Abortion Services

At Planned Parenthood, we believe in your right to make your own decision about your pregnancy. Whatever your decision, we respect it. We offer you understanding and support in a friendly, comfortable atmosphere. If you decide to continue your pregnancy, we can assist you with prenatal care, adoption services and referrals. If you choose to terminate your pregnancy, we can provide safe, legal abortion at our Des Moines Rosenfield Center, Iowa City Center, Quad Cities Center Sioux City Center, Ames Center or our Cedar Falls Center. Call 1.877.811.PLAN (7526) toll-free for more information or to schedule an appointment.

For more information on surgical abortion, please visit Planned Parenthood Federation of America's website.

Mifepristone (known in Europe as RU-486) is a drug that causes medication abortion in patients who have decided to end early (up to eight-week) pregnancies.

Mifepristone is called Mifeprex in the United States. It is available at PPGI's Des Moines Rosenfield, Iowa City, Sioux City, Quad Cities Center, Ames and Cedar Falls centers. Its use requires supervision by a physician, but no surgery or anesthesia.

The drug causes a medication abortion, an event similar to a miscarriage. Taken in pill form, Mifeprex blocks the hormone progesterone, needed to sustain pregnancy. Without progesterone, the uterine lining breaks down, the cervix softens and bleeding begins. A few days later, the patient is given another drug, misoprostol, which causes the uterus to contract and empty, ending the pregnancy.

Mifeprex is not "the morning after pill." Emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) can be taken after unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy. ECPs are available at all PPGI clinics.

For more information, visit the Planned Parenthood Federation of America's website abortion.

Planned Parenthood Continues to Provide Abortion Care

On April 18, 2007 the U.S. Supreme Court, in Gonzales v. Carhart, decided to uphold the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.

Abortions are still legal and available in Iowa and the nation, but the ruling generates a climate of alarm and confusion about the accessibility of abortion care and threatening legal restrictions affecting doctors who provide pregnancy termination during the second trimester.  

Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa will continue to provide abortions that comply with all legal requirements in a manner that keeps the patient’s health and safety as our highest priority. Women and their doctors make the decision to end a pregnancy with careful thought and consideration. The vast majority of abortions occur during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and they are not affected by this ruling. Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa continues to work to ensure that women have access to the highest quality abortion care in compliance with the court’s decision.

If you have questions about abortion or need abortion care, please call our toll-free number at 1-877-811-7526. Our staff will provide callers with the information or a referral to one of our health care centers.

Jill June
President & CEO
Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa

In February 2003, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) convened a workshop of over 100 of the world’s leading experts who study pregnancy and breast cancer risk. Workshop participants reviewed existing population-based, clinical and animal studies on the relationship between pregnancy and breast cancer risk, including studies of induced and spontaneous abortions. They concluded that having an abortion or miscarriage does not increase a woman’s subsequent risk of developing breast cancer. These findings dispel the myth that abortion increases a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer later in life. The information presented at the workshop and additional comprehensive information is available on the National Cancer Institute’s website: http://cancer.gov/cancerinfo/ere