An abortion is a medical procedure that involves minor out-patient surgery. The patients are not sedated or given pain killers during the procedure but they remain awake and conscious during the abortion. They are given medications, to help with any discomfort which may occur during the procedure. Two different types of surgical abortion are there, early pregnancy surgical abortion performed between 6-14 weeks, and late pregnancy surgical abortion performed between 15-19 weeks. Most medical professionals will not perform abortions any later than 19 weeks apart from the instances where the mother’s life is at risk. Surgical abortions can not be performed any earlier than 6-7 weeks after the first day of the patient’s last regular period.
If the patient discovers her pregnancy early on then she will have to wait to have a surgical abortion. Women and girls, who discover their pregnancy earlier than 6-7 weeks, may opt to have a medical abortion if they are certain they want to terminate the pregnancy. It is easier to terminate a pregnancy early when the pregnancy has not yet become a fetus or embryo and is still a simple cell mass. Medical abortions (using pills) can not be performed any later than 7 weeks after the first day of the patient’s last period.