Surgical abortion. What is it?

Abortion is an act of direct killing that takes the life of a tiny human being - a life that begins at conception/fertilization. Abortion always claims a human being's life and is therefore never a good choice. Legislation that recognizes this fundamental truth should be introduced and supported.

Surgical abortion is an action that surgically kills a baby while she is growing in her mother's womb. Different methods can be used depending on the age of the baby.

Chemical abortion is an action that chemically kills a baby either before or after she implants in her mother's womb. Pre-implantation chemical abortion can be caused by hormonal birth control drugs and devices, including the pill and the morning-after pill while post-implantation chemical abortion is primarily caused by a drug regimen known as RU486, or Mifeprex.

What is my best option?

All methods of abortion have risks - both physical and emotional. All of these methods kill babies, whether these babies are at the embryonic stage of life or the fetal stage of life.

Please know that there are people willing to help you, listen to your concerns, arrange good prenatal care for you and be supportive as you decide what is best for you and your baby.

Be good to yourself, Be good to your baby!

If you or someone you know is facing pregnancy alone and would like someone to talk to, please click here to be connected with a local pregnancy center.

If you or someone you know has had an abortion and would like resources, information on healing retreats, or someone to talk to, please call Rachel's Vineyard at 1-877-HOPE-4-ME or click on www.rachelsvineyard.org.*

Surgical Abortion Risks

Abortion doesn't just end the life of a child, it also harms the mother emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Here's a few of the wounds abortion can cause to a woman.

Short -term complications

  • About 1 in 10 women undergoing elective abortion suffers immediate complications, of which one-fifth are considered life-threatening.

  • Common major complications are - infection, excessive bleeding, embolism, anesthesia complications, convulsions, hemorrhage, cervical injury, endotoxic shock and ripping or perforation of the uterus.

  • Minor complications include - infection, bleeding, fever, second-degree burns, vomiting and chronic abdominal pain.

Depression

  • Women whose first pregnancies ended in abortion were 65% more likely to be at high risk of clinical depression.

  • After their abortions, married women were 138% more likely to be at high risk of clinical depression compared to similar women who carried their first pregnancies to term.

  • Women were 63% more likely to receive mental care within 90 days of an abortion compared to delivery. In addition, abortion was most strongly associated with subsequent treatments for neurotic depression, bipolar disorder, adjustment reactions and schizophrenic disorders.

  • A survey of post-abortive women found that: 60% commented that the decision to abort made their lives worse; and 94% regretted the decision to abort.

Death

  • Women who had abortions were almost twice as likely to die within the following two years. Also, over the next eight-year period women who aborted had:

  • 154% higher risk of death from suicide

  • 82% higher risk of death from accidents

  • 44% high risk of death from natural causes.

Substance abuse

  • Women with a history of abortion as twice as likely to use alcohol, five times more likely to use illicit drugs and ten times more likely to use marijuana during the first pregnancy they carry to term compared to non-abortive women.

Breast cancer

  • A meta-analysis of 28 reports concluded that induced abortion is a significant independent risk factor for breast cancer.

  • Among women who had been pregnant at least once, the risk of breast cancer in those who had an abortion was 50% higher than among other women. Women 18 and under or 30 and over were at highest risk.

  • One abortion almost doubles breast cancer risk; two or more abortions further increase risk.

Pelvic inflammatory disease

  • Of patients who have chlamydia at the time of the abortion, 23% develop PID within 4 weeks. Studies found that 20-27% of patients seeking an abortion have chlamydia. About 5% of patients not infected by Chlamydia develop PID within 4 weeks after a first trimester abortion.

Future pregnancy risks

  • Women who had one, two or more induced abortions are about 200% more likely to have a subsequent pre-term delivery, compared to women who carry to term. Pre-term delivery increases the risk of neo-natal death and handicaps.

  • Prior induced abortion increases the risk of delayed delivery. Women who had one, two or more induced abortions are about 200% more likely to have a post-term delivery (over 42 weeks).

  • Prior induced abortion is associated with an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy. There is a significant trend between the number of previous induced abortions and ectopic pregnancy risk.

Mothers younger than 20 years old

  • Teenagers, who account for about 30% of all abortions, are at a much higher risk for many long-term complications related to abortion.

  • A teenage girl is 10 times more likely to attempt suicide if she has had an abortion in the last six months than is a comparable teenage girl who has not had an abortion.

Spiritual health

Direct abortion is gravely contrary to the moral law. Formal cooperation in abortion risks the loss of one's eternal salvation.

I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live (Deut. 30:19).

Source: American Life League