The Abortion Methods, Reasons and Effects of Abortion

Do you think that abortion is the same thing as murdering your own child? People have argued this question for centuries. In 1996, there were 30 abortions for every 1,000 women aged 15-19 (“Teen” 1). I think abortion should be against the law because it”s harmful to the mother and it kills the baby. I will discuss abortion by talking about the abortion methods, reasons, and affects of abortion.

Abortions are performed using one of several methods. The safest and most appropriate method is determined by the age of the fetus, or the length of pregnancy, which is calculated from the beginning of the pregnant woman”s last menstrual period (“Abortion” 1). “Most pregnancies last an average of 39 to 40 weeks” (“Teen Pregnancies” 2). This period is divided into three stages known as trimesters. The first trimester consists of the first 13 weeks, the second trimester spans weeks 14 to 24, and the third trimester lasts from the 25th week to birth. Abortions in the first trimester of pregnancy are easier and safer to perform while abortions in the second and third trimesters require more complicated procedures and pose greater risks to a woman”s health. In the United States, a pregnant woman”s risk of death from a first-term abortion is less than 1 in 100,000. The risk increases by about 30 percent with each week of pregnancy after 12 weeks (“Abortion” 1).

A variety of drug-based abortion methods may be carried out under a physician”s supervision. In a method commonly referred to as the morning-after pill, a woman is given large doses of estrogen (a female hormone) within 72 hours of unprotected sexual intercourse and again 12 hours later. This high dose halts fetal development at the earliest stages after conception, or the point when a man”s sperm fertilizes a woman”s egg. Typical side effects of the morning-after pill may include nausea, headache, dizziness, breast tenderness, and fluid retention.