3 Things Needed Before Abortion

If you are considering an abortion for the outcome of your pregnancy, protect your health and safety by first obtaining three necessary things: medical-grade pregnancy test, ultrasound, and options information.

1. Abortion Information

There are two different types of abortion, medical and surgical. Though both procedures work to terminate a viable pregnancy, they have different eligibility, risks, and recoveries. Before choosing abortion, learn about the procedures available and how they will affect your life.

Even if your parenting or adoption seems impossible for you, you should also take the time to learn about these options so you can have all the information needed to make a confident decision.  

2. Pregnancy Test 

Though you may have already tested at home with a drugstore pregnancy test, follow up with a medical-grade pregnancy test. 

While rare, false-positive responses can occur. Usually, this is a result of user error. For example, applying too much urine to the test strip or reading the test result too long after the test has been taken may cause an evaporation line to appear on the test, which may be misread as a positive result. 

3. Ultrasound

Before an abortion, an ultrasound is needed to provide three essential pieces of information: viability, date, and location.
 

• Viability—A pregnancy test returns positive even when a miscarriage has occurred (up to 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage), but an ultrasound can detect a heartbeat to indicate if the pregnancy is viable. If the pregnancy ends in miscarriage, it may not need medical intervention.
• Date—the amount of time a woman has been pregnant partially determines the type of abortion that is appropriate for her situation. FDA approval for medical abortion only extends through 10 weeks of pregnancy.
• Location—When a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, it results in ectopic pregnancy. This condition can have complications that can endanger the woman’s life if left untreated. Since abortion does not resolve ectopic pregnancy, it must be diagnosed early through ultrasound.

Here to Help

Contact the Hagerstown Area Pregnancy Clinic for a free appointment. Receive the quality, essential services you are looking for in a compassionate, judgment-free environment.