Abortion
...ives the mother the right of whether or not to terminated her pregnancy. However, that does not give the woman the right to terminate her pregnancy for any reason during all nine months. "The court said that the woman may have an abortion until fetal viability, the time at which it first becomes realistically possible for a fetus to live outside the woman's body. At that point the state's interest outweighs the woman's right." (Roe v. Wade) There are obvious exceptions to that law if the mother's health is at risk. And just as a passing comment, Roe has now changed sides. She was an active abortion activist for close to 20 years. Now she is just as involved in the opposing side. She has converted to Christianity and has been baptized. She is a leader for the anti-abortionists. The methods of abortion are divided into early abortions and later abortions. The newest addition, just approved by the FDA, is the RU-486 pill. Also known as mifepristone or the abortion pill. It may be used from the fifth week until the seventh. It is a chemical that interferes with the function of the placenta, which in turn starves the fetus. The fetus is then expelled using misoprostol. The abortion takes place over a few days. The woman may bleed for about 9 days, and may experience nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and painful cramping. Other way of abortion is vacuum aspiration, used from the sixth week until the sixteenth. This is performed by inserting a powerful suction tube into the uterus. The force of the suction removes the fetus. Possible complications are infection, cervical lacerations and uterine perforation. There is another method to abort a fetus, which is not approved by the FDA, it is called methotrexate. It is used from the fifth week until the ninth. Methotrexate interferes with the growth process, which is why it is used in the treatment of cancer. The fetus is then expelled using misoprostol. Methods of late abortions include dilation and evacuation. In which the fetus is removed by forceps. The fetus is torn apart limb by limb. The complications are infection, cervical lacerations and uterine perforation. This method is used from the thirteenth week until the twentieth. Prostaglandin or misoprostol is also to terminate the pregnancy. It is used to induce premature labour. Live births are common. The complications include convulsions, vomiting and cardiac arrest. It may be used from the sixteenth week until the thirty-eighth. Digoxin induction is used from the sixteenth week until the thirty-second. It involves injecting a lethal chemical into the fetus' heart. It is followed by an induced labour. Saline abortion is when a salty solution is injected into the amniotic fluid. The salt poison's the fetus. This method is rarely used due to the severe health risks for the woman. The last method used is the partial birth abortion. This used from the twentieth week until almost the last weeks of the pregnancy. The baby is pulled into the birth canal. Then a catheter is used to suction the baby's brains, so it fits through the canal in one piece. According to the Westside Pregnancy Resource Center, the leading causes of abortion related deaths are hemorrhage, infection, embolism, anesthesia and undiagnosed ectopic pregnancies. The risk of breast cancer doubles for women having their first abortion. The risk is multiplies with every other abortion. The woman can lower the risk by giving birth to a child. Compared to woman how haven't had an abortion the relative risk of cervical cancer is 2.3 for those who have had one abortion. For those who have had multiple abortions the relative risk jumps to 4.92. There are similar elevated risks for ovarian and liver cancer. Another health risk if pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) which is potentially life threatening and can lead to ectopic pregnancy and reduced fertility. Patients who have chlamydia, which is 20-27% seeking abortions, 23% will develop PID within four weeks of the abortion. Those who don't have chlamydia have only a 5% risk of developing PID. Teenagers, who account for 30% of all abortions, are at higher risks of suffering from complications. According to the Westside Pregnancy Resource Center, in a study of post-abortion women, only eight weeks after their abortion found that 44% complained of nervous disorders, 36% had troubles sleeping, 31% had regrets about their decision and 11% had been prescribed psychotropic drugs by their doctor. Another study found that more than 19% of the women suffer from diagnosable post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some of the symptoms of PTSD include hyperarousal (anxiety attacks, irritability, difficulty concentrating, disturbed sleeping habits…), intrusion (the reexperience of the traumatic event at unexpected times, flashbacks), constriction (the numbing or inability to recall the abortion or important parts of it). Some women, 30-50%, experience sexual dysfunction immediately after the abortion. The problems sometimes include loss of pleasure, increased pain, an aversion to sex or males, or promiscuity. Some women suffer for only a brief period of time, others for a long time. Of the women who experience post-abortion sequelea, 60% reported having suicidal thoughts. Twenty-eight percent attempted suicide, of which half attempted more than once. Approximately 45% of all abortions are repeat abortions. "Abortion rights are pro-life. They give a woman the right to control her own body, which is part of her right to her own freedom and life. An embryo, in contrast, is pre-human, only potential, not actual life. As such, it cannot possess any rights." (Leonard Peikoff) Those who believe that it is the woman's choice to have or not to have an abortion are called pro-choice. This is how they perceive abortion. During the first trimester the embr...