How Long Does It Take To Get An Abortion

Terminating a pregnancy is one of the biggest decisions a woman will ever make in her life. There are a number of factors that must be considered before a woman decides to abort her pregnancy. Women normally opt for abortion for a number of reasons, including health, money and teenage pregnancies. Almost half of the women above the age of 18 in the United States have had an abortion at some point in their lives. Once a woman has decided to get an abortion, a number of questions come to mind. These include ‘how long does it take to get an abortion?’ and ’till what stage of a pregnancy can one get an abortion?’

Can a woman get an abortion during any stage of her pregnancy?
The simple answer to this question is yes. However, it is most common for women to get abortions during the first trimester of their pregnancy. Second trimester pregnancies are rare, but they are still done. Abortions in the final trimester are extremely uncommon and doctors are only willing to do so when the mother’s life is under threat. In answering the question ‘how long does it take to get an abortion?’ it should be taken into account that abortions in the first trimester are much faster than abortions in the third trimester.

What does the abortion procedure entail exactly?
In case of medical abortions, doctors normally administer a methotrexate injection, or give a RU-486 or mifepristone pill to the pregnant woman. The pregnancy ends almost immediately, but the answer to the question: how long does it take to get an abortion? is not that simple. A woman must take a pill a few days later in order to cleanse her system and to empty out the uterus.

How long does it take to get an abortion?
The question ‘how long does it take to get an abortion?’ can be looked at in two different ways. 50% of women who get the methotrexate injection have an abortion the same day, but the procedure can take as long as a week. However, in the case of women who use pills, almost 92% of them get abortions on the same day, but this can also take as long as a week.

Are medical abortions 100% effective?
The last thing you would want to do, after making the difficult decision of getting an abortion, and then going on with it, is find out that you are still pregnant. That is why it is important to prepare yourself by accepting that abortions are not 100% effective. Approximately five in every 100 women who go through medical abortion procedures remain pregnant.

Do abortions reduce the chance of future pregnancies?
Studies are still quite unclear on this issue, but most doctors tend to believe that medical abortions do not lower the chance of a woman getting pregnant in the future. However, surgical abortions can lessen the likelihood of a woman getting pregnant in the future.