Explainer: No, contraceptives don’t cause abortions

UNITED NATIONS, New York/NAROK COUNTY, Kenya – Misinformation about contraception is deadly.

Just ask Evaline Chepkemol, a mother of three in Kenya’s rural Narok County – a place with one of the country’s highest maternal death rates. Ms. Chepkemol has encountered many women in her community who are fearful of contraceptives.

“They have the belief that if you insert the family planning [device], you either lose the children or will never give birth again,” she told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. “They were saying that when you put in family planning, you will never give birth to any child because the children will disappear,” she explained.

Fortunately, Evaline received factual information at the Ololulung’a sub-county hospital, which is supported by UNFPA. With contraception, she has been able to space her deliveries. “I normally get a family planning [device that lasts] for five years. But after two years, I removed it and I conceived. Then after delivering, I again did the family planning because it's very helpful to me.”

But today, as global funding shortages disrupt the availability of contraceptives in places like Kenya, health systems are bracing for the inevitable results: increases in unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions and maternal deaths.

Among some major donors, support is waning in part due to the proliferation of mis- and disinformation – including the myth that contraceptives can lead someone to lose a pregnancy.

This notion is categorically false. Below are four clear reasons why contraceptives do not induce abortions or cause miscarriages.

1- Contraception is the prevention of pregnancy.

By definition, contraception prevents pregnancy from taking place, whether through medication, a device, a surgical procedure or behaviour. 

Perhaps the best known methods are oral contraceptive pills (“the pill”), injectable contraceptives, and male and female condoms. Vasectomy, tubal sterilization and even behaviours like lactational amenorrhea – or the lack of ovulation during breastfeeding – are also recognized by UNFPA and the World Health Organization (WHO) as contraceptive methods. Every one of these works the same way – by preventing sperm from meeting an egg.

Hormonal contraceptives prevent the release of eggs from the ovaries (ovulation), block sperm by increasing cervical mucous, or both. Non-hormonal contraceptives – such as tubal ligation, vasectomy and condoms – all create a barrier between the sperm and an egg. In the case of a copper IUD, WHO states, copper ions affect the movement of sperm, effectively blocking them from fertilizing an egg.

While no contraceptive method is perfect, modern options, such as hormonal methods and condoms, are much more effective than traditional methods like withdrawal.

As such, contraception is a preventative measure that does not include abortion or any abortion-causing (abortifacient) medications, procedures or behaviours. Additionally, contraception does not cause any changes to a person’s future ability to become pregnant or have children.

2- Even when taken after sex, contraception can prevent pregnancy.

Emergency contraceptive pills are a form of oral contraceptive that a woman can take shortly after having unprotected sex – typically within 72 to 120 hours. These medications work by delaying or preventing ovulation, according to WHO.

Unfortunately, many people assume that emergency contraception disrupts an existing pregnancy – possibly due to the misconception that pregnancies happen during intercourse. In fact, it can take days for a sperm to meet an egg, and as emergency contraception prevents ovulation, it prevents a pregnancy rather than ending one.

Emergency contraceptive pills are especially critical for survivors of sexual assault, as well as for women whose choice to use contraceptives might be undermined, controlled or otherwise out of her hands, such as survivors of intimate partner violence, sex trafficking or other forms of disempowerment.

3- Contraception cannot be used to induce an abortion.

Even if a contraceptive is used after pregnancy, it still won’t cause an abortion. 

In fact, because modern forms of contraception are among the most commonly prescribed and studied medicines available, there is a great deal of research into what happens when a person continues to use contraception while already pregnant. The evidence is overwhelming: Contraception does not terminate a pregnancy, and it does not harm a developing embryo.

4- Contraceptives actually prevent abortions.

Nearly half of all pregnancies are estimated to be unintended. Of these, about 60 per cent end in abortion. When abortions cannot be legally or safely accessed, women commonly resort to unsafe abortion – one of the leading cases of maternal death globally. 

By preventing unintended pregnancies, contraceptives actually prevent abortions – and by preventing unsafe abortions, contraceptives save lives. And by preventing the injuries, disabilities and health-related costs associated with unsafe abortion, investments in contraception have a multiplier effect on the health and well-being of women and their families, and a booster effect on the economy as a whole.

Contraceptives procured by UNFPA in 2024 alone are estimated to have prevented 18 million unintended pregnancies, averted 7.5 million unsafe abortions, and prevented 39,000 maternal deaths.

Fortunately, correct information can help women make informed decisions. “After we were given that health talk, many women now like family planning,” Ms. Chepkemol said.