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History of Abortion

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History of Abortion Abortion has been a hot topic since I can remember. I became more interested in the subject lately with the passing of a bill saying, once a fetal heartbeat is detected, abortion cannot be performed. The other night my friend and I were discussing abortion and whether it was right or wrong. We both said it was not right however, he said it wasn’t right under any circumstances while I on the other hand believe that abortion is not a black and white decision; like every other important decision in life, there is always room for a grey area. Abortion as a form or birth control is unacceptable and immoral. Nevertheless, situations where the mother’s life is in danger should continuation of pregnancy exist or victims of rape should be allowed the option to terminate pregnancy. The conversation brought about a very heated debate which made me ask, “When did abortion first begin, what did it consist of, and what was the public’s opinion?’ Before answering these questions I feel it is important to understand what abortion is and how it is performed in modern day society. Abortion is an elected procedure that ends pregnancy before birth of a fetus occurs. Pregnancy is divided into three trimesters and with each trimester, different abortion options are available. During the first trimester procedures such as MTX, Mifepristone and Misoprostol, manual vacuum aspiration, and aspiration are available. Both MTX and Mifepristone and Misoprostol are both procedures that combine two separate medications and can induce abortion during the first seven to nine weeks of pregnancy. Manual Vacuum Aspiration can be performed after three weeks and before the end of the twelfth week where local anesthetic is used and the fetus is suctioned out of the uterus. Aspiration occurs up until the sixteenth week and is also known as a dilation and curettage where the lining up

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