Abortion Procedures
74There is a lot of confusion on abortion procedures. Many think they know what procedures are done and why, when they truly haven't a clue. Many seem to think that you can get an elective abortion all the way up to the time you give birth, while others think that "partial birth" abortions involve birthing a living and conscious fetus, and then having the doc stab it in the head and suck its brains out. These things are not true at all. This hub is dedicated to educating the ignorant and giving the curious a little information.
In the first trimester, or the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, there are two options when it comes to abortions. There is medical abortions and surgical.
The medical abortion can only be done in the first 8 weeks of pregnancy. This is how it works.
- The first dose, called Mifepristone, is given to the woman either orally or through an injection at the office of the abortion provider. This dose stops the development of the embryo by blocking progesterone.
- The second dose, called Misoprostal, is given either orally or vaginally about 48 hours later. This causes contractions and the expelling of the embryo and uterine lining. This process can take from a few hours to complete, or even up to two weeks.
- The woman returns to her doctor in two weeks for an exam to make sure the abortion has been completed.
The surgical procedure can be done from 6 to 12 weeks of pregnancy. This is called suction aspiration and is done as follows.
- Your doctor may give you a painkiller, or they may give you a sedative that will not "put you out", but it will relax you and make the procedure painless.
- Your cervix may be numbed before the procedure.
- A soft and flexible tube, called a canula is placed in the cervix.
- The canula is connected to a suction machine that gently suctions out the pregnancy. This takes between 3 and 5 minutes to complete.
Second trimester abortions are rare, meaning that out of all abortions performed, these procedures make up less than 10%. There are several reasons why a woman will obtain a second trimester termination.
- She may not have been aware of her pregnancy
- She may have had to raise the money for her procedure
- The fetus may be fatally ill
- Her life may be in danger due to the pregnancy
There are three options when it comes to second trimester abortions.
The first procedure that is offered is called Dilation and Evacuation, or D&E. The procedure takes about two days and is performed as such;
On the first day,
- The woman is given a sonogram to determine fetal age and the position of her uterus.
- The cervix is numbed using an injection.
- Laminera, which is a seaweed based dilator is place in the cervix. This causes the cervix to dilate by absorbing liquid.
The second day
- The cervix is once again numbed through injection, and the woman may be given sedation or painkillers.
- The laminara is removed, having successfuly dilated the cervix.
- The doctor then uses a combination of suction and forceps to dismember and remove the fetus, placenta and other pregnancy tissue.
- The procedure lasts from 10 to 15 minutes.
This procedure may appear to be barbaric, may appear to be painful for the fetus involved, but the medical community has concluded that a fetus is incapable of feeling pain until 24-26 weeks gestation. Also, the anesthesia or painkillers given to the woman travel across the placenta and affect the fetus as well. It was stated that the procedure takes about two days, but many doctors are able to do the procedure in one day.
Another procedure that is offered is called an Intact D&X. This procedure has been coined "Partial birth" by the pro-life camp to bring forth emotion. There is no birth involved in the procedure, nor is there a flailing fetus involved. This procedure is usually done at 20 weeks or later. The procedure is completed in 2 days and is done as follows
The first day
- The woman is given a sonogram to determine fetal age, and is also counseled on her choice. Some clinics may euthanize the fetus with a shot of digoxin, which stops the fetal heart.
- The cervix is numbed through injection.
- Laminara is placed in the cervix to dilate it.
The second day
- The cervix is once again numbed and the woman may be given anesthesia or an epidural.
- The fetus is rotated to a breech position.
- The doctor then extracts the fetus up to the neck, the fetal head remaining in the birth canal
- The doctor then collapses the skull by suctioning the brain matter through a hole in the neck made surgically.
- The fetus is then removed and the rest of the pregnancy material is then suctioned from the uterus.
Once again, this procedure MAY sound barbaric and painful for the fetus, but just like D&E abortions, the anesthesia given to the woman affects the fetus as well, or the fetus is euthanized prior.
Labor and Delivery abortions, or L&D are done when a pregnancy was wanted, but something went terribly wrong. Either the fetus has died, or is dying of a fatal condition. These women want to hold these feoti and grieve. The procedure goes as follows;
- The fetus may be euthanized prior if alive and the clinic or doctor offers this service.
- Pitocin is given to the woman to induce labor.
- Membranes may be stripped.
- The woman goes into labor and delivers a stillborn or dying fetus that she may hold and comfort.
Late term abortions are rare, like mentioned earlier. Most clinics will not offer late-term procedures unless there is a valid reason for this procedure. Abortions beyond 24 weeks can ONLY be done for fetal anomoly or to preserve maternal health.
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Okay, this was the last abortion column I read. Why all the obsession? have you actually had one? Are you trying to justify something?
this is the dumbest fuckin thing ever written.
everything u said is WRONG. your trying to make the murder of innocent BABIES sound innocent and fail miserably.
Very informative and accurate post, thanks for doing your part to remove the stigma that surrounds a procedure that 1 in 3 women will experience by the age of 45.
Yes, these suctioning of brain procedures "MAY sound barbaric." They might. I mean, it could sound barbaric. You seem like a nice girl. Please open your mind to what is really going on with abortions. It will do you good to allow yourself to see the truth. It's hard to take the truth sometimes, and it can be harder to handle the consequences of the truth. But you can do it. I will be pulling for you.
stupid
why do you hate babies?
im 19 yrs old. i have a 2 yr old daughter. i got pregnant at 17.i rememeber taking 5 tests n i could not believe my eyes! here i am in a bathroom stall in school taking a pregnancy .test that says my whole life is about to be changed. i was scared. but kind of happy, because thAt baby would be my ticket out of my parents house. i hated my moms house. it was nothing but pain living there. i hid my pregnancy from my mother, for 5 months than my boyfriends mom told my mom. my mother wasnt too happy. my dad wasnt happy,in fact he quit talkin to me.. i was no longer his dad. the only man that took care of me my whole life (even tho im not his real daughter, hes my sisters dad) had gave me up like i meant nothing. i cried but after a while i told myself it didnt matter. i would hve my own little family soon n i would be happy. the day i had my daughter was the happiest day of my life! i would stare at her n think "wow! how did i go all these yrs without her in my life?" surprsingly this day brought my family back.. my mother fell in love with my daughter, n so did my dad. he still wasnt talking to me as much but atleast he was showing love to my daughter. around the time my dAUGHter was 1 1/2 her father n i would get into bad fights he started hitting me, so i left him. something i knew would make my parents happy. i moved back in with my mom. n i was a single mom.. juggling school n taking care of a baby... wow did life seem hard! but i was so wrong! it got evenharder! i met a guy, he seemed perfect. he was really sweet. and he was a dad himself. we were moving a little to fast, but im stupid.. i never stopped n took a second to think about he consequences a couple weeks later im back at the store taking a test..i swear everything was playing all over again.. the test said positive,i cried i couldnt believe it. i had just got my fathers love back. i was months away from getting closer to graduating.. i could bearly afford diapers for my daughter... what was i gonna do with 2 kids.. with no dad, no money, no stable home. all i could do was cry... not for ,myself, but for my daughter n this new baby i was carrying. all i could think is "wow ur such a horrible person to sit here n ruin ur bbys lifes" for weeks i watched my pants get tighter, my belly get bigger... n even tho my baby was inside me i still couldnt forget about how i would loose my family againt ..so i never told anyone. i kept it a secret. on february 8th i woke up at 7 am n i went to a clinic . i remember the ride there i felt so empty n i hsted myself for it.. i stood outside in the rain for 30 minutes... thinking maybe someone would come stop me,but i remembered... no one knew but me,who would save me n this baby.. from this evil side of me??i walked in the clinic n saw other girls walk in. i thought only 2 or 3 would show up, but 11 girls showed up that day.11! i watched girls go in the bak n come back out with no expression on there face, they looked normal. i saw girls sit next too me laughing talking about regualr day things , and the only thing i could do is sit there with a blank look n hide my tears, i saw a girl go in n i thought "well there goes a poor innocent baby" 20 min she came bak n sat with her friend i could still hear her words echo.."IM KEEPING IT!" HER FRIEND SAID " NO WAY R U SERIOUS?" N her friend said "yes im keeping it so lets leave." i smiled i wanted to hug her n beg her to help me make the same choice.my name was called, they did an ultrsound n i couldnt see it, i wonder how the baby looked.. they told me was it was okay, even tho days before i went in i was bleeding n having clots come out..but they said it looked okay. i couldnt believe myself. i couldnt believe i wasnt stoppinf myself! ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS RUN OUT OF THE CLINIC BUT I COULDNT!! I COULDNT! I WAS SO SCARED N CONFUSED! i just did what they told me too do. take the pills fill out papers n sit n weight for the pills to start pre labor. 30 min later they called me into the surery room n made me undress... i wanted to cry n scream as i looked down at my underware n saw even more blood, but i went on i took my clothes off n layed on that bed, and waited for the drs n nureses to come in i was shaking so bad from being scared , the doctor asked if i was cold i lied n said yes, i didnt wanna show that i was scard, he put a mask on me n injected me with some stuff that burned my whole insiddes. he said " dont worry ill take care of your pain right now, u wont be cold nnn u wont hurt" as i started to get sleepy n numb .. i still felt pain tho.. my heart was breaking inside, he didnt fix that pain, i rememebr tears wanting to come out my eyes but u held them in. next thing i rememebr was sitting in a chair, n everything was blurry n out of no where those tears came out, even tho i was still out of it, i felt my tears n it felt so good to let that pain out,i sat in that chair and cried for a while than i collected myself n walked out.. with more teRS falling down my eyes.. n i went home n pretended like nothing waS wrong.. i forced myself to stand there in fron of my mom n act like i did nothing wrong... like i hadnt killed my bby hours ago... that night i cried ,,than i drugged myself up so good so i wouldnt have to live with the pain.. selfish huh?? i just caused that baby horrible pain n i killed it.. n here i am numbing myself up so I dont feel pain. ive had to live with this pain on killing my baby. now that i sit here n think about it every second of the day i would give up my mom n dad just to have my baby again. i shouldnt of care so much about that they thought of me. ishould of thought of my baby.. so now i here everyday i bring pain to myself i look a pictures of abortions n remind myself of the pain i brouight to my baby.. i sit here n write my story on different sites n let ppl judge me cus i desreve it. im sorru baby for what i did. even tho sorry isnt enough. i love you for who u would of been.
magnoliazz Level 2 Commenter 2 years ago
No matter what, abortion is NOT the answer, unless the baby dies naturally and cannot be expelled.
In Wisconsin, it is difficult to find a place that perform abortions of any type. Do you know why that is? Because they cannot find doctors and nurses that are willing to do it! That tells you something right there.
I have many friends in the medical field and just about all of them can tell you a horror story concerning abortion.
I would not even give an abortion to my DOG!!
There are millions of infertile couples who would welcome a baby, even a special needs baby.
Still not convinced? Go talk to a woman 10 years after she had an abortion! See if she thinks it was still a good choice!