Abortion Facts

Pregnancy Termination Procedures

Early Abortion

Suction Aspiration: After dilating the cervix which is the donut shaped organ at the entrance of the uterus, a hollow plastic tube with a knife-like edge is inserted into the uterus. The abortionist then cuts and scrapes the uterus and the baby is removed by a suction machine attached to the plastic tube. Great care must be taken to prevent the uterus from being perforated or torn.

Mifepristone: (formerly RU-486) sometimes called the abortion pill: First a steroid drug is taken orally which either destroys the baby's placenta or prevents it from being formed. Then a prostaglandin drug is taken to induce the uterus to contract and vaginally deliver the baby, who is much too young to survive.

Dilation and Curettage or D & C: This is similar to the suction aspiration method except that a curette (loop-shaped steel knife) is used instead of a plastic tube. The baby is scraped out instead of sucked out.

Late Abortion

Dilation and Evacuation or D & E: The same as a dilation and curettage but done after 12 weeks. Parts of the baby are dismembered and pulled out by a forceps. The baby's head must be crushed in order to pass through the cervix. The final step is for the nurse to reassemble the parts of the baby's body on a table to make sure that all of the "products of conception" have been removed. If any baby body parts or fragments of the placenta are left inside the woman, she is likely to develop a serious infection.

Prostaglandin: These are drugs which produce labor and delivery at whatever stage of pregnancy they are administered. The mother gives birth to a baby who is so premature he or she cannot survive. Occasionally when this method is used a baby is aborted alive. And when an abortion produces a live baby, it is called a complication.

Salt Poisoning or Saline Abortion: A concentrated salt solution is injected into the amniotic fluid through the mother's abdominal wall. It takes about an hour for the baby to die after his skin has been chemically burned and after swallowing and breathing the salt solution. The mother delivers a dead or dying baby about 24 hours later. This method is rarely performed any more due to the dangers it poses to the pregnant woman.

Partial Birth Abortion: The mother is given drugs to induce labor. The abortionist turns the baby so that it comes down the birth canal feet first. When all but the head is delivered, the abortionist plunges a scissors or similar instrument into the back of the neck at the base of the skull, inserts a tube, then sucks out the baby's brains to collapse the skull, all with no anesthesia, then completes the delivery of a now dead baby.

Hysterotomy: This is a late term procedure. The mother's abdomen is surgically opened as in a Caesarian section. The baby is lifted out, placed in a surgical bucket and allowed to die.

Abortion Statistics

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