Abortion happens when an unborn baby’s life ends. About 200 million women get pregnant every year. During the same time 44 million abortions are carried out around the world. Fortunately, the abortion rate has gone down because more and more people, especially in developing countries, are receiving a better sexual education. Better family planning also leads to fewer abortions.

History of abortion
Abortions have been performed for thousands of years. The ancient Romans and Greeks were not very concerned about the lives of unborn babies. In the Old Testament women had to pay a fine if they had a miscarriage. Abortion laws have changed in most of the western world throughout the past centuries.

 

Types of Abortion
Spontaneous abortions happen naturally. Doctors call them miscarriages. They occur for many reasons, for example, because of a disease that a pregnant woman might get or a horrible event that occurred to her.
In an induced abortion the fetus is taken out of a mother’s body on purpose.

 

Methods of Abortion
In many cases doctors perform abortions through operations. In a very common method the unborn baby is sucked out of a mother’s womb with a tube. An abortion can also be carried out with drugs.  RU-486, a drug that was developed in France stops a natural hormone from preparing a woman from bearing a child. In some cases doctors use other methods and drugs to end a pregnancy. As a result the unborn baby passes out of a female body.
In most countries abortions are carried out within the first three months of pregnancy. Abortions that are performed at a later stage are riskier and may endanger a woman’s health.
Unsafe abortions are carried out in countries where they are banned or performed by unskilled doctors or medical assistants who do not have the appropriate medical training.