Abortion procedures

Abortion procedures are the medical processes of ending a pregnancy so that it does not result in the birth of a baby.^[1] It can also be referred to as a termination of pregnancy or simply as a termination.

Either medical or surgical methods can be used.

Early medical abortion can be performed up until the 9th week of pregnancy. It involves the use of two drugs. The first is mifepristone (also known as RU 486) which is taken orally. This is a progesterone antagonist. Progesterone is produced by the corpus luteum in early pregnancy and is responsible for maintaining the supporting uterine lining.

Between 36–46 hours after ingestion of mifepristone, prostaglandin vaginal pessaries are given which cause dilation of the neck of the womb. The lining of the womb, along with the pregnancy, are lost through the cervix.

Some medical procedures involve the use of methotrexate, a folate anatagonist.

Later medical abortions, performed after the 9th week, take longer and require more doses of prostaglandin. Very late medical abortions, performed with fetacidal procedures as described below, involve the use of prostaglandins injected directly into the womb to initiate premature labour.

The type of surgical procedure varies with the gestation of the pregnancy.

Suction aspiration is a surgical procedure which can be performed under local or general anesthetic. It most often used in the first trimester of pregnancy (the first three months). Suction aspiration involves dilating the cervix and passing a suction curette (similar to a vacuum hose with an extremely sharp end) into the womb. In order to dilate the cervix, prostaglandin may be used as in early medical abortion described above, though it is more common to use metal dilators. The suction curette is used to remove the pregnancy. The suction and cutting edge dismembers the fetus and the products are extracted by suction.

After the 15th week of pregnancy, dilatation and evacuation (D&E) is typically performed. A toothed forceps, such as a Sopher forceps, is used to grasp parts of the fetus and twist them off, as well as to crush and extract the skull. Suction is used to remove remaining soft tissues as well as the placenta. After about 20 weeks of pregnancy, the abortionist will often kill the fetus with a lethal injection on the first day of a multi-day procedure, both to ensure that there is no live birth and to allow fetal tissues to soften overnight for easier dismemberment.^[2] Successive changes of laminaria are used to dilate the cervix to allow for extraction of the fetal parts.

Partial birth abortion is also known as intrauterine cranial decompression or intact dilation and extraction. It requires decompression of the fetal head before evacuation is performed. It is used for very late, third trimester abortions.

This involves the dilation of the cervix to allow the passage of forceps. Under ultrasound guidance, the fetus is turned to a breech position. The fetus is then partially extracted, with the head remaining in the uterus. The fetal skull is then punctured and the brain removed by suction. This allows the head to pass through the cervix.

The saline abortion technique is used in the second and third trimester. Under ultrasound guidance, saline is instilled into the amnion in order to induce premature labour, which occurs 24–28 hours later. Fetacide occurs because the fetus swallows the instilled saline and dies of salt poisoning. The saline solution is also caustic and burns the fetal skin during the process.

Induction procedures are typically used in late abortions, when the fetal tissues are too strong for a dismemberment abortion to be preformed easily or when, due to abortion of a wanted pregnancy for suspected fetal abnormalities, an intact fetus is desired by the mother. A chemical or drug is injected into the fetus or the amniotic fluid on the first day of the procedure. Over successive days, laminaria packs are used to dilate the cervix. On the final day, drugs are administered to trigger labor. The woman then delivers the dead fetus.

The risks of an abortion procedure include procedure failure, hemorrhage, perforation, damage to the cervix, infections and psychiatric morbidity.

Parsley (Petroselium sativum) can be used to induce abortion.^[3][4]

1. ↑ NHS Direct Health Encylopaedia
2. ↑ Haskell, M.: "Dilation and Extraction for Late Second Trimester Abortion," Presented at the National Abortion Federation Risk Management Seminar, September 13, 1992
3. ↑ Herbal Fertility Control: Contraception and Abortion
4. ↑ Parsley

• True Face of an Abortion, Kevin Roeten, The Conservative Voice, April 25, 2008. Father Frank Pavone (Priests for Life) has posted two videos to YouTube that explains exactly what happens during an abortion.