Taking mifepristone, like most drugs, involves potential side effects, including nausea, cramps, vomiting, and uterine bleeding for one to three weeks. The risk of hospitalization or blood transfusion due to vaginal bleeding is less than two percent. In addition, mifepristone may be useful for treating certain progesterone-dependent breast cancer tumors, which account for an estimated 40 percent of all breast cancer tumors. 15 Distribution began in November 2000. 16 Methotrexate Like mifepristone, methotrexate can be used as an early option for nonsurgical abortion.
Methotrexate works by blocking folic acid and preventing cell division in the developing pregnancy.
17 Methotrexate, in combination with the prostaglandin misoprostol, is used most effectively to terminate a pregnancy up to 49 days after the first day of the woman's last menstrual period. The medical protocol for prescribing methotrexate to terminate a pregnancy is similar to mifepristone and requires at least two visits to the clinic or doctor's office. On the first day, methotrexate is given to the woman as an injection. Five to seven days later, misoprostol is administered. Sixty-seven percent of women will abort within one week with one dose of misoprostol, and 80 to 85 percent of women will abort within two weeks with a second dose of misoprostol.