1. ABORTION
By: Alex Kerr
HE-210-OL
Due: 2/13/12

2. WHEN ABORTION WAS A CRIME
 There was an estimated 2 million abortions a year in the
1890s and 1-2 million annually during the 1920s and
„30s when abortion was illegal
 Whether a woman could have an abortion depended on
her: race, economic situation, and where she lived
 Women with money could leave the country or find
expensive doctors
 Poor women were at the mercy of incompetent
practitioners

3. WHEN ABORTION WAS A CRIME
 Women also tried dangerous self abortions by
inserting knitting needles or coat hangers into
the vagina and uterus, douching with dangerous
solutions, or swallowing strong drugs or
chemicals.
 All women were subjected to the desperation,
humiliation, and fear created by the
criminalization
 Scholars estimate about 5,000 women died
annually in the US because of abortions
 Nearly 4 times as many women of color as white
women died as a result of illegal abortions

4. JANE COLLECTIVE
 Before abortion was legalized there was an underground
feminist abortion service, the Jane Collective.
 They provided safe, effective, inexpensive, and
supportive illegal abortions
 Over a 4 year period they provided more than 11,000
first and second trimester abortions
 Also some dedicated & well-trained doctors and other
medical practitioners risked imprisonment, fines, and
loss of their medical licenses to provide abortions

5. LEGALIZING ABORTION
 Inspired by the civil rights and anti-war movements,
women began standing up for themselves in the 1960s
 They marched, rallied, and lobbied for legislative reform
 As a result – some states liberalized abortion laws,
allowing women to have an abortion only in certain
circumstances, such as rape or incest
 New York became the first state to legalize abortion
 Eventually, the Supreme Court decided a woman‟s
decision whether or not to terminate a pregnancy in the
first trimester was protected under the “right of
privacy… founded in the Fourteenth Amendment‟s
concept of personal liberty”

6. FINE PRINT
 Even though abortion was legalized, the court allowed
states to place restrictions in the second trimester to
protect a woman‟s health, and in the third trimester to
protect a viable fetus

7. ANTI-CHOICE MOVEMENT
 Legalizing abortion began an aggressive, often violent
campaign to:
 Intimidate abortion providers
 Block access to clinics
 Stigmatize abortion
 Pass legal restrictions
 Their main goal was to outlaw abortion entirely, but their
approach has been to wear away access to clinics
 Harassment and violence against providers has led to a
sharp decrease in services

8. OPERATION SAVE AMERICA
 Originally Operation Rescue, Operation Save America
gained a bad reputation in the 1980s for blockading
clinic entrances, provoking tens of thousands of arrests
worldwide
 Abortion clinics have been the targets of:
 Bombings
 Arson
 Anthrax threats
 Acid attacks

9. OPERATION SAVE AMERICA CONTINUED
 State restrictions have been devastating for the most
vulnerable women:
 Young women
 Women with low incomes
 Women of color
 Women who live in rural areas
 Women who depend on the government for health care

10. FREEDOM OF ACCESS TO CLINIC ENTRANCES
ACT (FACE)
 Congress passed this act to try to stop the massive
protests and invasions of clinics but failed
 Individual doctors and their families were harassed, their
yards were picketed, wanted posters circulated the
communities, and people also listed their name on the
internet

11. DIFFERENT TYPES OF ABORTION
 Medication
 Vacuum Aspiration – also known as suction curettage
 Dilation and evacuation
 Induction

12. MEDICATION ABORTION
 Ends pregnancy within the first 9 weeks
 Can only be used if pregnancy has not exceeded 9 weeks
 2 types are drugs are taken within 2-7 days after each other
 Pills can either be taken orally or inserted into the vagina
 First drug is taken at clinic, but the second pill may either be sent
home with you to take or you will have to return to the clinic to take
it
 Cramping & bleeding will usually begin within a few hours
 Bleeding may be heavier than normal period
 Cramps will range from mild to intense – severe lower
abdominal cramps typically mean the pregnancy tissue is passing
down the cervix
 Most common side effects: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, chills, or
fatigue
 They should not last long & will resolve on their own
 Spotting may continue for several days to a few weeks
 A follow up appointment must be scheduled so the clinician can be
sure the abortion was successful

13. VACUUM ASPIRATION
 Suction is used to terminate the pregnancy in one appointment
 Can be used as a method of abortion up to 16 weeks of pregnancy
 Before starting the procedure the clinician performs a pelvic exam to
check the size & position of the uterus
 A speculum is inserted into the vagina to separate the vaginal walls to
bring the cervix into view
 Local anesthetic solution is injected around the cervix in two or more
places
 The cervix will gradually dilate by insertion and removal of dilators of
increasing size
 A cannula, a sterile straw like tube is inserted through the cervix into the
uterus.
• It is attached to the vacuum device or electric pump and the pregnancy
tissues are removed by moving the cannula back & forth
• There will be some cramping as the uterus contracts & empties – these
are important because they squeeze the blood vessels of the uterus shut
 Cramps may also range from mild to intense but will lessen right
after the cannula is removed

14. DILATION & EVACUATION AND INDUCTION
ABORTION
Dilation and Evacuation Induction Abortion
 Similar to vacuum  Involves medications that cause the
uterus to contract and expel the
abortion pregnancy
 Painful contractions may last for
 However, the cervix several hours or even just one day
needs to be open wider  Takes place in a hospital – most
because the pregnancy is hospitals don‟t have a special area
for induction abortions so women
further along requiring a may be on the maternity ward
clinician to soften &  As the fetus is expelled, there is a lot
of pressure in the rectal area
dilate the cervix ahead of  If the placenta does not exit the body
time within an hour or two, your provider
may use suction to remove it
 Usually takes between
10-20 minutes

15. SURPRISING FACTS!
 Pregnancy Crisis centers are often listen under abortion alternatives in
the phone book. They provide advertising about counseling & referral
agencies but they are actually run by anti-choice groups.
 They advertise free pregnancy testing but actually try to dissuade
women from having abortions by giving misleading information
such as, telling you your pregnancy is further along than it actually is
 Some states require a 1-2 day waiting period between counseling & the
procedure making women wait even longer causing a second trimester
abortion
 You can continue to test positive for pregnancy 4-6 weeks after a
successful abortion
 Not all hospital have specific areas for women getting induction
abortions so they may end up on the maternity ward – I think this could
cause severe emotional problems

16. ABORTION FACTS
 88% of abortions are performed during the first trimester
 Length of pregnancy is counted from the first day of the last
menstrual period not the day of conception
 The method of abortion a woman uses depends on a few
things: medical history, including any medical conditions or
drug allergies, how far along the pregnancy is, the equipment
& supplies available, the training of the person performing the
abortion, and your own preferences.
 If you have a choice of abortion procedures (meaning the
pregnancy is not too far along) you should consider:
effectiveness, duration & predictability, pain & pain relief
options, convenience & privacy, and cost
 You can get pregnant shortly after an abortion, even before
your first period, so it’s important to use reliable birth control
 It is normal to feel relief after an abortion, but it is also normal
to have mixed or even negative feelings

17. FOOD FOR THOUGHT
 Only 18% of ob-gyn residency programs train all
residents in abortion procedures, do you think
everyone should be trained so women can have a
wider choice when choosing who will terminate their
pregnancy?
 Do you think we should develop more abortion
clinics for women of lower socioeconomic status?
 Think about your views of abortion right now. Now
think about it if you or someone you love was raped
& got pregnant from that rape – do you still feel the
same way about abortion?