Acceptability of Medical Abortion in Early Pregnancy

A review of 12 published studies on patient attitudes and reactions to early first-trimester pregnancy termination by medical methods shows consistent patterns, despite important differences in study design, measurement and outcome. In most trials that offered participants a choice between surgical and medical abortion, 60-70% of patients chose the medical method. The most common reasons cited for choosing the medical method were greater privacy and autonomy, less invasiveness and greater naturalness than surgery. Frequently mentioned drawbacks included pain, the duration of bleeding, the number of visits, and the waiting time to know if the treatment has been successful. Most women who had a medical abortion said they were satisfied with the method, would recommend it to friends and would use it again if they needed another abortion.