Abortion is the termination of pregnancy before birth, resulting in, the death of the fetus. Some abortions occur naturally because a fetus does not develop normally or because the mother has an injury or disorder that prevents her from carrying the pregnancy to term. This type of spontaneous abortion is known as a miscarriage. Other abortions are induced, because a pregnancy is unwanted or presents a risk to a woman s health.
There are four different techniques utilized during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. Suction aspiration, also known as vacuum curettage, is the most common surgical means of abortion. This is when a powerful suction tube with a sharp cutting edge is inserted into the womb through the dilated cervix. The suction dismembers the body of the developing baby, tearing the placenta from the wall of the uterus, and sucking blood, amniotic fluids, placental tissue, and fetal parts into a bottle. Although it is one of the safer methods, there are still frequent complications such as infection and tearing of the uterus, causing hemorrhaging.
In recent news, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the sale of the abortion pill mifepristone, or the RU 486, and it has fewer restrictions than before. Any family doctor or ob-gyn can now prescribe the two-drug regimen, provided the he or she has some surgical backup arrangement if it fails to end the pregnancy or there are side affects. The FDA has made it much easier for abortions no more clinics, and no more waiting until pregnancy is far enough along for a surgical abortion. All females have to do is take a series of pills over a period of days to induce a miscarriage.
Though the FDA has ruled the new pill as safe and effective back in 1996, it took four more years to find an acceptable manufacturer and figure distribution. Last summer, the FDA put a restriction on the pill, which was that only doctors who could do surgical abortions would be allowed to prescribe mifepristone. The...