Abortion Facts

Planning an Abortion? Know the Complications and Dangers

Abortion has been declared legal in the United States for over three decades. But this does not mean that abortion has become a routine medical procedure like appendectomy. The debates about its ethics, consequences, and dangers are still raging like wildfire. Just as one part appears to have been put to rest, another part burst into flames. The real dangers that accompany the different procedures of abortion have never really been addressed.

One procedure is called “medical abortion” and it involves the use of drugs and chemicals to induce abortion. The most common complication that occurs within several days after this kind of abortion is infection. This happens when some of the uterine materials (which are actually bits and pieces of the unborn child) are left behind inside the uterus. This infection is known as sepsis. It can be fatal and can cause death if ignored.

Serious side effects are also dangerous complications of chemically-induced abortions. The chemicals are highly toxic and they have been found to cause diarrhea, nausea, anemia, hemorrhage, and liver damage. Some of these chemicals were discovered to contribute to lung disease and bone marrow depression.

If surgical abortion is chosen, instead of medical abortion, other dangers can occur, such as injuries and lacerations. In a surgical abortion, the cervix must be dilated so that tools such as the forceps and the curette can be inserted inside to reach the fetus. But when the cervix is dilated, the cervical muscles can be injured and torn. A woman who has torn cervical muscles will likely have miscarriages, when she decides to have a child later. Her cervix is simply too weak to withstand the pressure and weight of a growing child inside.

In surgical abortions, the use of the curette to scrape out the fetus, which is normally attached to the uterus, is dangerous. Lacerations can happen to either the lining of the uterus or the walls of the nearby intestines. When either of these is punctured, the body begins to poison itself. The inevitable result is death.

Another danger of surgical abortion is from the excessive use of anesthesia. The proposed type of anesthesia to be used in abortions is local or regional block anesthesia. Ideally, abortionists should use the lowest possible dosage of analgesia, which can relieve the pain but keeps the patient conscious. But against medical advice, the majority of surgical abortions use general anesthesia that knocks out all consciousness from the patient.

Since the patient cannot feel anything, her reflexes are down and could not help to protect her from anything that could go wrong during the procedure. While under general anesthesia, a woman is also administered with barbiturates. Barbiturates quickly enter the bloodstream and supposedly induce abortion. But they can also stop the lungs from working properly. This is why excessive anesthesia is considered as the major cause of abortion-related deaths.

The dangers of abortion do not stop here. Women who underwent abortion suffer complications years after the procedure. Some of them are ectopic pregnancies, infertility, and cancer. Before choosing abortion, a woman should step back and find other options that she can take.