Abortion My essay is over abortion. Abortion is the surgical procedure that ends a pregnancy by removing the fetus and placenta from the mother’s womb, which is known as the uterus. There are many different types of abortions. Women sometimes get abortions for health reasons. This is called a therapeutic abortion. But most of the time women choose to get an abortion to end their pregnancy. This is called an elective abortion. A surgical abortion uses a vacuum to remove the fetus and the related material from a woman’s uterus. This procedure can be done after six weeks of the woman’s last menstrual cycle. Doctors will often provide you with sedatives to help you relax and feel sleepy. The doctor may also numb the cervix so you feel little or no pain during the abortion. If the abortion is done after twelve weeks of pregnancy, the doctor must first open, or dilate, the cervical canal. Small sticks called laminaria are placed into the cervix to help it open up. This is usually done a day or two before the actual abortion. Next, the doctor may insert a hollow tube into the womb before using the vacuum to remove the pregnancy related tissues from the womb. Often, medicines are given to help the uterine muscles contract. This will also reduce the bleeding. There are many reasons why a woman gets the surgical abortion. Some of the reasons are as follows: the developing baby may have or encounter a birth defect or genetic problem, the pregnancy can or may be harmful to the woman’s health, the pregnancy is the result of a traumatic event such as rape or incest, or the woman just may not wish to be pregnant. The decision to end the pregnancy just because the child is not wanted is very personal. Most health care providers recommend counseling before making this drastic decision. Abortion is a controversial issue. A woman who chooses to end a pregnancy may or may not choose to share her choice with others. So it is important for her to tell people who may help her through this hard time. If a woman is trying to make this hard decision she should find some type of counseling where they can help the woman figure out her options for the pregnancy. If a mother chooses to have an abortion she should find a good place to have the procedure performed and obtain the proper support and following care afterwards. There are many risks of surgical abortion. These include: damage to the womb or cervix, emotional or psychological distress, excessive bleeding, or infection of the uterus or the fallopian tubes. These risks will increase as the woman gets farther along into the pregnancy. That’s why it’s important to decide whether or not you want the abortion as soon as possible because that’s when the procedure is safest. There are usually no complications with abortion. Most women who have a surgical abortion in the right medical center recover without any physical complications. Some women may need psychological and emotional support at the time of the abortion. It is very important to seek counseling before making this decision. There are approximately 115,000 abortions a day or 42 million a year. Those numbers are worldwide. In the United States, there are approximately 3,700 and 1.37 million a year. Fifty two percent of women having abortions in the U.S. are younger than 25. Women between the ages of 20-24 are make up 32% of all abortions. Teenagers are 20% and girls under 15 account for 1.2%. White women make up 60% of all abortions. Black women are more than 3 times