Within 4-10 weeks of last menstrual period

Before a medication abortion, you should be given a physical examination to determine whether you're a candidate for RU-486, and you should be given an ultrasound to ensure that you really are pregnant and within the gestational dating that RU-486 can be prescribed. Unfortunately, women have been given the abortion pill when they were not even pregnant.

Ending your pregnancy through the abortion pill is a three-step process.

First, you will be given a drug that will cause the death of your unborn baby, thus ending your pregnancy. Note: Some women change their mind and decide they do not want to continue the medication abortion at this point. Contact us and we will connect you with a network of caring medical professionals who can help reverse the effects of this medication in some cases.

Second, you will be given another drug that will cause you to expel the unborn baby from your body. Women are usually not in their doctor's office when they feel the effects of this drug. Some women have experienced nausea, weakness, fever/chills, vomiting, headache, diarrhea, and dizziness.

Third, about 7-14 days after the first drug, you should follow-up with your doctor to ensure all the contents of your uterus have been expelled. If there is anything left over, it may require a surgical abortion in some cases. This is a potentially serious condition, and this follow-up appointment is very important.

Within up to 13 weeks of last menstrual period

Depending on how far along you are in the first trimester, this procedure may be done without dilation or anesthesia, but if you are further along in your pregnancy, the abortion provider may begin by using local anesthesia to numb the cervix.

After it is numbed, the cervix must be stretched open. The abortion provider inserts the dilator through the vagina and into the cervix. Once it has established a clear pathway, the abortion provider will continue by inserting progressively larger dilators into the cervix.

When the cervix has been stretched wide enough, the abortion provider suctions out the contents of the uterus. After the baby and pregnancy material have been removed, the abortion provider will inspect the cervix and other internal organs.

To ensure the procedure is complete, some providers will use sharp curettage followed by final suctioning to ensure that nothing has been left over inside the uterus.

Afterward, you most likely will be taken to a recovery room to recuperate. The recovery time after the procedure varies. Physical complications resulting from the abortion could occur immediately or some time later.

Within 13-24 weeks of last menstrual period

The abortion provider begins by opening the cervix. At this stage in pregnancy, the cervix needs to be opened wider than in a first trimester abortion. To do so, the abortion provider will use dilators.

For pregnancies that are early in the second trimester, dilation can take several hours or be overnight; dilation may take one to two days for pregnancies that are further along in the second trimester. Different methods exist to dilate the cervix, and the method used depends on many factors.

The abortion provider will begin by removing the dilators and then may use an ultrasound to locate the unborn baby and pregnancy matter. If it is early in the second trimester, suction aspiration may be enough to remove the pregnancy without the use of forceps. This is similar to a vacuum aspiration abortion procedure.

After about sixteen weeks gestation, forceps are usually needed to complete the procedure. The abortion provider inserts forceps into the uterus, opens them, and begins to pull the unborn baby apart and out using a rotating motion.

After the fetus has been evacuated, the provider will check to make sure nothing internally has been punctured during the procedure and that the baby as well as the pregnancy matter have been removed.

D&E is associated with a much higher risk of complications compared to a first trimester surgical abortion.

20 weeks to full term

This procedure typically takes 2–3 days and is associated with increased risk to the life and health of the mother. General anesthesia is usually recommended, if available.

Drugs may be injected into the baby or the amniotic fluid to stop the baby’s heart before starting the procedure. The cervix is opened wide, the amniotic sac is broken, and forceps are used to dismember the baby. The “Intact D&E” pulls the baby out legs first, then crushes the skull in order to remove the baby in one piece.

Many women who choose a late-term abortion do so because the baby has been diagnosed with an abnormality. If this is the case, you have help and options - please call us.