Abortion

Abortion

Providers

• Obstetricians and gynecologists
• Physicians, physician assistants, midwives, and nurse practitioners
• Less now due to violence against them and popularity of Mifeprex
• Two kinds of procedures

Basics

Surgical

Medical

• performed prior to nine weeks from the last menstrual period (seven weeks from conception)
• Before 14 weeks an abortion is performed by a dilatation and suction curettage procedure
• After then surgical abortions are performed by a dilatation and evacuation procedure
• Later than that is more complicated

• Variety of medications given either as a single pill or a series of pills
• 75-95% success rate, with about 2-4% of failed abortions requiring surgical abortion and about 5-10% of incomplete abortions
• eliminate the risk of injury to a woman's cervix or uterus (preferred method)

Issues withAbortion Rights in the US

• restrictions on gestational age
• viability determinations
• spousal and parental consents
• enforced waiting periods
• enforced language in consents
• enforcement of provider qualifications
• the right to use fetal tissue for research or medical treatments
• the rights of providers and patients to be shielded from overt protest
• access to birth control.

• premature termination of a pregnancy
• legal in the United States since 1973 Roe v. Wade decision
• Everything else is controversial

Determining Life

Statistics

• Viability-ability of the fetus to survive outside the mother's womb without life support
• Webster v Reproductive Health Services (1989), the court upheld the state of Missouri's requirement for preabortion viability testing after 20 weeks' gestation. However, there are no reliable or medically acceptable tests for viability prior to 28 weeks' gestation
• Planned Parenthood v Casey tried to address the issue of viability by inserting language recognizing that some fetuses never attain viability
• Colautti v Franklin recognized the judgment of the doctor in these matters
• Conception v. heart beat v. third trimester v. ???

• In 2003, about 16 women for every 1,000 women aged 15-44 years had an abortion, and for every 1,000 live births, about 241 abortions were performed
• In legal abortions infection rates are less than one percent, and fewer than 1 in 100,000 deaths occurs from first-trimester abortions
• Most women seeking abortion are white (53%); 36% are black, 8% are of another race, and 3% are of unknown race
• Abortion rates are highest among 20- to 24-year-old women (Women outside this range are more likely to get one if they become pregnant
• Most occur unsafely in developing countries

Discussion Questions

• Should spouses or parents be notified?
• Should there be mandatory waiting periods before an abortion can take place?
• Should public funds be used for abortions?
• What regulations if any should apply to abortion providers?
• What provisions might be made against specific abortion techniques?
• Should emergency contraception be allowed?
• Should the rules be different in cases of sexual assault and rape?