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Suction Aspiration/Vacuum Curettage
A powerful suction tube with a sharp cutting edge is inserted into the womb through the dilated cervix. The suction dismembers the body of the developing baby and tears the placenta from the wall of the uterus, sucking the contents into a collection bottle.

Dilation and Curettage (D&C)
Here, the cervix is dilated or stretched to permit the insertion of a loop shaped steel knife. The body of the baby is cut into pieces and removed and the placenta is scraped off the uterine wall.

RU-486
The RU-486 procedure requires at least three trips to the abortion facility. In her first visit, the woman is given the RU-486 pills, which block the action of progesterone, the natural hormone vital to maintaining the rich nutrient lining of the uterus. The developing baby starves as the nutrient lining disintegrates. At a second visit 36 to 48 hours later, the woman is given a dose of artificial prostaglandins, usually misoprostol, which initiates uterine contractions to expel the body of the embryonic baby. A third visit about 2 weeks later determines if the abortion has taken place. At least 4% must return for surgical abortions.

Methotrexate
Another multi-visit procedure. In the first visit a woman receives an intramuscular injection of methotrexate, a powerful drug anti-metabolite which is often used to fight cancer. Methotrexate attacks the fast growing cells of the trophoblast, the tissue surrounding the embryo that eventually gives rise to the placenta. As the trophoblast breaks down, the baby dies as she is deprived of needed food, oxygen, and fluids.
A prostaglandin vaginal suppository given three to seven days later triggers expulsion of the child from the woman’s uterus. Sometimes this occurs within the next few hours, but often a second dose of the prostaglandin is required. Those shown to be still pregnant in later visits (at least 1 woman in 25) are given surgical abortions.

Dilation and Evacuation (D&E)
Forceps with sharp metal jaws are used to grasp parts of the developing baby, which are then twisted and torn away. This continues until the child’s entire body is removed from the womb. Because the baby’s skull has often hardened to bone by this time, the skull must sometimes be compressed or crushed to facilitate removal.

Instillation Methods
After fluid is withdrawn, chemicals are injected into the amniotic sac to kill the baby and initiate contractions. Saline poisons the child and burns the baby’s skin. Other methods such as urea and prostaglandins mainly work by initiating violent contractions, but are generally less effective than saline. Sometimes, chemicals such as potassium chloride or digoxin are injected directly in to the baby’s heart, triggering cardiac arrest.

Partial-Birth Abortions
Used in the fifth and sixth month of pregnancy, and sometimes later. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist reaches into the uterus, grabs the unborn baby’s leg with forceps, and pulls the baby into the birth canal, except for the head, which is deliberately