SCIENCE
ABORTION
Medical Abortion (Abortion Pill)
Medical abortion (also called medication abortion) is the termination of an early pregnancy using drugs rather than a surgical procedure. In the United States, the FDA-approved regimen is used through 10 weeks’ gestation and involves mifepristone followed by misoprostol (U.S. Food and Drug Administration 2016).
Mifepristone blocks progesterone, a hormone necessary to maintain the uterine lining in early pregnancy, disrupting the conditions needed for the pregnancy to continue (U.S. Food and Drug Administration 2016). Misoprostol is taken afterward, typically within 24–48 hours, and causes uterine contractions that expel the pregnancy tissue (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2020). This process is often completed outside a clinical setting under medical guidance.
Common physical effects include heavy bleeding and strong cramping, along with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, chills, headache, and dizziness (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2020). While serious complications are considered uncommon, documented risks include excessive bleeding, infection, and incomplete abortion, which may require further medical treatment (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2020).
Individuals experiencing complications or uncertainty are advised to seek care from a licensed medical professional. If you have taken the first abortion pill and are reconsidering your decision, it may not be too late, help may still be available. Click the button below to find out more.
Suction Aspiration (Vacuum Aspiration)
Suction aspiration (also called vacuum aspiration) is a common abortion method used primarily in the first trimester, typically up to 13 weeks of gestation (World Health Organization 2022). The procedure involves gently dilating the cervix and inserting a thin tube (cannula) into the uterus. Suction is then applied to evacuate the uterine contents, including the developing baby. The aspiration itself usually lasts only a few minutes, and the procedure is commonly performed on an outpatient basis (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2020).
Documented risks include bleeding, infection, and injury to the cervix or uterus (World Health Organization 2022). In some cases, retained pregnancy tissue may occur and require additional medical treatment. Large medical reviews note that while complications can occur, serious complications following aspiration abortion are uncommon (Upadhyay et al. 2015).
Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) is a variation of suction aspiration that uses a hand-held syringe to generate suction rather than an electric pump (Ipas 2019). Both methods rely on vacuum pressure to evacuate the uterus, with the primary difference being the source and strength of the suction.
The following content is extremely disturbing to most viewers.
Dilation and Evacuation (D&E)
Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) is a surgical abortion procedure used in the second trimester, typically beginning around 13 weeks of gestation (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2013). The process involves cervical preparation, during which the cervix is gradually softened and dilated using medications and/or osmotic dilators (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2013). Depending on gestational age and clinical circumstances, this dilation may occur on the same day or require one to two days to achieve adequate opening (Borgatta and Kapp 2011). Once sufficient dilation is achieved, the clinician uses suction and surgical instruments, including forceps, to remove pregnancy tissue (the baby) from the uterus (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2013).
Because D&E is performed later in pregnancy, it is a more invasive procedure and carries recognized medical risks. Documented complications include heavy bleeding, infection, cervical injury, and uterine perforation, with the likelihood of complications increasing as gestational age advances (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2013). Large clinical studies indicate that serious complications are uncommon when the procedure is performed in a medical setting, but the increasing complexity of the procedure later in pregnancy underscores the physical demands and medical seriousness of second-trimester abortions (Borgatta and Kapp 2011).
Induction Abortion
Induction abortion, sometimes called labor-induction abortion, is a procedure most often used in the second trimester of pregnancy and sometimes later. Instead of surgery, medications are used to start labor, leading to the delivery of the baby. Because this method closely resembles childbirth, it can carry significant physical and emotional weight, especially when done later in pregnancy, near the point when a baby may be able to survive outside the womb with medical care (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2020).
In later pregnancies, doctors may first give an injection to stop the baby’s heart before labor begins. Medical guidance explains that this step is not usually used early in pregnancy but may be done later to prevent the rare situation in which a baby is delivered showing signs of life. Medications commonly used for this purpose include digoxin or potassium-based drugs. When digoxin is used, it can take several hours for the heart to stop. The exact approach depends on how far along the pregnancy is, the medical setting, and local laws or policies (Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 2011).
After this, the cervix is softened and opened using medications or small absorbent rods, a process that can take many hours. Additional medications are then given to start contractions. The baby and placenta are delivered in a process similar to labor and birth. Doctors carefully monitor the mother afterward to watch for complications (World Health Organization 2022).
Because induction abortion involves labor, it carries risks similar to childbirth. These can include heavy bleeding and infection. In some cases, the placenta does not come out completely and must be removed by a doctor. Rarely, serious complications such as injury to the uterus can occur, especially in women with prior uterine surgery (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2020).
Medical organizations also acknowledge that, in rare cases, a baby may be born alive during a later induction abortion, particularly as the pregnancy approaches 22 weeks or beyond. For this reason, doctors are expected to discuss this possibility ahead of time and be prepared to respond if it occurs (Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 2011).
Partial-Birth Abortion (D&X)
Intact dilation and evacuation (intact D&E)—sometimes referred to in U.S. political debate as dilation and extraction (D&X) or “partial-birth abortion”—was a variation of second-trimester abortion that required more advanced cervical dilation than standard D&E procedures. Medical authorities have explained that this level of dilation was typically achieved over many hours or days using osmotic dilators, such as laminaria or synthetic dilators, and sometimes medications to soften and open the cervix (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2000).
Once sufficient dilation was achieved, the procedure involved removing the baby, often in a breech (feet-first) position. In cases where the fetal head could not pass through the cervix intact, medical guidance describes the “possible decompression of the calvaria (skull)” to allow completion of the delivery. After fetal and placental removal, standard medical practice included examining the uterus and often performing suction to ensure it was fully evacuated and to reduce the risk of complications (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2000).
Because the fetus could be partially delivered at the time the final step occurred, the procedure became highly controversial. In 2003, Congress passed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, defining the prohibited act as the deliberate vaginal delivery of a living fetus to a specified point followed by an act intended to end the fetus’s life (Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, Pub. L. No. 108-105).
The vote exposed sharp partisan divisions. In the House, the bill passed 281–142: 218 Republicans voted in favor and 4 opposed, while 63 Democrats supported the bill and 137 opposed it. In the Senate, it passed 64–34, with near-unanimous Republican support and opposition from the Democratic caucus (U.S. Congress 2003).
In 2007, the Supreme Court upheld the law in Gonzales v. Carhart, the first time it approved a nationwide ban on a specific abortion method (Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124 [2007]). The procedure remains ethically significant because it occurred at stages of pregnancy when fetal development is advanced and survival after extremely premature birth may be possible in some cases (Institute of Medicine 2007).
The following content is extremely disturbing to most viewers.
