Abortion is a legal right in the United States, and as the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines affirm, pregnant people can safely self-manage their abortions up to 12 weeks. The reasons people decide to self-manage their abortion are as various as people’s lives. And we acknowledge the many many reasons one may not want to have an abortion in a medical environment.

However, we also recognize that over-regulation, anti-abortion politics, and legal threats put people who manage their own abortions at risk of punishment, for what should be a protected decision. Our reality is that since 2000 over 23 people have been criminalized for self-managing abortion or helping someone else, and the legal rules differ in each state. To learn more about legal rules regulating self-managed abortion visit If/When/How’s Repro Legal Helpline at reprolegalhelpline.org. 

It is also important to note that abortion pills are different from emergency contraception, also called “the morning after pill”. Abortion pills end a pregnancy. Emergency contraception is taken to prevent pregnancy, it will not cause an abortion. 

Anyone who has decided to end their pregnancy with medication should understand how medication abortion works and how to use the medicines correctly. Information on how abortion pills work is available at www.abortionpillinfo.org.