# Abortion by way of drinking bleach? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-by-way-of-drinking-bleach/412341 "2007-07-19T01:45:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-by-way-of-drinking-bleach/412341/1 "2007-07-19T01:45:48Z")
Can a woman induce an abortion by drinking bleach? What would be the side effects and potential complications? ---
**Author:** ![conurepete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@conurepete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conurepete)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-by-way-of-drinking-bleach/412341/2 "2007-07-19T01:50:21Z")
Death ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-by-way-of-drinking-bleach/412341/3 "2007-07-19T01:55:39Z")
Same way that a woman cutting her own throat or shooting herself in the head could cause an abortion. Potentially lethal to both parties. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-by-way-of-drinking-bleach/412341/4 "2007-07-19T01:57:31Z")
Drinking bleach is a very, very bad idea. Can it induce an abortion? Maybe but I doubt reliably and in the meantime the person doing so has bigger issues to deal with up to killing themself. I have heard of women in third-world countries taking bleach vaginally to induce an abortion ([cite](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3876/is_200209/ai_n9096457/pg_4)) but no mention of its effectiveness or side effects. I doubt this is reliable either and more than likely also a Very Bad Idea[sup]tm[/sup]. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-by-way-of-drinking-bleach/412341/5 "2007-07-19T02:00:43Z")
I think a coat hanger would be a more effective and less dangerous method. And that’s a pretty reliable way to end up with someone dead as it is. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-by-way-of-drinking-bleach/412341/6 "2007-07-19T02:19:11Z")
When I was an x-ray tech, there was a mildly retarded teenage girl that I saw in the ER who got tricked into drinking bleach by her older sister. Her esophagus was basically gone and her stomach severely damaged. She went through agonizing pain and will never eat by mouth again. It was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen a lot. Not a reliable way to abort a fetus. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-by-way-of-drinking-bleach/412341/7 "2007-07-19T02:21:49Z")
[QUOTE=x-ray vision] When I was an x-ray tech, there was a mildly retarded teenage girl that I saw in the ER who got tricked into drinking bleach by her older sister. Her esophagus was basically gone and her stomach severely damaged. She went through agonizing pain and will never eat by mouth again. It was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen a lot. Not a reliable way to abort a fetus. [/QUOTE] ☹ Ugh…what an evil thing to do to your little sister! Was there any legal prosecution for the older girl? ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-by-way-of-drinking-bleach/412341/8 "2007-07-19T02:26:47Z")
[QUOTE=Zoggie] ☹ Ugh…what an evil thing to do to your little sister! Was there any legal prosecution for the older girl? [/QUOTE] I don’t remember, but I’ll ask my wife in the a.m. She was a nurse there at the time and remembers the details of all the cases we’ve seen much better than I do. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-by-way-of-drinking-bleach/412341/9 "2007-07-19T02:45:37Z")
[QUOTE=boytyperanma] I think a coat hanger would be a more effective and less dangerous method. [/QUOTE] That would be true even when the hanger is rammed into one’s ear and reamed vigorously.