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Pregnancy Termination Procedures

Before 14 Weeks:

The Morning After Pill

The Morning After Pill is a so-called emergency contraceptive (EC) that can be taken within the first 72 hours after intercourse to prevent pregnancy. The first EC - Preven - was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on September 2, 1998. read more ->

RU-486

Use very early in pregnancy, no later than 9 weeks after your last period. The doctor would give you an oral dose or inject you with mifepristone. This drug stops the natural function of your body, blocking the use of an essential hormonal nutrient by the newly implanted baby, who then dies. Two days later you would return to the clinic for a check-up. If the baby hasn't been expelled, you would be given another drug (Cytotec or Misoprostol) to make your cervix dilate and your uterus contract to push the baby from your body, similar to labor. Side-effects include cramping, hemorrhage, nausea, and diarrhea. In some cases, this procedure results in a failed termination. If so, the doctor will want to surgically extract the fetus.

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 tool 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 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 the surgery the doctor cannot see the inside of your uterus and operates by touch alone, trying to detach the fetus from the wall of the uterus with the powerful suction tip.

Dilatation and Curettage

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

Dilatation and Evacuation

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 and C" methods, and there is greater risk of harm to your reproductive organs.

After 16 Weeks

Saline or Prostaglandin

This is injected into the amniotic fluid that 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 a poisonous substance that eventually kills 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 a dead fetus. the labor that proceeds birth is usually long and painful.

Late-Term Abortion

Dilatation and Extraction

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 and C" abortion because the fetus is not dismembered in the uterus; however, damage may occur due to extensive stretching of the cervix during the procedure.

This is by no means a complete list of the different types of termination procedures. These are the most common used today. All the procedures are done without consideration for the unborn child's ability to feel pain.

Source: "Abortion Procedures" Frontlines Publishing; Grand Rapids MI. The information provided on this website is not intended to diagnose any condition or pregnancy and should not take the place of your medical practitioner. Consult your physician with any medical questions you might have. The information and services are provided with the understanding that neither Agape Pregnancy Resource Center nor its suppliers or users are engaged in rendering legal, medical, counseling or other professional services or advice.


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