Chemical abortion through the “abortion pill”
A chemical abortion can be performed in the earlier stages of pregnancy (usually up to the 7th week after conception, though time frames vary in each country and some doctors also practice off-label-use later in the pregnancy). The mother is usually given two pills – mifepristone and misoprostol. She has to take the first one, mifepristone, to start the abortion process.
Mifepristone stops her bodies production of the hormone progesterone and basically leads to the woman’s body thinking the woman is not pregnant anymore. Therefore, her body stops delivering oxygen and nourishment to the baby. The baby dies by suffocating in the womb. The woman has to wait a period of 48 to 72 hours, depending on the country she lives in, and can then take the second pill misoprostol. This leads to a very strong bleeding, through which the now presumed dead embryo is being washed out of the uterus, along with the placenta and any other pregnancy tissue.
Sometimes, women are given the second pill – misoprostol – directly, meaning the abortion process starts directly with the bleeding that evacuates the embryo from the uterus, during which the baby dies.
Surgical abortion – D&C
This abortion procedure is usually performed up until the 18th week after conception (time-frames again vary in each country). The woman is put under local or general anesthesia. Then the abortionist proceeds by opening her vagina and cervix until he can insert a suction tube into her uterus. The abortionist then uses a suction machine to evacuate the baby from the uterus. Since the baby’s bones are already formed, but are still weak and fragile, chances are that the body of the baby will be ripped into pieces during this process. Afterwards, the abortionist performs a curettage, scraping the uterus to remove any body parts or tissue left behind.
Late-term abortion
If an abortion is performed during the later half of the second or during the third trimester, it is referred to as a “late-term abortion”. The mother is given a labor-inducing drug (misoprostol, same as for a chemical abortion, but in a higher dosage). Since the baby is still underdeveloped, the abortionist presumes that the baby simply will not survive the stress of an early birth.
If, however, the baby could already survive the abortion attempt, potassium-chloride is first injected into the baby’s heart to ensure the baby’s death in utero. The mother is then given the same drug to start contractions for her to give birth to the dead child.