What Are the Different Types of Abortion?

There are two types of abortion: medical (also called the “abortion pill”) and surgical. Gestational age, which essentially refers to how far along you are in your pregnancy, is one of the main factors that determine which abortion procedure may be obtained.

If you are considering an abortion, it’s essential to learn all you can about both procedures, as both options come with potentially serious risks to your health.

Medical (Medication) Abortion

Medical abortion consists of two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol.

The first drug, mifepristone, blocks progesterone, an essential pregnancy hormone. Without progesterone, your uterine lining will thin, causing your pregnancy to detach from the uterine lining and eventually end.

Next, misoprostol is taken. It causes uterine contractions that expel your pregnancy from the uterus and out through the vagina. After taking these drugs, you will experience vaginal bleeding and abdominal cramping, and some women have reported that the pain was unexpectedly severe.

Risks of a medical abortion include:

Incomplete abortion, which is when fetal tissue remains in your uterus
Heavy and prolonged bleeding
Infection
Fever
Digestive system discomfort

Surgical Abortion

A surgical abortion is a procedure performed at an abortion provider’s office. During this procedure, your cervix is dilated so that medical instruments (like scraping tools, strong suction, and occasionally forceps) can enter the uterus to remove the fetus.

Risks of surgical abortion include:

Perforation of the uterus, which is when one of the medical instruments tears your uterus
Damage to the cervix
Scar tissue on the uterine wall
Infection

Warning Signs After Abortion

Both medical and surgical abortions have the potential to cause serious health complications.

If you have a medical or surgical abortion and experience any of the following warning signs, it’s essential to seek medical attention right away and let them know that you’ve had an abortion:

Heavy bleeding—soaking two or more pads an hour for two hours in a row
Bad pain in the stomach area or pelvis
Chills or body aches
Fast heart rate
Fever that lasts more than four hours or that starts in the days after you take misoprostol
Foul-smelling vaginal discharge

How to Protect Your Health

Before seeking an abortion or making any pregnancy decision, it’s critical to get an ultrasound. This simple scan will tell you how far along you are (medication abortions are only FDA-approved if your pregnancy is 10 weeks gestation or less).

An ultrasound may reveal life-threatening conditions (such as an ectopic pregnancy) which require immediate medical intervention.

Miscarriage symptoms may also be discovered during your scan which would eliminate abortion as a consideration. It is important to note that between 10% and 20% of first-trimester pregnancies end in miscarriage.

At Options Pregnancy Resources, we offer referrals for free, limited ultrasounds because we believe that money should never be a barrier to receiving the essential services you need to stay safe.