What Are the Different Types of Abortion?

April 27, 2023

Gathering information about your pregnancy options is essential to making a confident decision. 

In addition to parenting and adoption, you have two abortion choices, medical and surgical abortion, depending on current state laws and how long you have been pregnant.

Medical Abortion

A medical abortion, also known as “the abortion pill,” typically uses two drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, to terminate an early pregnancy (up to 10 weeks of gestation).

A medical abortion starts with mifepristone, usually taken at an abortion provider’s clinic.
This drug ends the pregnancy by causing the embryo or fetus to detach from the uterine wall. Cut off from support and nutrition, it cannot survive. Usually, a woman takes this medication at an abortion provider’s clinic.

Within 48 hours of taking the first drug, the woman takes the second drug, misoprostol, at home. Misoprostol causes the uterus to contract, which expels the embryo or fetus out of the body through cramping and vaginal bleeding.

Risks of medical abortion include:

• Incomplete abortion
• Heavy bleeding that will not stop
• Infection
• Fever
• Diarrhea and digestive pain
• Allergic reaction to the medications

Women receiving a medical abortion should know these risks and the associated signs and symptoms, so they can seek medical help when necessary. The following list of signs and symptoms requires immediate medical evaluation after an abortion.

• Severe bleeding — soaking more than two thick pads within an hour
• Fever that lasts more than 24 hours
• Foul-smelling vaginal discharge
• Severe abdominal or back pain
• You do not get your period after two months.
• You have symptoms of pregnancy.

Surgical Abortion

Surgical abortion is a procedure that takes place in a clinical setting. The provider uses a series of rods to dilate (open) a woman’s cervix (the opening of the uterus). Suction is then used to remove the embryo or fetus and the pregnancy tissue from the woman’s uterus. Additional surgical tools may assist in the termination depending on how far along the pregnancy is.

Risks of surgical abortion are:

• Uterine perforation (a hole poked through the uterine wall with a surgical tool)
• Uterine infection
• Uterine bleeding
• Scar tissue on the uterine wall can change your period or make it more challenging to get pregnant again.

A woman should contact medical support if she experiences the following signs and symptoms of complications while recovering from a surgical abortion:

• Abdominal (belly) pain
• Fever
• Heavy bleeding
• Severe cramps
• Unusual or bad-smelling discharge 

Visit Heart to Heart in Laramie, Wyoming

Get more information about your choices, including abortion, at Heart to Heart. With our free medical services, including pregnancy testing and limited ultrasounds, you can prioritize your health while deciding an outcome for your pregnancy. 

Schedule an appointment with our online booking calendar today!