Objectve To explore the feasibility of applying shear wave elastography (SWE） to evaluate the effect of mifepristone on cervical softening before painless abortion surgery. Methods A total of 87 pregnant women who underwent painless abortion surgery in our hospital were selected and randomly divided into a test group of 43 cases and a control group of 44 cases. The test group took 50 mg of mifepristone at 8 pm the day before surgery，while the control group took no medication. The SWE technique was used to measure the shear wave speed （SWS） of the external os anterior and posterior on the day before the surgery （before the medication of the test group） and the day of the surgery. The difference between the two SWS measured in the test group and the control group was compared，Spearman correlated and the relationship between the cervical SWS measured on the day of surgery and the intraoperative cervical dilation evaluation was analyzed. Results The SWS of the anterior lip and posterior lip of the cervix measured one day before the surgery in the test group were statistically different from those measured on the day of the surgery（P＜0.05）. There was no statistic difference between the SWS of the anterior lip and posterior lip of the cervix measured one day before the surgery and the value measured on the day of the surgery in the control group. The results of correlation analysis showed that the SWS of the anterior cervix lip on the day of surgery was positively correlated with the intraoperative cervical dilation evaluation（ρ=0.458，P＜0.05）.There was no significant correlation between the SWS of the posterior cervix lip and the intraoperative cervical dilation evaluation （ρ=0.177）.Conclusion SWE can be used to detect the cervical softening effect caused by mifepristone. The SWS of the external os anterior is expected to be one of the indicators for objectively evaluating cervical softness.