Before making a pregnancy decision, you’ll want to ensure you know everything you can about each option. Abortion is probably an option you’ve heard of before. What do you know about this procedure?
Like any medical decision, having an abortion can have short-term and long-term implications. You may experience certain risks or side effects, and understanding how abortion works means asking yourself certain questions:
- Do I understand what an abortion is?
- What side effects and risks can I experience?
- Have I received information about my pregnancy, including how far along I am?
- Why I am leaning toward this option or thinking about parenting or adoption?
- Have I spoken to a medical provider about the eligibility requirements for an abortion procedure?
- What information don’t I know?
Women’s Hope Medical Clinic doesn’t provide or refer for abortions. However, we offer a safe environment in which you can ask the hard questions and receive answers from a licensed medical professional, registered nurse, or registered diagnostic medical sonographer.
Types of Abortion procedures
The two main types of abortion procedures are medical abortion and surgical abortion.
Medical Abortion
Medical abortion uses drugs to end a pregnancy. The FDA has approved the use of these drugs through 10 weeks gestation. Taking them after this gestational age is not recommended and could pose risks to your health.
The first drug, mifepristone, blocks progesterone, a hormone essential to the pregnancy’s growth and development. Without progesterone, the uterine lining thins and the pregnancy stops growing.
The second drug, misoprostol, causes uterine contractions that expel the pregnancy and tissues from the body. With any medical abortion, you would have abdominal cramping and vaginal bleeding.
Other side effects include:
- Nausea (with or without vomiting)
- Fever
- Chills
- Headache
- Diarrhea
Some women experience a medical abortion-related risk, which includes:
- Fever
- Digestive system discomfort
- Infection
- Heavy, prolonged bleeding
- Incomplete abortion (which may require surgical treatment)
- An ongoing pregnancy (if the drugs don’t work)
Surgical abortion
Depending on several factors, including your gestational age (how far along you are), drugs, surgical tools, and/or suctioning may be used during a surgical abortion.
These abortion procedures are similar to medical abortion in that you’ll also have abdominal cramping and vaginal bleeding. But the potential risks can be severe and include:
- Infection
- Damage to the cervix
- Perforation of the uterus (when a surgical tool pokes a hole in the uterus)
- Scar tissue on the uterine wall
Free & Confidential information
When reviewing your options, you may feel like you have a lot of information to sort through, or perhaps you’re feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin. Many women with unexpected pregnancies need a soft place to land and learn more about these options.
Women’s Hope Medical Clinic provides free and confidential options consultations so you can get the facts on abortion. We’re not here to pressure you into choosing an option. Instead, you’ll receive information and can ask questions in a non-judgmental environment.
Contact us today to learn more.