Abortion - Termination of a Pregnancy

Abortion

Imagine being at the top of your high school class as valedictorian, president of student council, and prom queen, while all at the same time is envied by all your peers. Well, this was the scenario of a teenage girl by the name of Natasha Cole. Nothing could go wrong for Ms. Cole. She had her whole life ahead of her until she got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. On one unfortunate night after leaving from an honors banquet, she became another statistical victim of rape. Confused by the events that had just transpired, Natasha remained silent. After finding out she was pregnant, her confusion elevated to depression both mentally and physically. Not knowing how to tell her parents or anyone else, she began weighing her options about being pregnant through research.

Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy birth, resulting in the death of the fetus. Many teenagers such as Natasha Cole, as well as mothers go through with this procedure for many different reasons. Some reasons why teenagers get abortions are they might be afraid of what their parents may think, they may be too young and can not afford to raise a child, and/or they could be afraid of what their peers may think or say. Mothers may also get abortions for a number of reasons. They may not be ready to raise another child, the older they are, the more complicated it is to have a child, and/or they are not financially stable enough to have another child.

The whole process of Elective Abortion is a question of informed decision making. Although it is a hard decision to make, the female that is pregnant is the only person capable of making the difficult decision. There is more than one method that can be used to induce abortion. The first method is the drug-based abortion method. With this method, two types of drugs come along with this decision called Mifepristone also known as RU-486 and Misoprostol. Mifepristone blocks progesterone which is a hormone that is needed to maintain the pregnancy. Misoprostol is a prostaglandin that causes contractions of the uterus, which is the organ in which the fetus develops. The drug-based abortion method is effective in about ninety five percent of women. Even though, the woman does not have to go through with any surgery, it still has its many side effects. Some effects may include dizziness, cramping, bleeding, and in some serious cases pneumonia which affects the heart and lungs which may cause death.

The next method is the surgical abortion method. The process of having a surgical procedure up to eight weeks includes a narrow tube that is inserted through the cervix into the uterus. Attached to the tube is a suction device. This device like a vacuum extracts the fetus and the substances surrounding the fetus out of the uterus. This procedure lasts only up to a few minutes. From eight weeks to sixteen weeks the Dilation and Curettage procedure is mostly performed. During this stage, the surgeon has to dilate the cervix and then scrape the uterine lining with a curette to remove the surrounding substances. Many women do not use this procedure due to the other procedures that are available. Up to sixteen weeks, abortion becomes more complicated. A procedure called Dilation and Evacuation can be performed. This process opens up and dilates the cervix greater than Dilation and Curettage procedure. The Curette and Forceps is also used to remove the unborn fetus. This procedure unlike the others must be performed in the hospital and performed under anesthesia. From