Women’s rights issues have always been so complicated, the right to vote, the right to join the military, the right to go into combat right alongside the men….all of these things have been hard fought battles for the women interested in winning them. Probably one of the more controversial of the battles women have fought and won is the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. The problem here is that although women have garnered this right to choose, they have not always been adequately prepared for the physical implications of what abortion can do to the body. The horror stories are too numerous to cover completely, but suffice it to say that they go far beyond the frightening old stories regarding abortions performed with coat hangers, or the “back alley abortion” if you prefer.
First of all, we need to look at the serious complications that can follow any of the now-standard abortion procedures. Abortion is more than just the termination of an unwanted pregnancy, it is actually a very dangerous invasive procedure. There really is no “simple” method of abortion, not even the so-called “miracle abortion pill”, RU-486, can be called simple. The reason for this is the fact that the abortion pill usually requires several clinical visits in order to check the progress of the procedure, plus there are secondary drugs that must be administered and quite often the procedure is either totally unsuccessful, or only partially so, and will require a regular clinic abortion anyway.
There are many different abortion procedures, the choice of which usually belongs to the doctor performing the operation. He or she will determine which procedure to use depending on the size of the fetus. But what the doctor probably won’t tell the woman requesting the abortion is that each abortion performed usually requires more than one visit just to open the cervix so they can get their instruments in there to finish the job. The cervix, by the way, is a very strong muscle designed to remain tightly closed throughout the pregnancy, only to open gradually by itself when the ninth month is completed. An abortion forces the cervix to open prematurely, causing potential damage to the muscle, which could cause it to remain partially open if the woman gets pregnant again later on. This complication could lead either to a very difficult pregnancy with many visits to the doctor or hospital, or it could cause a miscarriage to occur.
Once the cervix is opened sufficiently, the instruments must be inserted , and these implements are used to cut and suction the fetus. One slip of the blade and the lining of the uterus could be cut, or even worse, an artery could be severed, resulting in hemorrhagic bleeding, which if not treated immediately, could cause the woman to bleed out, resulting in death. If a minor cut occurs, the doctor probably won’t even notice it because the bleeding will be considered “normal”, and will send the woman home where she will likely slowly bleed out without any medical support to assist her. Not only that, but most abortive procedures cause the woman great pain, and are done with the support of anesthetic. Most women in the vulnerable position probably do not even think about the expertise of the anesthesiologist, they have many other things on their minds at that moment. But this is something the woman needs to consider very seriously.
There have been many cases made public of women who walk into an abortion clinic, but never walk out again because the anesthesiologist did not know his or her job adequately. These women ended up either in comas or dead. Their families were naturally devastated, and these cases could easily have been prevented. A woman has the right to choose well when deciding on an abortion. She needs to evaluate the various clinics that perform this service because choosing the wrong one could be her last choice on this Earth. Most of the time, abortion clinic technicians need to work very fast due to the fact that they perform these operations typically several hundred times a day. It is very easy for these anesthesiologists to make a mistake when they have to do the same thing over and over again so many times each day. All women are different and the level of anesthetic that one requires may not be the same level that another requires. It is a dangerous thing for a woman to decide.
The question of speed in an abortion clinic arises with the thought of serious infection risk as well. When there are hundreds of procedures done every day, there is a distinct possibility that the implements may not be adequately disinfected and sterilized between each procedure. This means that if one woman might be infected with, say, a venereal disease, or even AIDS itself, if those tools are not completely sterilized before the beginning of the next abortion, the second woman in line will probably be infected with those very same diseases, and the next and the next, all the way down the line. The potential hazards in these situations are obscene. The woman has the right to choose a clinic that has fewer patients and is more careful about their sterilization techniques.
