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Surgical abortion, also known as suction aspiration abortion, can be performed in a one-day procedure if less than 14 weeks have passed since the first day of your last menstrual period. The procedure is done in the doctor’s office with local anesthesia and oral pain-relieving medications. You will be in a private room during your health education, exam, procedure and recovery. The entire visit will take around three hours if you are less than 12 weeks pregnant. If you are 12 to 14 weeks pregnant, your visit will last five to six hours. In either case, you will need to arrange for someone to drive you home after the procedure. Also, you cannot eat anything for two hours before your appointment.

Most abortions are performed after your health care provider takes a brief and targeted medical history. You will be asked questions about prior pregnancies and any treatment or care during the current pregnancy. You will be asked about any diseases or conditions that affect your reproductive organs, such as sexually transmitted infections.

The provider will ask whether you have a history of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, anemia, bleeding disorders, or surgery (on your ovaries or uterus, for example). If you have active medical problems, you may need to be stabilized before an abortion or have the procedure performed in a facility that can handle special medical problems.

If there are known problems with the fetus, such as severe brain abnormalities that will either not allow the fetus to live, and if these problems are known through diagnostic testing, the woman may choose to end the pregnancy with abortion.

The most common problems with the fetus encountered in abortion counseling include major system development failures and problems that cannot be repaired dealing with the heart, nervous system, spine, brain, abdomen, kidneys, and breathing and digestive systems.

Medications:Your health care provider may give you antibiotics as a precaution against infection. Antibiotic use for the procedure is usually given the day of the procedure and for the next day or two.

Lab tests:Pregnancy tests are used to confirm that you are pregnant. Home tests are reliable, so providers will accept these results in some cases. Blood will be tested for sexually transmitted diseases and for hepatitis. Urine may be checked to see if you have a urinary tract infection.

Physical:A brief physical examination is usually performed before an abortion. The focus is on determining when your pregnancy began and checking for sexually transmitted disease and whether you are healthy enough to undergo the procedure.

Imaging studies:An ultrasound is virtually always dome for pregnancy confirmation and dating. Doctors are looking for how many fetuses may be developing, the size of the fetus or fetuses, a picture of the uterus and ovaries, and to rule out a problem such as an ectopic pregnancy (a life-threatening condition in which the fetus develops outside the uterus).

Historically, a number of herbs reputed to possess abortifacient properties have been used in folk medicine: tansy, pennyroyal, black cohosh, and the now-extinct silphium (see history of abortion).The use of herbs in such a manner can cause serious even lethal side effects, such as multiple organ failure, and is not recommended by physicians.

Abortion is sometimes attempted by causing trauma to the abdomen. The degree of force, if severe, can cause serious internal injuries without necessarily succeeding in inducing miscarriage.Both accidental and deliberate abortions of this kind can be subject to criminal liability in many countries. In Southeast Asia, there is an ancient tradition of attempting abortion through forceful abdominal massage.One of the bas reliefs decorating the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia depicts a demon performing such an abortion upon a woman who has been sent to the underworld.

Reported methods of unsafe, self-induced abortion include misuse of misoprostol, and insertion of non-surgical implements such as knitting needles and clothes hangers into the uterus. These methods are rarely seen in developed countries where surgical abortion is legal and available.

After your conversation with the health educator, you will meet the doctor. Our physicians are obstetrician-gynecologists with specialized training and interest in abortion provision and family planning. The doctor will review your medical history, perform an ultrasound exam to determine your pregnancy’s gestation, and give you medications. If you are less than 12 weeks pregnant, you will receive oral pain medications, including Vicodin, valium and ibuprofen, at this time. If you are 12 to 14 weeks pregnant, you also will receive a medication called misoprostol, which softens your cervix to make dilation easier. This portion of the visit takes about 20 minutes.