the pill is minimized.
In addition, as doctors' observations show, the procedure of medical abortion does not cause psychological trauma in women. This method of terminating pregnancy is the most modern and many young women who have not given birth resort to this procedure without fear for their health.
Abortion with the help of a drug is carried out under the supervision of a doctor and is monitored until the normal menstrual cycle is restored.
“We hope that soon such a gentle procedure for the female body will become more accessible, because terminating an unwanted pregnancy with mifepristone does not require anesthesia or surgery, and is also less traumatic and more natural than surgical abortion,” the authors of the study concluded.
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