Abortion
Abortion may seem like your only choice…the easy way out. Sometimes women feel if they just quietly have an abortion, no one will have to know that they are pregnant. You are in a crisis. This is never the best time to make a “life and death” decision. An abortion ends the life of a little person growing inside of you. This person is your child. You are a mother whether you carry this child to term or abort it. Are you carrying the next Einstein or someone with the ability to find a cure for cancer?
Perhaps the truth is that it is not the baby that is unwanted, but the timing. Will ending the life of your child be a decision you can live with for the rest of your life? You have some very important decisions to make. DO NOT let anyone coerce you into having an abortion. Legally, no one has the right to force you into having one. The choice belongs to you. Take the time to think this through. You need to investigate all your options. No choice that you make will be an easy one. It is important that you make the decision that is best for you…and your baby. You deserve to know the truth.
Depending upon how far along you are in your pregnancy will determine what procedure will be performed to end your pregnancy. Would you have surgery without knowing the risks or talking to your doctor? You should know about the abortion procedure and its risks. We can provide you with that education. You should talk to the doctor who will be performing the procedure. We can inform you on what questions to ask the doctor.
What is an abortion?
Abortion is a serious medical procedure. It ends the life of the child you have developing within you. Abortion is legal throughout all nine months of pregnancy. Not everything that is legal though, is moral.
Questions to ask yourself:
When was the first day of your last menstrual period? Are you unsure? When do you think you got pregnant? Have you missed your period yet? The answers to these questions can help you find out how far along you are in the pregnancy and what the baby’s development is. The most important question that you must answer is, "what is the unborn?"
You may be asking yourself some very hard questions right now.
Do you really understand the risks?
Physical Risks
Physical risks can cause include possible heavy bleeding, infection, scarring, infertility or an incompetent cervix (which can cause the inability to carry future pregnancies to full term and causing miscarriages.) Sometimes a transfusion is required to replace blood that is lost. If the bleeding cannot be stopped, a second surgical procedure may be needed. If the scraping or suctioning causes scarring, you may not be able to get pregnant in the future or an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy can develop. Other organs can be perforated during the procedure, causing bleeding and infection. In rare cases there have been deaths due to complication from the abortion.
Emotional Risks
Possible sadness, long-term grief, anger, feelings of guilt and shame, flashbacks, anniversary reactions, depression and anxiety? You may have hallucinations, nightmares or suicidal thoughts. You may experience the inability to maintain close relationships and may feel abandoned. People who are experiencing these emotional disturbances tend to be more accident-prone which can lead to physical injury.
Spiritual Risks
Abortion is foremost a spiritual issue. Questions about core issues begin to emerge. Who are you really? Why do you exist? How do you view the world? How you see your life and existence will greatly influence your decision about the life of your unborn baby. God has a plan for your life and that of your baby. When a woman destroys the life that was created by God, she tends to shut God out of her life. He loves you and wants to have a relationship with you. He loves you unconditionally. He cares about the choice you are making right now.
RU-486
If you are less than 7-9 weeks from the first day of your last period, there are drugs to stop the pregnancy. Before the doctor administers this pill, you will be asked to sign an agreement to have a surgical abortion if this pill does not work. RU-486 stops the natural function of your body. Taken orally, your uterine lining breaks down. You should go into labor, but if labor does not begin you will be given another drug,Methotrexate (MTX) that causes your cervix to open up and your uterus to contract. The baby is expelled. Often you are alone, at home when this occurs. This drug was originally developed to kill fast-growing cancer cells.
Surgical Abortion-Beyond nine weeks
After nine weeks this procedure is called a surgical abortion. This is a blind procedure. You lie on your back on a table. Your legs are placed in stirrups. You may be given a shot to numb your cervix so that it can be stretched enough to fit a suction tube inside. The suction machine is about 32 times stronger that your vacuum cleaner at home. When the suction machine is turned on, you will feel a strong force suctioning the walls of your uterus as it pulls the placenta and baby’s body parts through the suction tube. A loop-shaped tool may be used to scrape the walls of the uterus as it cuts the placenta and baby into small parts that are pulled through the cervix.
Abortion from 14 to 22 Weeks
The procedure used at this stage of pregnancy is called Dilation and Evacuation. The baby is larger and more developed and the bones are stronger and longer requiring different tools. Your cervix is stretched wider than with an earlier abortion. An instrument that looks like pliers is used to pull the baby into pieces small enough to come out through your cervix.
Partial Birth Abortion
This procedure is used by inducing the woman into labor. The doctor manipulates the baby so that it is delivered feet first. All of the baby is delivered except the head. Just before the head is delivered, the doctor takes a sharp instrument and thrusts it into the base of the infant’s skull. The brain is sucked out and the baby’s skull collapses, allowing the skull to be delivered. This procedure is legal through the last day of pregnancy.