 Chemical (non-surgical) or medical abortions compose 10% of all abortions in the United States and Europe. They are very effective in the 1st trimester of pregnancy.
Chemical abortions can be caused by certain drugs, dispensed in differ ways. Such drugs act upon the hormones of the mother to make a situation in which an embryo cannot survive. Most of these chemicals are used in combinations. One of them guarantees that the embryo is killed and the other induces contractions so that the dead embryo is removed from the uterus of the mother.
The Prevention of Implantation
There is a great variety of drug-based abortions. In proper way, they must be carried out under physician’s supervision. One of the most common methods is the morning-after pill or post-coital interception. The pill makes the lining of the uterus inhospitable to a human embryo living. The embryo is unable to implant and gain in such intentionally caused artificial environment, so it dies.
The other method is postcoital birth control pills. A woman is given large doses of estrogen (a female hormone) within 72 hours of unprotected sexual intercourse and again 12 hours later. This high dose stops development at the earliest stages after conception or the point when a men’s sperm fertilizes a woman’s egg. This method has its side effects, such as dizziness, nausea headache, fluid retention, developing blood clots and blockage of blood vessels. Smoking and the use of such pills increase the risk of developing fatal heart disease.
Chemical Abortion in the First Trimester
Such technique of chemical induced abortion as RU 486 is usually used from 5th till 9th weeks of pregnancy. It is also called “French abortion pill”. The RU 486 procedure requires at least three visits to the doctor. During the first visit the woman is given a physical test in order to investigate any obvious contra-indications, such as smoking, asthma, obesity, high blood pressure and many others. In other way the woman could get fatal damage. Just after such physical test she takes the RU 486 pills. The main aim of this drug is to block the action of progesterone, the natural hormone that keeps up necessary nutrient lining of the uterus. The developing baby is disrupted from its habitat and starves. The second visit must be about 36 to 48 hours later. The woman is given a dose of imitation prostaglandins, usually misoprostol. It stimulates premature uterine contractions and usually caused the embryo to be removed from the uterus. It may happen within the 4-hours waiting period at clinic, but approximately 30% of women may abort later at home, work, etc., even during next 5 days. About 2 weeks later the woman makes the third visit to the doctor. It needs to determine whether the abortion has performed or a surgical abortion is necessary to complete the procedure. It happens about from 5 till 10% of all cases.
This technique of chemical abortions is very dangerous. There are some serious well documented side effects connected with RU 486 technique, including long and severe bleeding even up to 44 days, pain, vomiting, nausea, and in rare cases death. Effects of the drug that can surface in future life have not yet been studied. But there are some essential reasons to think that RU 486 could affect not only a woman’s current pregnancy, but her future pregnancies as well. Potentially it may cause miscarriages or different severe malformations in later children.
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