The Abortion Pill: How Dangerous Is It Really?

Science Vs

The Abortion Pill is now the most common way to have an abortion in the US. Yet what exactly happens when you take these pills is shrouded in mystery. Even many doctors don't know how well they work! Today, we're letting the sun shine on the abortion pill. We'll walk you through what happens when you take these pills: what they do to your body, and how safe are they for your physical and mental health? To explore all this - and more - we speak to Dr Sara Whitburn, Professor Oskari Heikinheimo, and Professor Ushma Upadhyay.

UPDATE 7/15/24: The episode has been updated to clarify that surgical abortions do not always happen at a hospital by a doctor, while the patient is under general anesthesia. They can also happen at clinics and patients can get a local anesthetic.

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsTheAbortionPiill

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) The battle over the abortion pill

(04:28) How does the abortion pill work?

(09:05) How it feels to take the abortion pill

(14:34) How often do people hemorrhage?

(21:22) What's "normal" bleeding?

(24:11) Does taking the abortion pill affect your mental health?

(32:02) Why some people prefer the abortion pill

This episode was produced by Meryl Horn and Wendy Zukerman, with help from Rose Rimler, and Michelle Dang. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Diane Kelly. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Bobby Lord, Emma Munger, So Wylie, Bumi Hidaka and Peter Leonard. Thanks to all the researchers we spoke to including Dr. Tiffany Green, Dr. Ned Calonge, Professor Jenny Higgins, Dr. Daniel Aaron, Dr. Beverly Winikoff, and Dr. Abigail Aiken. Also thanks to Lauren Silverman, the Zukerman Family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson.

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