ABORTION PROCEDURE INFORMATION

Please ... Think Hard Before You Let Go

BEFORE FOURTEEN WEEKS

Suction Aspiration

For this procedure you lie on your back with your feet in stirrups,
the doctor then applies a shot of anesthetic to your cervix to reduce pain.

Laminaria (a type of seaweed that expands when moist) is used to help dilate the cervix.
If necessary, your cervical muscle is stretched further with cone-shaped rods
until the opening is wide enough to allow the abortion tools to pass into your uterus.

The doctor then guides the suction device through the cervix and into your uterus.

When the suction machine is turned on
you feel the strong force of the vacuum which is used to pull the placenta and baby into
parts small enough to pass out of your body through the suction tube.

During surgery the doctor cannot see the inside your uterus and operates by touch alone,
trying to detach the baby from the wall of the uterus with the powerful suction tip.

Dilation and Curettage (D&C)

The doctor opens your cervix, as described above,
but in this case the abortion is done with a loop-shaped knife which he uses to scrape the
wall of your uterus; cutting the baby and placenta into smaller parts
and pulling them out of your body through the cervix.

RU 486

These are abortion pills that is taken very early in pregnancy,
most likely before the ninth week.

Your doctor would either inject you with mifepristone or give you an oral dose.

Your body would begin to behave hormonally
as if you were not pregnant and you would experience a heavy period.

Two days later you would return to the clinic for a check-up.

Next, you would be given an injection of prostaglandin.

The prostaglandin causes your cervix to dilate,
and your uterus would push the baby from your body; similar to labour.

This injection can cause serious cramping, bleeding, and heart problems.

If the injection of prostaglandin is not used, RU 486 may result in a failed abortion.

Then a doctor would have to surgically extract the baby.

AFTER FOURTEEN WEEKS

Dilatation and Evacuation (D&E)

Because the bones of the baby are larger and stronger by this time,
the doctor uses a medical instrument resembling pliers to pull the baby into smaller parts
and removes those parts from your body through the cervix.

This procedure requires that your cervix
be opened wider than with 'Suction' or 'D&C' methods, and there is
greater risk of harm to your reproductive organs.

AFTER SIXTEEN WEEKS

Prostaglandin or Saline

This is injected into the amniotic fluid which surrounds the baby in your uterus.

To do this, the doctor inserts a long needle into your abdomen
until the tip of the needle penetrates the uterus.

He then injects one of these substances into the amniotic fluid.

Prostaglandin causes the muscle tissue of the mother to push the baby out of the uterus,
and saline is a poisonous substance with eventually kills the baby.

Both the prostaglandin and saline methods would require you to
'give birth' to a dead baby; the labour which precedes birth is usually long and painful.

LATE TERM

Dilation and Extraction: Partial Birth (D&X)

Laminaria (a type of seaweed that expands when moist)
is used to dilate the cervix over a two-day period.

On the third day, the membranes are ruptured,
and an ultrasound is used to locate the lower extremities of the baby.

The doctor then uses large forceps to grasp a leg, and pull it down into the vagina.

After the body is delivered, the skull is lodged at the cervical opening.

The doctor makes an incision in the base of the child's skull.

This technique may be safer than 'D&E' abortion
because the baby is not dismembered in the uterus, however, damage may occur
due to extensive stretching of the cervix during the procedure.

Reasons Why Women Choose Abortion

According to many studies
the primary reasons for choosing an abortion are:

— pregnancy was not planned or wanted —
— not ready to have a baby yet —
— inconvenient time of life or the child interferes with goals —
— financial concerns —
— pressure by parents or other family members —
— fear of people finding out about the pregnancy —

But, the number one reason that women choose abortion
is that their partner, the father of the child, either passively or aggressively,
refused to support the women in carrying the child to birth.

In other words, the woman believes
that she will be abandoned by the most important person in her life
if she continues the pregnancy.

. . .

Yet 70% of Relationships End Anyway!

It has been reported that an estimated 70% of relationships end
within the first year following an abortion. If you are thinking that having an abortion will
help you keep your lover, think again.

Why do the men leave? Often, the men who refuse
to live up to their responsibilities resent the women that they have let down:
the mother of the child that they did not support.

And, when a woman realizes the pain abortion has caused,
she will resent the man who got them pregnant and did not fulfill his
obligations as a father.

Other factors such as guilt, shame,
anger, and fear are other reasons why the relationship may end.

Please realize that abortion not only destroys your child,
it can also ruin the very realtionship that you most hoped would last.

. . .

What Benefit Will Abortion Bring You?

Ask yourself this question: What honest benefit will this abortion bring me?

Make a list and compare the benefits of having an abortion
to the benefits you can think of if you have the baby and raise it alone.

List the benefits of having the baby and marrying the father.

List the benefits of having the baby
and placing it for an open or closed adoption with a loving family.

Now honestly compare your lists.

Be specific about every possible consequence you can think of for each category.
As logically as you can, think about your future and what is best for you,
for your unborn child, and possibly your lover.

Make your choice only after very carefully considered ALL of your options.

Physician Form:
Patient Safety and Consent

You have a right to know all of your options and any
other information that might affect your decision, but if you don't
ask for this information you may forfeit that right.

Here are some very important questions
you may want to discuss before you sign a doctor's consent form.

1. Will it hurt?
2. What options and support services are available if I choose not to abort?
3. What is the fetus like right now? What can it do? What can it feel?
4. What are the chances that I will experience any of the following problems:

Physical

___ Retained Fetal Body Parts
___ Damage to the Cervix
___ Hemorrhage
___ Infection
___ Perforated Uterus
___ Sterility
___ Complications for Future Pregnancies

Psychological

___ Depression
___ Anniversary Syndrome
___ Feelings of 'Craziness'
___ Sexual Dysfunction
___ Suicidal Thoughts
___ Interference with Personal Relationships

5. Will you treat me for complications?
6. If I need to be hospitalized, at which hospital do you have privileges?

If you decide to have an abortion,
you'll want a permanent record of what the doctor told you.

Press the red ribbon below to create a page
so that you can print this checklist and take it to your appointment
and then store it in a safe place.

Some of the effects associated
with abortion may not show up for several years.

If anything does happen to you during or after your abortion
you will have evidence of what the doctor had told you.

Physician Form: Patient Safety and Consent
(for printing purposes)

Oh yeah, four last things to remember!

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