Abortion - What to Think About

If you have had unprotected sex in the last 5 days and don't want to become pregnant, see a doctor about emergency contraception in the form of hormone pills (Plan B, also referred to as the morning-after pill). If you have had unprotected sex in the past 5 to 7 days, you may be able to use a copper intrauterine device (IUD) for emergency contraception. This will also work for long-term birth control.

Your abortion options are affected by your medical history, how many weeks pregnant you are, and what options are available in your region. Not all medical or surgical choices for an abortion are available in all parts of the United States or around the world. In the U.S., individual states have restrictions on abortion, such as requiring a waiting period, requiring parental consent for young women under a certain age, or limiting options for pregnancies between 13 and 24 weeks (second trimester).

The following table lists some of the differences between the most commonly used medical and surgical abortion procedures.

**Comparing medical abortion and surgical abortion** ⁵
Medical abortion	Surgical abortion
Usually prevents a need for surgical treatment	Is invasive and/or surgical: Manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) uses a tube attached to a handheld syringe. It draws tissue out of the uterus. Machine vacuum aspiration uses a tube attached to an electric pump. It draws tissue from within the uterus. Dilation and evacuation (D&amp;amp;E) uses a combination of vacuum aspiration, forceps, and dilation and curettage (D&amp;amp;C).
Can only be used during early pregnancy (up to 9 weeks)	Can be used from early to mid-pregnancy: Manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) can be used as early as 5 weeks, and as late as 12 weeks after the last menstrual period. Machine vacuum aspiration can be used around 5 to 12 weeks after the last menstrual period. D&amp;amp;E is used between 13 and 24 weeks after the last menstrual period. It uses a combination of vacuum aspiration, forceps, and D&amp;amp;C.
Takes 2 or more medical visits over 3 weeks	Usually takes 1 visit
Takes days to weeks to complete (most of the abortion process happens gradually, at home)	Is complete in the time it takes for the procedure
Does not require anesthesia or sedative	Does not require general anesthesia (though it can be used). Local anesthesia, with or without a calming sedative is usually used.
Has a high success rate (about 95%)	Has a high success rate (about 99%)
Causes moderate to heavy bleeding for a short time	Causes light bleeding in most cases
Needs medical follow-up to make sure pregnancy has ended and to check woman's health	Does not always need medical follow-up
Is a multi-step process	Is a single-step process
In extremely rare cases, leads to severe infection and death (about 1 in 100,000), slightly higher rate than after surgical	In extremely rare cases, leads to death (less than 1 in 100,000)

1 | 2

Next Page >

WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise

Last Updated: September 29, 2008

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information.