Abortion

Before 14 weeks

Click here to view pictures and information about the pregnancy stages.

The "Morning After" Pill contains a high dosage of the hormone progestin and when it is used as directed, it prevents or ends pregnancy. It is marketed as an "emergency contraceptive". Plan B is a brand name.
The pill is supposed to be taken in two doses. The first dose must be taken within 72 hours after intercourse, followed by the second pill 12 hours later.

Side effects may include:

• Nausea/vomiting
• Irregular and unpredictable menstrual cycles
• Breast tenderness
• Fatigue
• Headache

Also, the cramping and abdominal pain resulting may mask the symptoms of an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy, a potentially life-threatening condition in which a fertilized egg implants outside of the uterus.

If an egg has been fertilized and you take emergency contraception, the pill will work to prevent implantation of the embryo. If this happens, a very early abortion will occur.

Suction Aspiration:

For this procedure you lie on your back with your feet in stirrups, and the doctor applies a shot of anesthetic to your cervix to reduce pain. Your cervical muscle is stretched with cone-shaped rods until the opening is wide enough to allow the abortion tools to pass into your uterus. Then the doctor guides the suction device through the cervix and into your uterus.

When the suction machine is turned on, you would feel the strong force of the vacuum, which is used to pull the placenta and fetus into parts small enough to pass out of your body through the suction tube. During this surgery the doctor detaches the fetus from the wall of the uterus with the powerful suction tip.

Dilation and Curettage (D & C):

The doctor opens your cervix, as described above, but in this case the abortion is done with a loop-shaped knife which he uses to scrape the wall of your uterus, cutting the fetus and placenta into smaller parts and pulling them out of your body through the cervix.

After 14 weeks

Dilation and Evacuation (D & E):

Because the bones of the fetus are larger and stronger by this time, the doctor uses a medical instrument resembling pliers to pull the fetus into smaller parts and removes those parts from your body through the cervix. This procedure requires that your cervix be opened wider than with Suction or D & C methods, and there is greater risk of harm to your reproductive organs.

Saline or Prostaglandin is injected into the amniotic fluid, which surrounds the fetus in your uterus. To do this, the doctor inserts a long needle into your abdomen until the tip of the needle penetrates the uterus. He then injects one of these substances into the amniotic fluid. Saline is poisonous to the fetus. Prostaglandin causes the muscle tissue of the mother to push the fetus out of the uterus. Both saline and Prostaglandin methods would require you to "give birth" to the dead fetus. The labor, which precedes the expulsion of the fetus, is often long and painful.

Dilation and Extraction: (partial birth abortion)

Laminaria (a type of seaweed that expands when moist) is used to dilate the cervix over a two-day period. On the third day, the membranes are ruptured. An ultrasound is used to locate the lower extremities. The doctor then uses large forceps to grasp a leg, and pull it down into the vagina. After the body is delivered, the skull is lodged at the cervical opening. The doctor makes an incision in the base of the fetal skull, inserts a suction catheter and evacuates the skull. This technique may be safer than a D & E abortion because the fetus is not dismembered in the uterus. However, damage may occur due to extensive stretching of the cervix during the procedure.