When are abortions performed?
More than 90 percent of all induced abortions are performed during the first trimester—the first three months of pregnancy. In fact, more than half are performed within the first two months of pregnancy. These abortions are usually performed at a clinic, health center, or in a doctor's office, and the women go home an hour or so later.
Fewer than 9 percent of abortions take place in the second trimester—14 through 24 weeks of pregnancy. Abortions in the second trimester are more complicated procedures but are safer than childbirth.
Abortion in the last three months of pregnancy is extremely rare. Only one out of 10,000 abortions takes place after 24 weeks. It is more complicated and is performed only when the pregnancy seriously threatens a woman's health or life or when the fetus is severely deformed.

Who has abortion?
Approximately 1.5 million U.S. women with unwanted pregnancies choose abortion each year. Most are under 25 years old and unmarried. Women who are separated from their husbands and poor women are more likely to choose abortion than other women. More than two-thirds of the women who seek abortions have jobs. Nearly one-third are in school. More than two-thirds plan to have a child in the future.
Approximately six million women in the U.S. become pregnant every year. About half of those pregnancies are unintended. Either the woman or her partner did not use contraception or the contraceptive method failed.

Is abortion safe?
Yes. Today, abortion is about twice as safe as having your tonsils out and is safer than childbirth. In fact, abortion is 11 times safer than giving birth up to the 18th week of pregnancy. However, the risk of rare, serious complications or death from abortion increases the longer a pregnancy goes on.

Does having an abortion hurt?
Most women say the discomfort of early abortion with local anesthetic is like menstrual cramps. For some women, abortion is very uncomfortable. Others feel very little. Abortion with local anesthetic after 24 weeks of pregnancy is about as painful as labor during birth. With a local anesthetic, a woman’s pain is relieved, but she remains awake. Some clinics offer general anesthesia so the woman sleeps and feels nothing. General anesthesia, however, increases the medical risks and the length of time a woman must remain at the clinic.

How is early abortion performed?
The usual method of early abortion is suction curettage. It is performed from six to 12 weeks after your last period. The procedure takes about 3-9 minutes.
The vagina is washed with an antiseptic. Usually, a local anesthetic is injected into or near the cervix.
The opening of the cervix is gradually stretched. One after the other, a series of increasingly thick rods (dilators) are inserted into the opening. The thickest may be the width of a fountain pen.
After the opening is stretched, a tube is inserted into the uterus. This tube is attached to a suction machine.
The suction machine is turned on. The uterus is emptied by gentle suction. After the suction tube has been removed, a curette (narrow metal loop) may be used to gently scrape the walls of the uterus to be sure that it has been completely emptied.

How are early second-trimester abortions performed?
Abortions performed early in the second trimester are performed in two steps—dilation and evacuation (D&E). Second-trimester abortions are available in some clinics, as well as certain hospitals, up to the 25th week of pregnancy.
During the first step of a D&E:
The vagina is washed with an antiseptic. Absorbent dilators may be put into the cervix, where they remain for several hours, often overnight. The dilators absorb fluids from the cervical area and stretch the opening of the cervix as they thicken.
If you are to go home with the dilators in place, you will be given instructions for your care until you return for the abortion. You may be given antibiotics to prevent infection. If the dilators are left in overnight, you will also be given a 24-hour telephone number so you can contact the clinic staff should any problem arise. Gradual dilation is safer than having it done all at once. However, you may feel pressure or cramping while the dilator is in place.
During the second step of a D&E:
You may be given intravenous medications to ease pain and/or prevent infection. A local anesthetic is injected into or near the cervix. The dilators are removed from the cervix. The fetus and other products of conception are removed from the uterus with instruments and suction curettage. This procedure takes about 6-10 minutes.

How is abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy performed?
Only one out of every 10,000 women who have abortions have them after 24 weeks. These are performed only when there is a serious threat to a woman's life or health or if the fetus is severely deformed.
One of the procedures is called the induction method. The doctor injects urea or salt solution into the uterus to induce contractions (labor) and cause a stillbirth. Or the doctor may insert prostaglandin into the vagina to induce labor and expel the fetus. Labor pains, which usually last from six to 24 hours, can be relieved with medication.
The induction method is usually done in a hospital and usually means staying overnight or longer. The chance of complications is greater than with early abortion or D&E—abortion after 24 weeks is about as risky as carrying the pregnancy to term.
Some providers use a three-step D&E procedure instead of the induction method for abortions after 24 weeks. In the first two steps, the cervix is dilated several times until it is wide enough to allow removal of the fetus with grasping instruments.

What happens after an abortion?
After an abortion up to the 25th week, you will rest in a medically supervised recovery room for as long as necessary, usually about an hour. You will be able to rest until you feel ready to leave. During that time, you will be observed to make sure there are no complications.
If you have an Rh negative blood type, you will receive an injection to prevent the development of antibodies that could endanger any future pregnancy. The clinic will give you written instructions for after-care and a 24-hour emergency phone number to use if complications arise. You will be able to discuss birth control with your counselor, and an appointment will be made for a follow-up examination in two to four weeks.

How long will it take to recover from an abortion?
Usually you can return to work or your normal activities the day after early abortion—depending on how strenuous your normal activities are. The day of the abortion, you may want to relax for the rest of the day. You may shower as soon as you wish. Do not take tub baths, douche, use vaginal medications, or have vaginal intercourse until after your follow-up exam—from two to four weeks after the abortion. Recovery after later abortions may take longer.