Abortion Procedures

February 22, 2006

Manual Vacuum Aspiration

One

of three forms of vacuum aspiration:

MVA, EVA (electronic) and D&C Key Distinction: MVA uses an IPAS manual syringe
Used

through first 14 weeks after last period Vacuum Aspirations account for 90%

MVA: The Procedure

Speculum

inserted Possible injection of numbing medication in/near cervix Dilation:

Increasingly thick rods Absorbent Dilators- take in fluid/stretch cervix (generally overnight) Medication

Tube

inserted into uterus via cervix Hand-held pump flushes uterus

MVA: Relatively Speaking

Considered

abortion Procedure is 5-15 minutes long (others take longer) 99.5% Effective
Procedure is repeated for the 0.5% failures
Lower

to be one of the safer forms of

Cost Quieter than a machine pump Can remove full gestational sac

MVA: Side Effects

Despite

being a safer method, MVA still has its side effects:

Abdominal cramping/pain Bleeding
Several

days of heavy bleeding Spotting for up to 6 weeks

Rare, but more severe, complications:

Uterine/Cervical Pelvic

perforation

Infection Excess Bleeding

MVA in Moldova
Moldova

is located between Russia and Romania

50 Years of Legal Abortion NAF funds the improvement of their abortions

Began

the MVA Project in Moldova in 2002

Dilation and Curettage (D&C)

Curettage:

Using a loop-shaped knife to remove tissue from the uterus Common gynecological surgical procedure
Following miscarriages, To treat excessive mentral flow
Used

for first trimester abortions As an independent procedure: May use the knife to dismember the body, followed by cleaning out the uterus. Often involves dilation followed by suction of the contents of the uterus

D&C: Why Its Uncommon

Considered Ashermans

a relatively risky abortion procedure Syndrome: excess tissue seals the

uterus shut

WHO

recommends D&C only if vacuum aspiration unavailable

1972:

D&C accounted for 23.4% of abortions 2002: D&C accounted for 2.4%

Dilation and Evacuation (D&E)

Surgical Most

procedure

common second trimester abortion procedure, 12-24 weeks

Baby doubles in size from weeks 11-13, and becomes too large to extract with suction aspiration techniques

D&E: Procedure
Dilation

Conical rods or absorbent dilators

of cervix (1-2 days)

Forceps

twisting of limbs, spine snapped, skull crushed

inserted, baby dismembered (10-15 mins)

Body

may be reassembled outside of uterus to ensure completion empty ultrasound to confirm that the uterus is

Possible

D&E: For the Mother

Sedatives,

painkillers, general anesthesia, numbing injections to the cervix during procedure Possible Complications:
Perforation of uterus Cervical laceration Incomplete removal Infection Inability to become pregnant Hemorrhage

Medical Abortion (RU-486)

Three steps First, either a dose of mifepristone in tablet form or an injection of methotrexate is given.
Mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone. Without progesterone, the lining of the uterus breaks down, ends pregnancy in the uterus, and causes vaginal bleeding. Methotrexate stops pregnancy in the uterus. It also stops those that develop in a fallopian tube ectopic pregnancies.

Second, another medication called misoprostol is taken in tablet form. This causes the uterus to contract and empty with vaginal bleeding. Third, the woman must return to the clinician for followup to make sure the abortion is complete. Available first 63 days of pregnancy (9 weeks)

RU-486: How it Works

Most women who use mifepristone have the abortion within four hours of taking misoprostol. About 10 percent of women who use mifepristone have the abortion before they take misoprostol as early as a day after taking mifepristone. For others, bleeding begins within 24 hours of taking misoprostol. The process usually takes about a week. About 50 percent of women who use methotrexate have the abortion the same day they take misoprostol as early as five days after taking the methotrexate. It happens within a week for another 3540 percent. The whole process can take up to 14 days. In some cases, bleeding may occur for up to four weeks

RU-486: Side Effects

Can cause serious birth defects if pregnancy continues Bleeding as if a heavy period Strong cramps Temporary abdominal pain Feel uncomfortably warm

Have fever and chills

Feel nauseous or vomit

Diarrhea

Saline Abortions (Saline Amniocentesis)

A

needle is inserted through the mothers abdomen and 50-250 ml (as much as a cup) of amniotic fluid is replaced with a solution of concentrated salt. The baby breathes and swallows the solution, and usually dies 1 to 2 hours later from salt poisoning, dehydration, hemorrhages of the brain and other organs, and convulsions. The babys skin is often stripped or burned off by the salt solution. The mother goes into labor about 33 to 35 hours delivers a dead baby Used after 16 weeks

Complications for the Mother

Hypertonic

saline may initiate a condition in the mother called "consumption coagulopathy" (uncontrolled blood clotting throughout the body) with severe hemorrhaging as well as other serious side effects on the central nervous system Seizures, coma, or death may also result from saline inadvertently injected into the womans vascular system

Partial-Birth Abortion (D&X)

This form of abortion takes place in the fifth and sixth months of pregnancy, or approximately 20-26 weeks With the help of an ultrasound, the abortion doctor grabs the babys legs with forceps and repositions the child in the birth canal in the breech position, legs first

Partial-Birth Abortion
The abortionist delivers

the entire child, except for the head, which he purposely leaves in the canal so the medical definition of birth does not occur

Partial-Birth Abortion
With a scissors, the

abortion doctor punctures the base of the living babys skull and spreads the scissor blades apart to widen the hole

Partial-Birth Abortion
A catheter is inserted into

the resulting hole, and the contents of the childs skull is sucked out, causing him or her a brutal, painful death The collapsed head is then removed from the birth canal

The Tragedy
When the child is partially delivered, he or she is often

kicking and moving his or her arms, very obviously a person and very obviously alive Like most abortion procedures, partial-birth is only performed on a child who has serious mental or physical disabilities about 20% of the time; in at least 80% of cases, the mother simply chooses abortion because the child is unwanted By the time the baby is killed, he or she is only inches from a medical definition of live birth, and nearly all victims of partial-birth abortion are viable at the time of the procedureadoption would be a perfectly plausible solution if the mother couldnt care for the child

Despite What They Say

This procedure is NEVER necessary to protect the mothers health; in fact, it is likely to be painful and is potentially damaging to her fertility.
Labor is induced by artificially dilating the cervix over a period of three days, which could result in the condition known as Incompetent Cervix and interfere with the womans ability to have children in the future The child is partially-delivered in the breech position, a position undesirable for safe live birthsmaneuvering the baby into this position can cause uterine rupture Surgical instruments are inserted into the birth canal, increasing risks of infection or uterine puncture Regardless of pro-choice claims to the contrary, partial-birth abortion is definitely not the safest method for the mother

References

Reproductive Planned
FWHC

http://www.optionline.org/abortion.html http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/reference/dilation_and_curetta ge http://www.thedoctorslounge.net/gynecology/diseases/abortion.htm http://www.answers.com/topic/dilation-and-curettage http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/ASMF/asmf5.html http://www.webmd.com/hw/womens_conditions/tw1469.asp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilation_and_evacuation

http://www.rhtp.org/abortion/mva/default.asp

Health Tech. Project:

http://plannedparenthood.com/pp2/portal/files/portal/medicalinfo/abortion/pubabortion-surgical.xml#1097785696224::8279011707666963798
http://www.fwhc.org/abortion/ab-procedures.htm http://www.prochoice.org/international/training/moldova.html

Parenthood:

Services:

National

Abortion Foundation: