This was a piece I offered to do for The True Pooka, for those who are unaware? True Pooka and Lilandra have both been dealing with the nature of Secular Pro-Life and actively engaging in analysing their beliefs. So far from my contact? I think their entire argument is purely philosophical and exists purely in the idealised world of academia. Bereft of real world experience and rationalisations, secular pro-life lacks any real spine except a forceful conviction that philosophy sans real world application is valid and possibly the notion that babies are cute, how can you not want one?
They have a site called Abortion Safety. And while they claimed to offer something new to the dialogue of pro-life, my contact with them has sadly left a bitter taste in my mouth of the usual half truths and outright lies associated with pro-life. The final contact was them pushing a Daily Mail article and derision of women who have Breast Implants.
The notion that women who have abortions are shallow while women who raise children are sainted nuns (Okay, maybe not nuns) is part of this push.
But in particular is the medical quackery being pushed. So let’s look at what’s wrong with their “safety” page.
As in all medical procedures, there are risks involving abortion
Physical Risks
Medical AbortionEarly in a pregnancy, certain drugs can be taken to cause an abortion. No surgery is required, but multiple visits to a health care provider are needed. Medical abortion may involve mifepristone, methotrexate, misoprostol pills, and/or vaginal misoprostol.
- Incomplete abortion
- Heavy bleeding
- Infection
- Damage to the uterus
- Cramping
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Fever
- Chills
- Diarrhea
Interesting!
My handbook of Emergency Medical Obs/Gynae (Incidentally? Working in Obs/Gynae at the moment) lists
- Hemorrhage. 0.1%
- Incomplete abortion (followed by Curretage or Suction/Evacuation)
- Uterine or pelvic infection
- Ongoing intrauteine pregnancy, requiring a surgical abortion for completion
- Undiagnosed Ectopic Pregnancy
Cramping, Nausea, Vomitting, Fever, Chills and Diarrhoea are all due to the effect of the drug. That’s how it works. These are hormonal drugs that have some systemic effects. It causes uterine contractions which will cause cramping. Increased abdominal pressure causes nausea, vomitting and diarrhoea. Any inflammation causes fever and chills especially when associated with infections.
Since 2001 World Wide we have seen 10 deaths due to infections in first world nations. Changes of administration from vaginal to buccal (cheek) has reduced infection rate. A course of doxycycline can be given for further prophylaxis.
In the case of an incomplete abortion, the patient is likely to need a surgical abortion to remove remaining parts of the embryo’s body and prevent a serious infection.
If the patient decides to continue the pregnancy after beginning to take medication for an abortion, the baby may be at risk of birth defects.
True in both cases, but in the second case I have to point out that this isn’t a downside to medical abortion so much as an issue with human nature. We cannot counter act decisions that are clearly not sensible. You are allowed as patients to make such.
Contact your health provider if, after a medication abortion, you experience severe abdominal or back pain, bleeding that is heavier than a normal period, foul-smelling discharge, and/or a fever above 100.4°F.
So the thing is it’s portrayed a rare complication as common. These are all rare. The biggest side effect of medical abortion is not mentioned.
Pain.
Surgical Abortion
Surgical abortions are done in different ways depending on the age of the fetus. The two most common methods are vacuum aspiration in the first trimester, and dilation & evacuation (D&E) in the second trimester.
Oh! No later term abortions here? Interesting.
Vacuum aspiration is done with local anesthesia or no anesthesia. The abortion provider rinses the vagina with an antiseptic solution, dilates the cervix, and passes a cannula into the uterus. The other end of the cannula is connected to a pump that applies suction. (In very early abortions, suction may be applied using a syringe.) The suction breaks up the embryo and removes the body parts from the uterus. The provider may insert a curette (a metal loop) to clean the walls of the uterus of any remaining tissue.
Roughly correct.
Risks and side effects of vacuum aspiration include:
- Incomplete abortion – In some cases the embryo is not removed completely, which may cause bleeding and/or an infection.
- Infection – An infection may occur if bacteria from the vagina or the cervix get into the uterus after an abortion.
- Damage to the uterus – The wall of the uterus may be perforated, or the cervix may be torn. Other organs, such as the bowel or bladder, may be damaged in the process. If this happens, further surgery will be needed.
- Death – There is a very low risk of maternal death from this type of abortion.
- Abdominal pain and cramping
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Bleeding
Okay this is roughly true, but what it doesn’t mention is that bleeding is going to be found in most surgical procedures. Even getting your teeth cleaned would cause bleeding.
It mentions perforations? Those are usually the cause of death. They are now rare in S/E surgeries due to a special rubber nozzle that was created specifically to deform rather than penetrate. These are very rare. How rare?
Child Birth is riskier than Surgical Abortion. Child Birth has a higher fatality rate. Surgical Abortions are a safe method of termination particularly if a medical abortion is not possible.
Dilation & evacuation (D&E) is a two-day procedure, common in the second trimester. First, the abortion provider performs an ultrasound to determine the size of the uterus and number of weeks of pregnancy. Because the fetus is larger, the cervix needs to be more dilated than in a first-trimester. A cervical dilator is inserted in the cervix 24 hours before the abortion. The following day, the patient is typically given pain medicine and a sedative. The abortion provider uses forceps or other grasping instruments to remove the fetus in pieces. A vacuum is used to remove fluid and floating tissue. Finally, the provider uses a metal loop, called curette, to scrape the walls of the uterus.
Abortion risks increase as the age of the fetus increases. Risks and side effects of D&E include:
- Incomplete abortion – In some cases the embryo is not removed completely, which may cause bleeding and/or an infection. Incomplete abortion may also cause blood clots.
- Infection – An infection may occur if bacteria from the vagina or the cervix get into the uterus after an abortion.
- Damage to the uterus – The wall of the uterus may be perforated, or the cervix may be torn. Other organs, such as the bowel or bladder, may be damaged in the process. If this happens, further surgery will be needed.
- Death – There is a very low risk of maternal death from this type of abortion.
- Irregular bleeding or spotting.
- Cramps
Irregular bleeding/Spotting occurs for a few weeks after and generally clears up after a single cycle.
But again this has a high safety profile. These are risks that COULD happen. That’s like me suggesting the risk of voting includes Leopard Attack. You could stay in or you could vote and be attacked by a leopard.
Which is why risk statistics are important. These are rare issues, and would be more common in a pro-life world (TW – Non-Medical Abortion)
Psychological/Emotional Risks
Abortion may also expose you to psychological risks. A spirited debate exists as to whether or not these psychological reactions deserve classification as a syndrome. Regardless of the label used, it is true that some women experience guilt, depression, loss, and other issues after an abortion.
Certain factors increase your risk of abortion-related psychological problems. These include:
- Young age
Because in younger children people still push the notion of pro-life shaming young girls for picking a future and a career over a potential baby.
- Ambivalence about the abortion decision
Wait what? Being stressed about the abortion is a psychological issue as is being ambivalent?
- Pressure from others to abort
There are some cases where this occurs.
- Prior mental illness
Yes, but that is because any pregnancy is stressful.
- Abortion in later stages of pregnancy
Late term abortions are usually in foetuses that were wanted but extenuating circumstances dictated that the abortion was done for medical reasons.
- Lack of social support
Which is something pro-life are trying to push BTW.
- One or more prior abortions
Yes and again this is due to the dialogue judging and telling women who have had abortions that they are evil and bad. A lot of the issues are social judgement of women who have had abortions.
Alternatives to Abortion
These are again rather naive.
Abortion is not the only option in a crisis pregnancy. Here are some other possibilities.
This is where the dialogue changes from “iffy” to “bad”.
- Joint parenting: If the father of your child is supportive, or if another supportive partner has come into your life, you may wish to raise the child together. Joint parenting can take place with or without marriage, but married households tend to be more stable.
Wait what?
So the alternative to abortion is to raise the child in a relationship with your partner. How is this an alternative to abortion? That’s like saying that the alternative to having a child is abortion.
Not just Pro-Life but pro-marriage too. This is just condescending, like women are going to abortion clinics only to find out that they could have raised the child in the first place.
Which has precious little to do with the fact that the majority of foetuses being aborted are due to economic reasons and if you are poor already and in a relationship, then “have a baby” is a poor piece of advice.
- Single parenting: Over the past few decades, single parenting has become more common and more socially acceptable. While single parenthood is not always easy, a strong network of family and friends can help make it work.
It will be magical! Money will rain down from the skies and taking care of a baby is super easy! It’s just like playing with a doll! And everyone will totally go out of their way to help you! Who needs money, education or a career!
- Closed adoption: In a closed adoption, the baby is placed for adoption with another family and cannot contact you until he or she becomes an adult.
Yes! Have a baby and give it up to a another family. Sure it’s an alternative. Not a great alternative to abortion since it requires 9 months of pregnancy and the associated healthcare issues and loss of earning.
Not to mention the stigma. Giving up your baby for adoption is just as stigmatised in many parts of the world.
- Open adoption: In an open adoption, you and your baby remain in contact after the adoption placement through regularly scheduled visits.
Which is fine if someone near you wants to adopt.
- Semi-open adoption: In a semi-open adoption, there is less contact than in a fully open adoption. For instance, the adoptive family may agree to send you photos of the child.
Okay another variant of the above.
- Intra-family adoption: The child is adopted by a member of your family, such as a sibling or cousin, allowing you to watch the child grow up.
Sure, this is common in Indian families due to our extended nature. I have a cousin being brought up by her distant family like this.
But all of these assumes the mother wants to undergo 9 months of pregnancy.
Only you can know which of these alternatives is best for your circumstances. It may be helpful to discuss your options with a professional or peer counselor.
All of these assume that the mother has this fantastic support system or can afford to take time off for being pregnant.
And this ignores the elephant in the room. What if the mother simply does not want another child due to any reason (Take your pick – Choice, Family Planning, Finances). Why should she endure any of these issues? What if she is underage where these would increase the risk of her having a fatal complication? What if she has a health issue? What if she got pregnant due to rape or incest?
Abortion is a nuanced issue because the reasons to have and not have a baby are myriad and personal. The site then provides a list of pro-life counselling centres. I will not run them here.
Instead, I offer you a primer I wrote for my clinic. The Corkscrew – The Idiot’s Guide to Safe Sex. It’s been embellished a bit for the Internet, but it’s a more fun and open guide to sex, safety and abortions.