How Abortions Are Performed, And What Happens During Different Methods

Abortion is a subject on which it is difficult to separate fact from emotion. That is especially true for women, most of whom have their own pregnancy tale — whether it’s about the experience of having a baby, the fear of a pregnancy scare, or the feelings that came along with an abortion.

For those on either side of the debate, or in the middle of it, who have wanted to know what happens during an abortion but have never had a good stomach for any real-life medical images in general, AsapSCIENCE offers an objective and mostly clean look at how an abortion is performed, without any judgment for or against the procedure itself. Fair warning for those squeamish viewers, however: There are drawings — as well as blunt descriptions, of course. Another fair warning: The host speaks super quickly.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that there are about 200 legal abortions for every 1,000 births, the overwhelming majority of them performed before three months and also most of them on women in their 20s.

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AsapSCIENCE discusses the different methods by which a legal abortion is performed, including an oral tablet that makes the uterus contract and empty itself and the medical procedures that involve sucking out or otherwise removing a fetus. It also gives statistics on abortions performed outside of medical settings.