/

For centuries, herbal abortifacients have been made from infusions or oils of plants such as pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium), angelica (Angelicaspecies), and tansy (Tanacetum vulgare). Such preparations are no more likely to terminate a pregnancy than they are to induce potentially lethal reactions such as vomiting, hemorrhages, and convulsions in the women who take them.

Truly effective abortifacients were not developed until the end of the 20th century, when the biochemical processes behind cell division and growth and the role of hormones in reproductive processes were understood. The most common agents of medical abortion today aremifepristone, a steroid, andmethotrexate, an antimetabolite; both are used during the early weeks of pregnancy in conjunction with the syntheticprostaglandin misoprostol.

Misoprostol, administered in prescribed doses eitherorallyor as avaginal suppository, causes the uterus to contract much as it would at the beginning of labour or during a miscarriage. Taken alone, it is rarely sufficient to expel the embryo and placenta from the uterus, but as a sequel to treatment with mifepristone or methotrexate it is very effective.

Mifepristone(frequently referred to by its original trade name,RU-486) acts as acompetitive receptor antagonist for progesterone, preventing that hormone from stimulating the inner lining of the uterus to prepare for implantation by a fertilized ovum.

When administered early in pregnancy, mifepristone causes the breakdown of the uterine lining; a follow-up dose of misoprostol induces expulsion of the embryo and other uterine contents. Methotrexate, administered by injection, blocks the rapid cell division characteristic of embryonic and placental growth. Once this growth is ended, administration of misoprostol completes the abortion.

Click Here To Discover How to Treat Infertility Naturally; Without Drugs or Surgery . The Pregnancy MiracleTM System .