As the child in the womb grows so the methods of abortion change, each one becoming more horrendous than the previous.  The following methods all entail the cervix being forcibly opened to allow the abortion instruments access.  Not only does this weaken the cervix making the likelihood of future pregnancies more liable to miscarry, but the introduction of the abortion instruments can transfer any unknown infections from outside to inside the body, thus causing pelvic infections resulting in blocked tubes leading to either ectopic pregnancy or infertility.  Chlamydia is the most common infection but rarely has symptoms.  It can be treated but first tests need to be carried out to see if the mother is infected.  Routine tests are carried out in some countries prior to abortion taking place so reducing the risk of pelvic infections.

The method of abortion by suction tears a young baby limb from limb and is normally carried out up to about 10 weeks before the skeletal cartilage becomes bone.  This is the most common stage of pregnancy when abortions are carried out.

A D&C (dilatation and curettage) is carried out at about 11-14 weeks.  This entails a sharp edged curette scraping out the womb, cutting the baby into pieces, normally followed by suction to ensure all body parts are removed.  Not all D&Cs that are carried out are for an abortion.  This is a common gynaecological operation.

At about 14-16 weeks a D&E (dilatation and evacuation) will be performed.  This is similar to the D&C except, due to the baby's growth, pliers are used to pull the baby limb from limb and the head has to be crushed to enable it to be removed.  Suction of the womb may again be used to ensure all body parts are removed.

To prevent future infection and possible infection, in both the case of D&C and D&E someone should visually check the 'products of the womb' to ensure that nothing has been left behind by basically re-assembling the baby.

As well as the psychological effects following an abortion, the actual procedure can cause physical damage.  Sometimes the cervix is torn, the womb and even the bowel can be ruptured, haemorrhage can occur and in some cases the mother can die.  In the UK on 13th December 2001 a 27 year old woman died in the intensive care unit of a hospital where she had been transferred from the Marie Stopes Clinic in Brixton Hill, South London.  She died of a cardiac arrest following a severe asthma attack that occurred within twenty minutes of the abortion being finished.

Medical Method for Late Abortions

Abortions following tests for abnormality are normally carried out from about 18 weeks as the tests often take some time for the results to be known.  In these cases the mother normally has pessaries inserted into her vagina that expand to open the cervix.  She is given an injection or drip containing prostaglandin (to commence contractions) and urea or some other poison (to ensure the baby is not born alive).  This procedure can take many hours, sometimes a day or two as the mother has to go into labour and deliver the dead baby in the normal way as though she were giving birth.  Often women are not told that they will be going through labour.  They assume they will have an operation under general anaesthetic and wake up to find it is all over, but sadly this is not the case.

Since 1990 in the UK, abortion for abnormality has been and still is allowed up to birth.  Whilst it was envisaged that only severely handicapped babies would be allowed to be aborted beyond 24 weeks, due to the vagueness of the wording of the law where no conditions were ruled out, it is understood that some babies may have been aborted after 24 weeks because they had a cleft palette.

This procedure is commonly known to pro-lifers as 'seek and destroy' as the main reason for carrying out the tests are to determine if the growing child has any abnormalities, disabilities or conditions that would necessitate medical or surgical treatment once the baby was born.  If this is the case, the option given to the mother is to abort this pregnancy and, so long as the mother is not too old, to 'try again'.

Surgical Methods for Late Abortions

Hysterotomy is hardly used as a method of abortion now.  It is the same as having a caesarean operation except the baby is dropped into a bucket and left to die instead of being cared for.

Partial Birth Abortion or Dilatation and Extraction (D&X) is another method that is currently used in the USA but thankfully, not yet in the UK.  This method is used at a fairly late stage of pregnancy.  The doctor has to force open the cervical canal so that the body of the baby can be pulled out legs first.  Once the baby's body is out, leaving just the head inside the mother (the baby is still alive at this stage), the doctor makes an incision into the back of the baby's neck using surgical scissors and the brain is then sucked out.  The skull then collapses and the head removed from the birth canal, thus the abortion is complete.  Apart from the brain and skull, the rest of the baby's organs are intact.

Chemical Method of Abortion

RU486 (Mifepristone) is a method that can be used up to nine weeks gestation (seven weeks from conception).  The mother is given tablets by the doctor who is supposed to watch her take them.  These tablets begin to change the hormonal structures in the womb lining making it a hostile environment for the newly created child to develop and sustain life.  The mother then should wait for a couple of hours in the clinic or the registered building to ensure that she has no immediate after effects that could include nausea, headaches, breathing difficulties etc.

The mother then goes home for about 48 hours before returning to the clinic or hospital where she is given prostaglandin to commence the contractions to expel the child from her body.  However, there is a possibility that she may expel the baby in her own home.  Any loss of blood, clots or baby that occur at home should be taken to the clinic to be shown to the medical staff so that they can see the products of the abortion.  The rate of success of this method lessens the older the child is and in many cases has to be followed up by a scan and/or a D&C just to ensure that 'the pregnancy' (all products of conception - baby, placenta, umbilical cord, amniotic sac) is removed.

Once the initial RU486 tablets have been taken there is no 'antidote' even if the mother changes her mind and wants to continue with the pregnancy.  In the early days of RU486 some babies miscarried with legs fused together or with other malformations when the mother had tried to continue with the pregnancy.  Now women are told that they cannot change their minds and have to agree to come back for the second stage of the procedure.

This form of abortion is becoming more available as it is cheaper to perform, and the mother can be seen as having a 'do it herself' abortion as the doctor isn't actually performing the abortion.  It is also supposed to be less risky for the mother who does not have to undergo anaesthetic - unless there is an emergency or she needs a D&C.  It is therefore a cheaper option for the NHS.

All methods of abortion require specialist hospital facilities as a back up in case of emergencies, especially if the mother should have breathing difficulties.  Yet these same procedures are actively being encouraged throughout the third world countries as 'reproductive health' for women.  The Department for International Trade and Development, formerly run by Clare Short MP, helps fund these initiatives with British taxes.

Contraceptive Methods of Abortion

The Morning After Pill, the Oral Contraceptive Pill, Norplant and Depo Pravea can also prevent a newly created unique human individual from implanting into the womb by changing the chemical balance of the lining of the womb and causing the lining to come away.

The IUD or Coil works by continually scraping the lining of the womb thus preventing a newly conceived unique human life from implanting and growing in its natural environment- its mother's womb.

Please note: It is not a 'fertilised egg' that is implanting but a child of about six days old.

Menstrual Extraction

Menstrual Extraction is almost unheard of in this country, but in some countries such as Holland and the USA, it is widely used and promoted as a 'DIY-home-kit'.  The theory is that any woman, once trained, can perform this on herself in the privacy of her own home, or a self help group of women assist each other.

The equipment used resembles a jam jar and a piece of rubber tubing.  The tubing is placed via the vagina through the cervix and into the womb where the tube is rotated, sucking the contents of the womb, generally just the womb lining but on occasions a newly conceived baby that had been trying to implant and grow in the womb.  This goes into the jar later to be poured into a toilet and flushed away.

These methods, whilst not coming under the official heading of abortion, nevertheless can have the same result - a tiny new human life is destroyed.

All these methods are not only actively promoted throughout the third world but are part of any emergency assistance that is sent to any disaster area, whether it be earthquake, flood, war, famine or volcano.  In these times of distress and anguish when basic medicine or even fresh drinking water is unavailable, organisations such as IPPF and UNFPA ensure that there are millions of pounds and dollars spent on distributing emergency contraceptives and long term contraceptives as well as ensuring that distressed woman, who may have just lost all their family, have free abortions.  Even after the 11 September attack on the Twin Towers in the USA, the traumatised women of the city were offered free abortions.