How Early Can You Get a Medication Abortion? Understanding Pregnancy Timing and Testing

Maybe someday kids will be a part of your life, but that day isn’t here, yet. Or it may never arrive. In the meantime, you suspect that you might be pregnant and you’ve heard that the abortion pill is an effective solution — one that doesn’t require a surgical procedure.

The abortion pill, or medication abortion, is an increasingly popular choice — 63% of abortions in the United States in 2023 were medication abortions, which is an increase from 53% in 2020.

At Rose Women’s Medical Center in Franklin Park, Illinois, our team specializes in pregnancy termination using the abortion pill. We’re very familiar with the ins and outs of this approach, including timing and how early you can use it. Let’s take a closer look.

What is a medication abortion?

Before we dive into timing, let’s quickly review what a medication abortion is. As the name suggests, this treatment relies on oral medications to terminate your pregnancy. To do this, the medication contains mifepristone, which blocks your progesterone hormones and stops the pregnancy from progressing.

A couple of days later, you follow up with an additional medication called misoprostol, which causes your uterus to empty, much like a heavy period.

Timing of the abortion pill

Over-the-counter pregnancy tests are impressively accurate — about 99% when used correctly. And one of the ways to use a pregnancy test correctly is by timing it right. 

These pregnancy tests detect levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which is a growth hormone that starts to build up after you conceive. About 10 days after conception, and after your first missed period, hCG levels become high enough to be detected in your urine.

If your timing is correct and you receive a positive result, the clock starts on your window for the medication abortion, so you shouldn’t delay in coming to see us.

One of the first things we do when you come in is perform another pregnancy test to confirm your at-home findings. We also perform a physical exam and an ultrasound to make sure that it’s a standard pregnancy.

If everything checks out, then we can start your medication abortion at that point — or you can opt to begin at any point during the first 10 weeks following conception. After the 10-11 week mark, your pregnancy will likely require a surgical termination.

Efficacy of the abortion pill according to timing

Keeping with our discussion on medication abortion timing, we want to point out that earlier can be better. According to Planned Parenthood, the abortion pill offers these efficacy ratings:

• 94-98% at or under eight weeks
• 94-96% between eight and nine weeks
• 91-93% between nine and 10 weeks

Please note that we can also supply you with an extra dose of misoprostol for pregnancies at nine or 10 weeks to boost the effectiveness to 99%.

We’ve thrown a lot of numbers at you, which can be confusing. The best way to figure out which pregnancy termination approach would work best for you is to come sit down with one of our women’s health experts as soon as possible. 

To get that ball rolling, contact Rose Women’s Medical Center in Franklin Park, Illinois. Call 847-916-2447 today (we have a 24-hour answering service), text 847-302-8739 anytime, or request an appointment online at your convenience.