Elective termination of pregnancy or abortion is common among women in the United States.  Every year, an average of  30 million abortions  are perfromed worldwide.

Most of those who seek an abortion procedure are usually young, white, poor, unmarried and those over the age of forty. An abortion procedure is legal in some countries but there are still some who uphold the sanctity of life and condemn the procedure.

An abortion procedure may be done in many different ways depending on the stage of pregnancy. It may be classified into three main categories namely :

  • The use of certain medicine that will induce labor resulting to the delivery of a dead baby: This kind of abortion procedure is used if pregnancy is from the first week until the eighth week. The abortion pill works to contract the uterus thereby expelling the tissues. This is a very convenient abortion procedure since the woman may choose when to terminate the pregnancy.
  • The use of instruments inserted through the cervix to the uterus: Also known as aspiration, this abortion procedure is viable if the woman is on her eighth to twenty sixth week of pregnancy. It involves numbing the cervix through an injection followed by the insertion of a soft flexible tube through the uterus. The baby is suctioned using an aspirating machine from the womb. The entire abortion procedure can be done in at least fifteen minutes. In some cases wherein the baby is almost developed, the procedure takes about two to three days to complete. Dilators are inserted to the cervix and they expand overnight opening the entrance to the uterus.
  • Through abdominal surgery: This abortion procedure is usually administered through a caesarian section.  Mothers whose life are endangered because of continued medical pregnancy may opt for this kind of procedure.

Effects of abortion procedure on women

  • Physically, a woman who underwent an abortion procedure usually experineces abdominal cramping similar to having a menstrual period. However, in most extreme cases, it may sometimes lead to uterine hemorrhage, uterine perforation, pelivic inflammatory disease and other infections and complications.
  • Mentally, any woman who had an abortion procedure brings with her the guilt over her decision. In fact, some women have to deal with mental depression and distress brought about by their decisions to undergo an abortion procedure.

An abortion procedure costs differently depending on the method and the stage the baby is to be aborted. In fact, there are even clinics who offer free abortion procedures to those who can’t afford it. The best thing to do is ask your doctor which procedure is best for you.

However, money is not the only thing involved in considering an abortion  procedure.  The costs even go beyond the spectre of financial and monetary costs.

Some of these may include emotional disturbances, anguish, spiritual guilt and other physical effects. As a result, many counselling agencies have committed to help women who would like to undergo an abortion procedure. These counselling groups offer alternatives such as adoption.