Abortion

Get the facts on how to safely end a pregnancy and join our fight to lift barriers to access.

Throughout human history, pregnant people have sought ways to safely end their pregnancies and control their fertility. Today, the most common methods are in-clinic abortions and FDA-approved abortion pills, also known as medication abortion. Access to safe and affordable abortion care improves economic, social, and health outcomes. Yet misinformation is common and abortion opponents work hard to raise medically unnecessary barriers to abortion care. Get the facts on abortion.

Action Alert!

Action Alerts Abortion Pill Banner

Tell the FDA: Let pregnant people receive the abortion pill through the mail during COVID-19!

Pregnant people who seek safe and effective FDA-approved abortion pills are required by the FDA to pick up the first pill in person from designated clinics and doctors’ offices — even though the FDA permits them to wait until they get home to swallow it and the abortion itself always takes place at home.

We’re calling on the FDA to permanently lift these restrictions and let pregnant people receive the abortion pill through the mail so that they can get the pill where they take the pill!

Learn more

Health Info

Health Facts: Abortion with Pills

By: NWHN Staff , , , , , ,

Medication abortion is the method of safely and effectively inducing a miscarriage using FDA-approved abortion pills. Medication abortion can be used to end a pregnancy up to 10 weeks from the first day of your last period.

Health Facts: Medication Abortion and Miscarriage

By: NWHN Staff , , , , ,

The emotional experiences of a medication abortion and a spontaneously occurring miscarriage may be very different. There’s no right or wrong way to feel! But the physical process, risks, warning signs, potential complications, and treatments are the same.

Policy Updates

The FDA’s Convoluted Stance on Abortion Pills Doesn’t Protect Patients — It Endangers Them

By: Sarah Christopherson and Olivia Snavely , , , ,

The FDA says pregnant people can meet with their doctors remotely and have their abortion at home — but first, they must travel during a global pandemic just to pick up their pills.

Policy Facts: Abortion with Pills (Medication Abortion)

By: NWHN Staff , , , , ,

Abortion with pills, also called medication abortion, is a safe and effective way to end a pregnancy by inducing miscarriage. When pregnant people visit the doctor for an abortion using pills, they are most often prescribed two different drugs, to be taken 1-2 days apart.

Medication Abortion Should Be Available on My Campus: What SB 24 Means to Me

By: Sophia Harrison ,

At a time when so many states are choosing to take care options away from women, California state legislators are positioned to lead the fight to expand access to reproductive care by making medication abortion available at student health centers on campus for the first time.

Our View: Self-Managed Abortion with FDA-Approved Medication Is Safe and Effective

By: NWHN Staff , , , ,

Women should not have to see a doctor, or “get permission” from the medical community, before ending their pregnancy with safe and effective FDA-approved medications.

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The Biden-Harris Administration’s Executive Actions on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice are a Good First Step but more must be done.

By: Evita Almassi ,, Press Releases

For Immediate Release

The NWHN’s statement on The Supreme Court’s Decision to Revive the Abortion Pill Restriction

By: Evita Almassi ,, , Press Releases

Last night, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the U. S. Food and Drug Administration’s medically unjustified requirement that people travel to a certified facility simply to pick up abortion pills that they are then allowed to safely take at home.

Saving the Supreme Court: The Next Six Weeks Could Change Everything

By: Sarah Christopherson ,, Deep Dive Articles

In brazen disregard of their own stated principles, Senate Republicans are ramming through an illegitimate Court nomination with the election on the line.

Judge Orders FDA to Allow Patients to Receive Medication Abortion Pills by Mail During COVID Emergency

By: NWHN Staff ,, Press Releases

The NWHN applauds the recent decision by District Court Judge Theodore Chuang to allow pregnant people to receive medication abortion care through telehealth, including receiving mifepristone through the mail.

It’s Time to #MailTheAbortionPill

By: Sarah Christopherson ,, , , , , Deep Dive Articles

Patients are turning to telehealth appointments and online pharmacies for routine medical care during the COVID-19 outbreak without having to leave their homes. But for most pregnant people seeking safe and effective abortion pills, the FDA has created a Byzantine...

The NWHN’s Statement on the Supreme Court’s opinion Striking Down Louisiana Abortion Restrictions

By: Evita Almassi ,, , Press Releases

Contact: Evita Almassi, ealmassi@nwhn.org

Lift Unnecessary Restrictions: Access to Medication Abortion During the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: M. Isabelle Chaudry ,, , , Deep Dive Articles

The NWHN is calling on the FDA to lift politically motivated, medically unnecessary restrictions on the abortion pill right now and let pregnant people receive the abortion pill through the mail so that they can get the pill where they...

The FDA’s Convoluted Stance on Abortion Pills Doesn’t Protect Patients — It Endangers Them

By: Sarah Christopherson and Olivia Snavely ,, , , , Deep Dive Articles

The FDA says pregnant people can meet with their doctors remotely and have their abortion at home — but first, they must travel during a global pandemic just to pick up their pills.

The FDA Must Permit Pregnant People to Get the Abortion Pill Where They Have the Abortion — at Home!

By: Evita Almassi ,, , , Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Evita Almassi, ealmassi@nwhn.org 

What Happens in Pre-Abortion Counseling?

By: NWHN Staff ,, , , Women’s Health FAQs

The NWHN fully supports women’s access to medically sound, unbiased information so that they can make informed decisions about their health care, but that’s not the goal of these state-mandated counseling sessions.