Abortion Information
If you are considering having an abortion, please see OptionLine.org.
Methods of Abortion
Chemical/Medical Abortion works by poisoning and expelling the child (embryo) at a very early stage.
Chemical abortion also includes abortifacients such as "emergency contraception" which are designed in part to prevent a newly conceived embryo from implanting into the uterine lining, thus expelling and killing him/her.
Many types of contraception can act as abortifacients. If you are using contraception, you should check the manufacturer's fine print on the packaging to see if it may prevent implantation of a newly conceived embryo.
Manual vacuum aspiration uses a tube and syringe to suction out the embryo or fetus (3-12 weeks), dismembering and killing him.
Machine vacuum aspiration uses a tube and an electric pump (since the fetus is getting bigger and stronger) to suction out the fetus (7-12 weeks).
Dilation and curettage (D&C) uses forceps to dismember fetus and remove parts, after opening the cervix. The fetus' skull is crushed to ease removal (13-24 weeks). This is a subset of the procedure known as Dilation & Evacuation (D&E).
Dilation and extraction (D&X) also known as partial birth abortion. Uses medication to induce labor, forceps to pull baby out, scissors to open skull, and suction to remove the brain. Synonymous terms: Intact dilation & evacuation (Intact D&E), Intact D&X.Diagram More about partial-birth abortion
Links to Abortion Images An image tells more than words can ever describe. You have a right to see what abortion truly is.
Abortion Risks
Besides killing the child, abortion also poses risks to the mother's health.
Risk of death Legal abortion is reported as the fifth leading cause of maternal death in the United States, though many abortion-related deaths are not reported as such.
Other immediate physical risks to the mother include:
- Tearing or perforation of the uterus
- Infection
- Excessive bleeding
- Embolism
- Anesthesia complications
- Convulsions
- Hemorrhage
- Cervical injury
- Endotoxic shock
Breast cancer risk Since abortion inhibits the development of cancer-resistant lobules in the breast, abortion during a first pregnancy also increases the risk of breast cancer over carrying the baby to term.
Post-abortion stress sydrome or post-abortion syndrome (PAS), a category of post-traumatic stress syndrome. Because abortion kills a woman's own child, many women feel deep psychological and spiritual regret following abortion, often not surfacing until many years later. Fathers also experience this hurt. PAS can be worsened by societal taboos against talking about one's experience and regret. See After Abortion page if you are suffering from a past abortion.
Definitions
Embryo - "In humans, the developing organism from the time of fertilization until the end of the eighth week of gestation, when it becomes known as a fetus."1 "This term refers to the developing human during its early stages of development." 1a
Fertilization - "The process whereby male and female gametes [sperm and egg] unite" to form a new individual. 2
Essentials of Human Embryology (William Larsen, New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1998) states:
"In this text, we begin our description of the developing human with the formation and differentiation of the male and female sex cells or gametes, which will unite at fertilization to initiate the embryonic development of a new individual."
Fetus - "In humans, the unborn young from the end of the eighth week after conception to the moment of birth." 3 (From the Latin meaning young or offspring.)
Pregnant - "Carrying developing offspring within the body." 4
Zygote - "Results from the union of an oocyte and a sperm. A zygote is the beginning of a new human being." 5 (A sub-phase of the embryo.)
For the purposes of this site, these words will normally apply to human beings and their development.
1. National Institutes of Health, Stem Cells: scientific progress and future research directions, June 2001.
1a. Keith L. Moore, Ph.D. & T.V.N. Persaud, MD, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 6th ed., W.B. Saunders Company, 1998.
2. National Institutes of Health, Stem Cells: scientific progress and future research directions, June 2001.
3. The American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.
4. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.
5. Keith L. Moore, Ph.D. & T.V.N. Persaud, MD, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 6th ed., W.B. Saunders Company, 1998.