Over the past two decades, medical methods of abortion have been developed throughout the world and are now used in the United States. Medical abortion, which involves the use of medications to induce an abortion rather than a surgical abortion, is an option for women who wish to terminate a pregnancy up to 63 days of gestation (calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period). Medical abortions currently account for 6% of all abortions in the United States (1). The purpose of this document is to present evidence of the effectiveness, benefits, and risks of medical abortion and provide a framework for the evaluation and counseling of women who are considering medical abortion.