Frequently Asked Questions

Click Request Pills and fill out a survey. It will walk you through the steps.

We charge between $14 and $200 — you pay what you can afford. If you can afford to pay $200, it helps us serve people who can only afford to pay $14.

We accept payments by debit and major credit cards. “ARC, LLC” will be how this purchase is listed on your credit card statement. You can use a VISA gift card if you want to keep the purchase anonymous.

Yes, you can still get help! At the end of your intake, we ask you to pay $200, the cost of providing you services. If you cannot afford it, you can pay between between $14 and $200.

If you live in a state with a Medicaid program that covers telehealth for medication abortion, we charge the full rate of $200. Our donors require us to limit subsidies to states with fewer telehealth choices.

No, we do not currently accept insurance or Medicaid.

We do not offer receipts for insurance.

Armadillo provides services using an on-line intake form. We offer live chat or phone calls if you have questions.

We aim to give you everything you need on our website, so you can manage on your own. We are available by chat and phone if you need it.

You will receive your pills 2-5 days after your request is made.

Our medical providers review and approve requests Sunday - Friday. After they approve, they send the prescription the same day to the pharmacy. The pharmacy mails pills through the post office by Priority Mail.

To protect privacy, we send your tracking number through a secure app (and not by email or text).

The abortion pill kit has two medicines: 1 mifepristone (also called mife) and 12 misoprostol (also called miso).

These are the same pills given by in-person clinics.

Al the information you need is on our website.

Please read our how-to information before you get the pills, so you are prepared.

We invite you to a secure app, so we can communicate privately.

A licensed medical provider reviews your intake form. We may reach out in the app or by phone if we have questions about your medical history.

We then send the prescription to a mail order pharmacy. You receive your pills 2-5 days after your intake.

If you have questions, you can reach us in the app.

We send you follow-up messages in the app, so we know how it went for you.

Before taking pills, you need to do a pregnancy test to confirm you’re pregnant.

To know how far along you are, count the number of weeks from the FIRST day of your LAST period.

Or get an ultrasound — that is the most reliable.

If you only had sex once, count the number of weeks and add two. (For example, if you only had sex once, and it was 4 weeks ago, you are about 6 weeks pregnant now).

Getting an ultrasound is not medically necessary as long as you are certain you are less than 12 weeks pregnant and you do not have signs of an ectopic pregnancy.

When you complete the intake, we let you know if you need to get an ultrasound.

If you aren’t sure how far along you are, we recommend an ultrasound. You can go to an OBGYN, independent women’s health clinic, Planned Parenthood, or primary care provider.

We do NOT recommend going to clinics that advertise “free pregnancy testing and ultrasounds.” These are usually Crisis Pregnancy Centers, which are not medical clinics. They are NOT required to keep your information private, and they often give you false information to scare you away from getting an abortion.

Almost any pregnancy test will work. Dollar store tests work great. We do not recommend using any digital (positive/negative or +/-) pregnancy tests — these often give false positives (meaning they read positive when you are not actually pregnant).

Mifepristone (“mife”) blocks the hormone progesterone, and causes the cervix to slightly dilate (open). Most people do not have side effects. Some people have bleeding – this is normal.

Misoprostol (“miso”) causes the the uterus to contract (squeeze) and gently dilate (open), pushing out the pregnancy. Bleeding, clots, and intense cramping are normal. Miso can also cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever and chills. The fever should go away within a day – call us if the fever lasts longer than that.

Click on “How to Take Pills” page for step-by-step instructions.

1. Read our information on how to take the pills, what you might see and feel, and how to identify signs of complications.

2. Buy your comfort medications. It makes the process much easier if you medications for pain (like ibuprofen) and medications for nausea (like meclizine, also called Dramamine, or diphenhydramine, also called Benadryl) in your house.

3. Buy maxi pads – you need big ones, like the overnight kind.

4. Consider getting a heating pad – this can help a lot. Hot baths or sitting in a hot shower also help.

5. Make a plan for where and when you will take the pills. You will want to be in a comfortable place and have access to a bathroom for up to 12 hours after taking miso (the second medicine).

6. Have a plan for how to get emergency medical care in the unlikely event that you need it. Although it is very rare to need to go to the emergency room, it is best to be within a half hour of emergency care, in the unlikely case you need help.

7. It really helps to have a support person with you, or available by phone or text on the day you take miso. If you don’t have anyone you can trust, we recommend contacting ReproCARE. They can be your abortion doula and help you through the experience.

The best time is between 6 to 11 weeks of pregnancy.

We strongly recommend you wait until you are 6 weeks pregnant at the time you take the pills.

You can order the pills at any time, but if you can wait until you are 6 weeks. This gives you the best chance of success.

If you are over 11 weeks, we recommend a procedure abortion.

Medication abortion is extremely safe.

Complications are very rare and are no different from the complications that can occur with a miscarriage.

Childbirth is statistically much more dangerous than a medication abortion.

Armadillo at this time only sends pills to people who have a confirmed pregnancy.

Think about privacy.

Make sure your friends and family respect your privacy:

Who did you tell about your abortion? Ask them to delete messages/social media communications and not to share your experience with others.

In the future: consider using a messaging system with disappearing messages and end-to-end encryption (like Signal).

Make a planfor the next time you get health care:

A miscarriage caused by pills is the same for your body as a spontaneous miscarriage.

If you need medical care in the next month, your pregnancy test will still be positive. It is okay to tell nurses and doctors that you had a miscarriage – your treatment will be the same. It is usually safer not to have the word “abortion” in your chart in many states.

Delete your records. Don’t let your digital footprint cause privacy leaks: Delete any record of your experience (texts, emails, internet searches) in case someone else uses your phone or computer.

See Digital Defense Fund for more info.

We are committed to providing secure and reliable patient-centered care.

We are staffed by experienced, medical providers licensed in their state of practice.

We are listed on PlanCPills.org.

Armadillo is not able to give legal advice.

If you have questions about legal issues, go to PlanCPills.org or call the Repro Legal Help Line 844-868-2812.

No, there are no tests to detect that you took abortion pills by mouth.

The only way for medical providers to know is if you tell them. Or if you took the pills vaginally and they see pills on an internal exam. Pill fragments may be visible in the vagina a few days after taking pills.

It is okay to keep the fact that you took abortion pills private. This will not affect your care.

You can choose what you share with medical providers, now and in the future.

If you share that you took abortion pills with a medical provider who uses an electronic health record, that information may be shared with everyone who takes care of you, if they also have an electronic health record – like emergency rooms, hospitals, primary care providers, and specialists. Some people do not want the word “abortion” in the electronic chart, to avoid discrimination.