Goce, Ivan Rei L.

CHM99/C31

SUMMATIVE ASSESMENT
(FINAL EXAM)

February 19, 2016

Engr. Elisa Eleazar

ABORTION AND THE 21st CENTURY

The abortion debate is still in progress controversy surrounding the moral and legal status
of caused abortion. There are two sides in this debate: (1) the pro-choice movement
(emphasizing the right of women to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy); and (2) the prolife movement (emphasizing the right of the embryo or fetus to gestate to term and be born).
Both terms are considered weighed in general media, where terms such as anti-abortion or
abortion rights are normally preferred. Each movement is seeking to influence public opinion
and to attain legal support for its stand, some of anti-abortion advocates sometimes using
brutality.
Causes
The decision to continue womens pregnancy or to end it is very personal. Each year,
nearly 98% of developing countries, women have an abortion to end a pregnancy. The most
common reasons women consider abortion are: (1) birth control (contraceptive) failure. Over
half of all women who have an abortion used a contraceptive method during the month they
became pregnant; (2) inability to support or care for a child; (3) to end an unwanted pregnancy;
(4) to prevent the birth of a child with birth defects or severe medical problems. Such defects are
often unknown until routine second-trimester tests are done; (4) pregnancy resulting from rape or
incest; (5) physical or mental conditions that endanger the woman's health if the pregnancy is
continued.
Worldwide, 9 out of 10 abortions are performed in the first 12 weeks (first trimester) of
pregnancy. Most of these are done within the first 9 weeks of pregnancy. Very few abortions are

Goce, Ivan Rei L.

CHM99/C31

SUMMATIVE ASSESMENT
(FINAL EXAM)

February 19, 2016

Engr. Elisa Eleazar

done after 16 weeks of pregnancy. But some women have to delay abortions because they have
trouble with paying for, finding, or traveling to an abortion specialist.
Science and Technology for Abortion
Exams and tests are used to diagnose a pregnancy and to check for any health conditions
you may have that need special consideration. Regardless of whether you know that you would
continue a pregnancy or have an abortion, your evaluation will include a medical history,
a physical exam, and some laboratory tests.
A physical exam before an abortion includes: (1) taking your vital signs, such as blood
pressure and heart rate; (2) listening to your heart and lungs; and (3) Performing a pelvic exam to
find out the size and shape of your uterus. The size of the uterus can help estimate the number of
weeks

you

are

pregnant.

pelvic

exam

also

allows

your

doctor

to

check

the ovaries and fallopian tubes for a possible tubal (ectopic) pregancy, which would feel like an
abnormal mass in the pelvis.
Laboratory tests before an abortion include: (1) a urine pregnancy test to find out if you
are pregnant. (You may have missed a menstrual cycle for another reason, such as stress, and not
because you are pregnant); (2) a blood test to find out: (a) whether you have low blood iron
(anemia). If you are anemic, your doctor may want you to take some iron supplements before
and after an abortion; (b) your blood type and whether you are Rh-negative. If you are Rhnegative, you should receive a vaccine called Rh immunoglobulin after an abortion; (3)
screening for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), if you are at high risk for an STI. This is not
a routine test before an abortion but may be done to reduce the risk of complications, such as an
infection, after the procedure; (4) a Pap smear to check for cervical cell abnormalities

Goce, Ivan Rei L.

CHM99/C31

SUMMATIVE ASSESMENT
(FINAL EXAM)

February 19, 2016

Engr. Elisa Eleazar

(dysplasia), if you are due for one (not a routine test before an abortion); and (5)
an ultrasound may be done to check your uterus size and shape and to make sure the pregnancy
is in the uterus. A transvaginal ultrasound done in the first trimester is the most accurate method
of learning how long you have been pregnant.
Technology has played a role in the development of abortion rights and its ensuing
controversies, including many of the newly enacted or proposed restrictions on abortion. Some
doctors grew out of the development of vacuum aspiration methods of abortion in the 1960s and
the imaging techniques that supported it. Although abortions at the time were mostly done in
hospitals, those techniques lent themselves to routinization in free-standing clinics, which, due to
stigma and medical resistance by mainstream doctors to abortion in the 1970s and 1980s, came
to replace hospitals as the main site for abortions. If the incipient movement to bring abortion
into a gynecologists or family doctors office takes off, its success will owe much to
technological advances in early suction/surgical and medical abortion.
Medical abortion is the use of medicines to end a pregnancy. Medical abortion can be
done up to about 9 weeks of pregnancy. A typical treatment schedule for a medical abortion
usually requires at least two visits to your doctor over several weeks. For the first visit, one
medicine is taken during the visit and a second medicine is given to be taken at home. Vaginal
bleeding may last about 14 days. Usually about 2 weeks after the first medical visit, a follow-up
examination is needed to see if you are recovering well and to make sure the procedure worked.
Medical care before and after medical abortion includes physical exams and lab tests, education
about what to expect, self-care instructions, information on when to call your doctor, and birth
control planning.

Goce, Ivan Rei L.

CHM99/C31

SUMMATIVE ASSESMENT
(FINAL EXAM)

February 19, 2016

Engr. Elisa Eleazar

A surgical abortion ends a pregnancy by surgically removing the contents of the uterus.
Different procedures are used for surgical abortion, depending on how many weeks of pregnancy
have passed. Care before and after a surgical abortion includes a physical exam and lab tests,
education about what to expect, self-care instructions, symptoms that mean you should call your
doctor, and birth control planning. Surgical methods in the first trimester (5 to 12 weeks) uses
Manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) or machine vacuum aspiration that uses suction through a
small tube to empty the uterus of all tissue. Surgical method in the second trimester uses Dilation
and evacuation (D&E) is typically done when an abortion occurs in the second 12 weeks
(second trimester) of pregnancy. It usually includes a combination of vacuum aspiration, dilation
and curettage (D&C), and the use of surgical instruments (such as forceps) to clear the uterus of
fetal and placental tissue. A D&E is most commonly used during the second trimester because it
has a lower complication risk than induction abortion. On the other hand, nonsurgical method in
the second trimester Induction abortion ends a second-trimester pregnancy by using medicines to
start (induce) contractions, which expel (push) the fetus from the uterus. If the fetus has severe
medical problems, a woman may choose to have an induction abortion.
Technological Solutions
Birth control, also known as contraception and fertility control, are methods or devices
used to prevent pregnancy. Planning, provision and use of birth control is called family planning.
Birth control methods have been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods only
became available in the 20th century. Some cultures limit or discourage access to birth control
because they consider it to be morally, religiously, or politically undesirable.

Goce, Ivan Rei L.

CHM99/C31

SUMMATIVE ASSESMENT
(FINAL EXAM)

February 19, 2016

Engr. Elisa Eleazar

The most effective methods of birth control are sterilization by means of vasectomy in males
and tubal ligation in females, intrauterine devices (IUDs), and implantable contraceptives. This is
followed by a number of hormonal contraceptives including oral pills, patches, vaginal rings,
and injections. Less effective methods include barriers such as condoms, diaphragms and
contraceptive sponge and fertility awareness methods. The least effective methods are
spermicides and withdrawal by the male before ejaculation. Sterilization, while highly effective,
is not usually reversible; all other methods are reversible, most immediately upon stopping them.
Safe sex, such as the use of male or female condoms, can also help prevent sexually transmitted
infections.
Emergency contraceptives can prevent pregnancy in the few days after unprotected sex. Some
regard sexual abstinence as birth control, but abstinence-only sex education may increase teen
pregnancies when offered without contraceptive education, due to non-compliance.