This is an abortion pill that is taken very early in pregnancy, most likely before the ninth week. Your doctor will either inject you with mifepristone or give you an oral dose. Your body will begin to behave hormonally as if you were not pregnant and you would experience a heavy period. Two days later you would return to the clinic for a check-up. Next, you will be given an injection of prostaglandin. The prostaglandin causes your cervix to dilate, and your uterus will push the fetus from your body, similar to labor. This injection can cause serious cramping, bleeding, and heart problems. If the injection of prostaglandin is not used, RU 486 may result in a failed abortion. Then a doctor would surgically extract the fetus.

After 14 Weeks

Dilation 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 remove 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 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 those substances into the amniotic fluid. Saline is a poisonous substance which eventually kills the fetus. Prostaglandin causes the muscles tissue of the mother to push the fetus out of the uterus. Both saline and Prostaglindin methods would require you to "give birth" to a dead fetus. The labor which precedes birth is usually long and painful.

Late Term Abortions

Dilation 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 D and 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.

 

Abortion risk facts:

• About 1 in 100 abortions performed early in the pregnancy develop complications.
• About 1 in 50 abortions performed later in the pregnancy develop complications.
• About 3 in 4 women experience an "acute grief reaction" if the abortion was performed for genetic reasons. (Z Kinderchir 1983; 38:98-9)
• About 1 in 2 women experience emotional and psychological disturbances after having an abortion that may include depression, insomnia, nervousness, guilt, and regret. (Br J Obstet Gynaecol 1980; 87:1115-22)
• About 1 in 4 women experience complications with future pregnancies that may include excessive bleeding, premature delivery, cervical damage, and sterility. (Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 1979; 58:491-4)
• About 1 and 6 women miscarry in their next pregnancy because of the cervical damage from the dilation during the past abortion. (Br Med J 1976; i:1303-4)
• About 140% greater risk of developing breast cancer if you've had an abortion. (Br J cancer 1981; 43:72-6)

 

 

 

Resources:

Abortion: Your Risks - a pamphlet put out by the Augusta Care Pregnancy Center

Before You Decide: An Abortion Education Resource - a booklet put out by Care Net. 2003