Abortion Risks: Do They Exist?

How often have you heard the media describe abortion procedures, side effects, and potential risks? If you’re like most people, never. 

We want to give you the facts about abortion from medical experts so there’s no confusion or doubt. Take a closer look at the risks of abortion.

Types of Abortion Methods

There are two main types of abortion, medical and surgical. Medical abortion can only be performed if you’ve been pregnant for 70 days or less. If the gestational age is longer than 70 days, you’ll have an in-clinic surgical abortion. 

What Is A Medical Abortion?

Have you been pregnant for 70 days or less? Knowing how long you’ve been pregnant is essential to qualify for a medical abortion. The abortion pill is a type of medical abortion method. It uses two powerful drugs to end your pregnancy and remove it from your body. 

The first drug is called mifepristone. It’s highly regulated by the FDA. Every pregnancy needs progesterone to grow and thrive. Mifepristone blocks progesterone, causing the uterine lining to thin so the embryo or fetus can no longer stay implanted or grow. This terminates the pregnancy.

The second drug is misoprostol. It causes the uterus to contract and expel the pregnancy through the vagina with cramping and bleeding. 

Risks of Medical Abortion

The potential risks of medical abortion, according to Mayo Clinic, include:

• Incomplete abortion, which may require a surgical abortion
• An ongoing pregnancy if the procedure fails
• Heavy and prolonged bleeding
• Infection
• Fever
• Digestive system discomfort

You would need to seek immediate medical care if you experienced these symptoms afterward:

• Heavy bleeding — soaking two or more pads an hour for two hours
• Severe abdominal or back pain
• Foul-smelling vaginal discharge
• Fever lasting more than 24 hours

In Kansas, only physicians are allowed to provide abortion pills. 

What Is A Surgical Abortion? 

The number of weeks you’ve been pregnant will determine what type of surgical abortion you have. The surgeries range from a Vacuum Aspiration, which sucks out pregnancy tissue, to dilation and curettage (D & C) and dilation and evacuation (D & E) both of which include scraping the uterine wall or using forceps to remove larger tissue.

Risks of Surgical Abortion (D&C)

According to the Mayo Clinic, these are the potential complications from Dilation and Curettage:

• Perforation of the uterus
• Damage to the cervix
• Scar tissue on the uterine wall
• Infection

These risks are the same for a dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortion, but D&E can also include blood clots and hemorrhaging. 

You would need to seek immediate medical care if you experienced these symptoms afterward:

• Fever
• Foul-smelling discharge
• Cramps lasting more than 48 hours
• Bleeding that’s heavy enough that you need to change a pad every hour
• Lasting dizziness or lightheadedness
• Pain that gets worse instead of better

LifeCare Center Offers Pregnancy Verification For Free

Now that you have a little more information, be sure to verify your pregnancy with no-cost pregnancy testing and ultrasound. We can tell you how far along you are and whether or not you’ve had a natural miscarriage. 

Contact us today either by phone, email, or our 24-hour emergency hotline. We’re here for you.