Abortion

What is abortion?

"Abortion is the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus, resulting in or caused by its death." [1]
It means that abortion is either the expulsion of an already dead fetus or embryo (without intention), or the intentional removal of a still living embryo.

What is the difference between a human embryo and fetus?

Most pregnancies last between 39 and 40 weeks (9 months). Duration of pregnancy is divided into 3 stages called trimesters. The first trimester lasts about 13 weeks, the second covers from the 14th to the 28th week and the third lasts from the 29th week until birth.

• Embryo: During the first trimester (about 3 months) the organsim is called an embryo.
• Fetus: From the beginning of the second trimester to birth, the organism is called a fetus.

Why three months?

The limit of three months (12 weeks) is not universal, some put it at 8 or 10 weeks. In general, this period between the 8th and the 14th week of pregnancy is the moment when the the major structures and organs of the organism have been formed.

Is abortion a form of contraception?

• definition of contraception: different methods used in order to avoid temporarily the fertilization

According to this definition, abortion is not a contraception form because the fertilization has already occured.

• Another defintion of contraception: different methods used in order to avoid having a baby
  

According to this second definition, abortion is a form of contraception because it inhibits having a baby.

very interesting and important to mention the two definitions because it changes the way "abortion" might be considered... I guess that here, Adèle and Alex could help with all the ethical questions related to that. Maybe you could make a link to their page and vice-versa.Pierre.brawand 17 novembre 2007 à 23:22 (MET)

If abortion is not a contraceptive method, what is it then?

According to certain definitions, abortion isn't a contraceptive method. Thus we could define it as a process which ends the pregnancy by medicine or surgery.

When is an embryo or a fetus considered as a "full" human being?

To resume, there are two major views concerning this complex question:

• from conception until death, the organism is a human being
  

Until when (in pregnancy) is abortion allowed and why?

• 0-12 weeks

In Switzerland (and most European countries), until the 12th week of pregnancy, abortion is a personal and legal choice (this law was voted in October 2002). [2]

• 13-birth

From the 13th week until the end of pregnancy, to have an abortion, it must medically be proved that the procedure is necessary in order to avoid some severe physical or psychological troubles for the mother. and what about the fetus??Pierre.brawand 23 novembre 2007 à 22:02 (MET)

According to which criteria did one fix this limit?

In most European countries, abortion must occur during the first trimester of pregnancy. However, in the UK for example, abortion is allowed until the 24th week, the end of the second trimester (it's the highest legal limit in Europe).

What is the difference between an abortion in the first semester and one in the two last trimesters?

• first trimester
  

Abortions are safer to perform for the mother and easier for the doctors.

• later

There are more risks fot the mother's health with abrtions in the second or third trimester. The more one waits to have an abrtion, the more these risks increase. A performance could even result in the mother's death.

Can abortion be considered as a murder?

When an abortion attempt has failed and the fetus is at least 19 weeks old, the baby born is still living and dies of lack of care. In this case, the doctors in charge of the abortion could be charged with infanticide.

Can an embryo or a fetus feel pain?

There are three major opinions answering this question.

• Yes

Some "pro-life" physicians believe that the organism can feel pain very early in pragnancy: already several weeks after fertilization. In fact, the embryo begins to develop pain sensors only few weeks after the conception.

• Yes but later

Some physicians belive that the organsim can feel pain, but only at the end of the pregnancy, during the third trimester of fetal life. In fact, until the end of pregnancy, the fetus' central nervous system is not complete, there're still "missing pices" that do not function.

• No

Some physicians believe that the organsim cannot feel pain until it is born.

What are the ethical issues of abortion?

Why do some countries forbid abortion?

• protction of the unborn organsim
• no "division" between secular and religious laws

What are the Pro-Life's and the Pro-Choice's arguments?

• Pro-Life: against abrtion, for life
  • right to live

For Pro-life groups, the right for life (of everyone even the unborn organism) is fundamental.

• • relationship between induced abrtion and breast cancer

Some anti-abortion extremists argue that induced abortion increases the risk of having breast cancer. In the USA, "Women who choose abortion suffer more and deadlier breast cancer" was a campain by the Christ's Bride Ministries. However, this assumption is false: recent scientific experiments have shown that there's no link between them.

• Pro-Choice: for abrtion and for the women's choice
  • right to choose

For Pro-Choice groups, the woman's right to decide for her own, to control her own body, is fundamental.

Are there physical or psychological consequences for the mother?

• Physical consequences

• pain

Most women, who had an abortion, feel pain after the intervention (the younger the woman is, the more painfull she 'll feel). Cramping and cutting are the most common pain feelings.

• bleeding

Irregular bleedings are usual after an intervention.

• secondary infertility

Induced abortion increases the risk of secondary infertility. Secondary infertility is the incapacity to have another baby after one or several births.

• Psychological consequences

• Post-Abortion Syndrome (PAS)

PAS is probably a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)[3]
Men can suffer form the syndrome as well as women. The symptoms of it vary, but in most cases there're: denial, guilt (which generates the need to make things good again, "repair") and depression (which sometimes leads to suicidal thoughts). Patients also show other symptoms, like repetitive dreams and nightmares about abrotion, for example. Other behaviour troubles can be linked with this syndrome: eating disorder, drug or alcohol abuse, self punishment.

What are the different forms of abortion?

Induced abortion

An induced abortion is a pregnancy which is voluntarily aborted and this can be done by using different methods. The method used depends mainly upon the gestional age of the fetus. But the method chosen also depends on the medical resources, the regional availability, the legality and possible the doctor's preference for using a specific procedure. This abortion can be performed by using surgery or medicines.

• Feticide:

A more particular type of induced abortion is the intentional trauma (=physical injury potentially resulting in secondary complications). This trauma is often called feticide and causes miscarriage. Feticide is more precisely described as the destruction of the embryo or fetus in the uterus. One can kill the embryo or fetus by punching or hiting the abdomen of the women. This act is considered as a murder in many countries and is severely punished.

Spontaneous abortion

A spontaneous abortion is generally known as a miscarriage. It is when an embryo or a fetus is lost before the 20th week of gestation due to natural causes. Most miscarriages occur very early in pregnancy and sometimes so early, that the woman is not even aware that she was pregnant. The risk of spontaneous is all in the sudden strongly reduced after the 8th week of gestation.

• The causes of spontaneous abortion:

Between 10% and 50% of pregnancies result in miscarriages, depending on the health and the age of the pregnant woman. The women who have already endured several spontanenous or induced abortion, those with chronic diseases and those who are over 35 years old, have a greater risk to have their pregnancy ending in miscarriage. Spontaneous abortion can also be caused by the infection of either the woman or the fetus, or by accidental trauma (=physical injury potentially resulting in secondary complications).

What is gestation and what is the gestional age?

We call gestation the carrying of an embryo or a fetus inside a female. Females can have one or more gestations during pregnancy. This explains why some women have twins or triplets. And what we call gestational age is the age of a fetus from the first day to the day the pregnancy arrives to its term.

How is abortion performed?

• Surgery

Surgical abortion is the removal of what's in the uterus by surgery. It is more commonly used. There are different sort of surgical abortions depending on how old the pregnancy is.

• • Manual or Machine Vacuum Aspiration (MVA)

In the first trimester of pregnancy, one can simply suck up the tissues in the uterus (with a tube).

• • Dilation and Curettage (D&C)

It's the use of a sharp instrument in order to clear the uterus. When vacuum aspiration or medicine didn't work entirely, one use this method in order to remove the rest. It's rarely used as a full method because of the high bleeding risks.

• • Dilation and Evacuation (D&E)

In the second trimester, one use this method, which is a combination of vacuum aspiration, dilation and curettage, and the use of other instruments (like forceps for example).

• Medicines

Medical abortion means that the mother takes medicines in order to end the pregngancy. It is only possible during the first trimester of pregnancy; later on, surgical abortion is the only possibilty. However, it becomes less effective at the end of the first trimester (after the 7th or 9th week).

Why do certain women decide to have an abortion?

The evident answer to this question is, because they don't want to be pregnant. What's interesting to know, is what factors are at the origin of such a difficult decision.

• cultural factors: the feeling of being to young to be a mother, marriage "obligatory" before children
• family factors: objection or rejection of the family, already many chidren or as many children as wanted,
• professional factors: baby would affect career or studies
• couple factors: no or not enough support from the father, relationship problems with the father, baby resulting from a one night stand, hope of saving the relationship
• financial factors: poverty, unemployment, incapacity to afford a(nother) child
• other factors: pregnancy endangering the maternal or fetal health, no wish of children, baby resulting from a rape or incest, Down syndrome baby, sex selective abortion

The reason why a woman choose to have an abortion is complex and often depends on several factors.

a paragraph discussing the Pro-Life vs Pro-Choice opinion should be written somewhere... and of course a link with the Ethics page of Alex and AdèlePierre.brawand 23 novembre 2007 à 22:04 (MET)

go back to Contraception_3BIbDF01_02