Let me ask you this: what if you could just take a pill that could help guarantee your autonomy, reinforce your ability to make the important decisions regarding your own life, assert control over your body, and thwart repressive forces trying to take away your rights? That pill is available now!
OK, it’s a bit more complicated than that... but the abortion pill is changing the ways in which women can terminate unwanted pregnancies—and the ways that other people can try to prevent them from exercising that option.
The funny feminist provocateurs at my latest project, Lady Parts Justice League have launched a new video called “The Abortion Pill: Facts You Can Swallow” to spread the word about the ease and safety of using the abortion pill.
Over 3 million women in the U.S. have already used the abortion pill successfully—and their experiences show it to be overwhelmingly safe and effective. Stats available from Planned Parenthood demonstrate that the abortion pill is 98 percent effective in the first eight weeks of pregnancy, 96 percent effective from 8-9 weeks, and 93 percent from 9-10 weeks.
Less than 1 percent of medication abortions resulted in serious side effects or an incomplete abortion according to a Princeton study. As our video points out—and science confirms—abortion is safer than a routine colonoscopy.
The part that gets tricky is (SURPRISE!) the restrictive laws around any abortion procedure—and that very much depends on what state you live in. The FDA has approved medication abortions for the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. It’s available at your local clinic—if you’re lucky enough to have one—or from your OB/GYN.
In many states, mandatory waiting periods apply, as they do for all abortion procedures. And some states require the prescribing doctor be present when you take the pill. Abortion rights activists like us at LPJL are fighting to get rid of those restrictions.
But the very existence of a pill that you can use in the privacy of your own home to exercise one of your fundamental rights is a HUGE step forward in safeguarding that right!