The 13 Types Of Abortion (and Their Psychological And Physical Effects)
For many people, having children is one of their vital goals, with many couples looking for pregnancy to occur actively and voluntarily. However, It is possible that this development will be aborted or must be interrupted for various reasons. Furthermore, in other cases, unwanted pregnancies occur in which the person in question does not want to be a mother, does not have resources, does not yet feel ready, or is the product of rape.
In some of these cases, the person in question may choose to terminate the pregnancy. There can be many circumstances and reasons that can lead to deciding to abort or undergo an abortion. That is why we can determine the existence of different types of abortion depending on the characteristics that surround it.
In order to talk about the different types of abortion that exist, it is first necessary to understand what we are referring to with the term abortion.
Abortion is understood to process by which the gestation of an embryo is interrupted for different reasons. The pregnancy ends abruptly and the fetus dies and is expelled from the pregnant woman’s body.
There are a large number of causes of abortion, both natural and caused by human action. Thus, we can find cases of desired pregnancies that fail for some reason or situations in which an unintentional pregnancy occurs and the person in question does not want to continue.
When it is natural, it generally occurs at twelve and fourteen weeks, that is, before the third month of gestation is completed. In cases of voluntary termination, the deadlines may vary depending on the law in force in each country and the assumptions and circumstances surrounding the pregnancy and the decision to terminate it.
Types of abortion
It is possible to classify different types of abortion based on different criteria such as whether it is natural or induced, the mechanisms used to terminate the pregnancy or the reasons that cause it to occur.
1. Miscarriage
A spontaneous abortion is that type of abortion or interruption of pregnancy due to natural causes, not being voluntary or provoked. It may be due to chromosomal alterations of the fetus, diseases or malformations of the mother, infections (as in septic abortion). The appearance of this type of abortion usually occurs in the first twelve weeks.
When It occurs very initially so that we are not yet facing a fetus but in the case of an embryo, symptoms may not occur and the fact of having become pregnant may even go unnoticed (it is estimated that a large number of pregnancies end in this way without being detected).
However, if the detachment or death of the fetus occurs during the development of the fetus, it usually appears along with significant bleeding and pain in the uterus, which opens to make way for the remains. In some cases the remains of the fetus are not completely expelled (especially if they are late abortions), in which case an intervention will be necessary.
2. Abortion due to infection or septic
This is a subtype of abortion in which an infection is generated that affects the placenta or fetus and ends with the death of the second. This is also the name given to the result of an abortion in which the female reproductive system suffers an infection due to the presence of remains of an abortion or due to injuries derived from performing one.
It is a type of natural abortion in which for some reason the gestating fetus dies naturally, but remains in the mother’s womb for weeks without being expelled by the woman’s body. The pregnant woman continues to believe she is pregnant and has the typical symptoms, but nevertheless the pregnant woman’s heart has stopped beating. It is only possible to detect it through ultrasound. After detection, if the body does not expel the fetus or does not do so completely, it will be necessary to intervene with drugs or surgery.
4. Induced abortion
It is about voluntarily induced abortion, that is the result of applying certain procedures voluntarily to terminate pregnancy. Within this, others can be found, such as therapeutic, those that are the result of rape or those that are freely decided.
5. Therapeutic abortion
A therapeutic abortion is one that is performed under the assumption that the pregnancy poses a risk to the health and even the survival of the mother. The same name is also given to those abortions that are performed in the presence of serious alterations or illnesses of the fetus that make its survival or normative development impossible.
6. Legal abortion
In reference to voluntary abortions, a legal abortion is considered one that can be carried out according to current legislation Although originally it could only be legally aborted in cases of rape, severe malformations or risk to the life of the pregnant woman, currently in many countries it can be legally aborted without the need for these assumptions to be met (although within a framework specific time that varies by region.
In Spain, abortion is free up to fourteen weeks and after that it can only be legally interrupted in cases of risk to the life of the pregnant woman, serious anomalies in the fetus and/or incompatible with life or certain diseases or malformations.
7. Illegal abortion
This is the set of abortions that are carried out outside the law, in secret. This type of abortion represents, in addition to being a crime, a serious risk to the health of the pregnant woman, because There is no guarantee regarding the procedure and conditions of the intervention to carry out.
8. Early abortion
It refers to that interruption of pregnancy that occurs before twelve weeks.
9. Late abortion
That abortion in which the interruption occurs after twelve weeks of gestation.
10. Abortion by mechanical/surgical means
It refers to the type of induced abortion in which the interruption method is mechanical removing the fetus through procedures such as aspiration, scraping or injection of substances that cause burns to the fetus and cause death.
11. Chemical or pharmacological abortion
Chemical abortion is the type of induced abortion in which the pregnant woman is given certain medications in order to terminate the pregnancy. It is usually considered safer than surgery.
12. Complete abortion
This is understood as an abortion in which all biological remains of the fetus and placenta are expelled or removed.
13. Incomplete abortion
In incomplete abortion part of the fetus or the products of pregnancy remain inside the uterus, leaving remains inside. It can be induced or natural (in the latter it is usually more common the further along the pregnancy is before its interruption).
