SO YOU WANT TO SELF-MANAGE YOUR ABORTION
As long as people have been getting pregnant, they have been finding ways to have abortions. There are many culturally specific methods; this explainer is information, NOT medical advice.
WHAT IS A SELF-MANAGED ABORTION?
While self-managed abortion (SMA) is a blanket term, we’re talking about a specific set of medications that induce abortion. As of Spring 2022, the WHO recommends either mifepristone + misoprostal (mife + miso), or miso alone. This is a safe & effective way to end pregnancy for someone with a pregnancy under 12 weeks gestational age (counting from the first day of their last period).
WHAT IS IT LIKE?
After someone decides to end their pregnancy & confirms they are eligible for SMA (check using the hotline below), here are the basic steps:
Step 1: take mife, which stops pregnancy growth (but shouldn’t have many side effects)
Step 2: wait 24–48 hours while mife does its work
Step 3: dissolve 4 miso pills under the tongue; miso causes a miscarriage, inducing uterine cramping/contractions and bleeding within about 2 hours. This can be very painful, and most people need to take it very easy during this time (recommended: heating pads, resting in bed, private bathroom, as possible) which lasts between 2–12 hours.* Miso side effects can include: fever, nausea, chills, headache, diarrhea. If bleeding more than expected or feeling very unwell, call a hotline or a doctor, SMA symptoms are no different than a miscarriage, so people can tell providers it’s a miscarriage.
Step 4: Commit to aftercare. It takes at least 2 weeks to heal after an SMA. Refer to sources below for more info.
*Someone whose pregnancy is above 10 weeks gestational age or is not using mife will likely need multiple rounds of miso pills. Refer to the sources below for more info.
HOW DOES SOMEONE GET THESE PILLS?
If someone wants to order meds for an SMA, they can visit aidaccess.org. Note: this isn’t strictly legal & entails risks detailed on their website.
For more info, you can visit planepills.org, safe2choose.org, abortionpillinfo.com or reddit.com/r/abortion. For medical advice, visit mahotline.org.
