Abortion: before you decide

Lesson 1

Where we stand

OISHA believes every human life is worth protecting from its very beginning, and that no woman should ever feel that ending her baby’s life is the only way out of a hard situation. That is our belief, and we hold it openly.

We also believe you deserve the truth. The facts on this page come from medical, legal and government sources, and they include the ones that don’t help our side. We would rather earn your trust than win an argument.

Lesson 2

What an abortion ends

From the very first cell, a baby has his or her own DNA, half from each parent. This is how developed that baby is in the weeks when most abortions happen. In the CDC’s most recent report, for 2022, about 4 in 10 abortions took place at 6 weeks or earlier, nearly 8 in 10 by 9 weeks, and more than 9 in 10 by 13 weeks. Those figures cover the 41 states and areas that reported them to the CDC, which do not include California.

See every week in Pregnancy week by week.

Lesson 3

What an abortion involves

There are two kinds of abortion. Both are described here the way medical sources describe them.

Abortion pills

More than half of abortions in the United States are now done with pills, which the FDA has approved through 10 weeks of pregnancy.

• The first pill is mifepristone. The FDA describes it as “a drug that blocks a hormone called progesterone that is needed for a pregnancy to continue.”
• The second, misoprostol, is taken 24 to 48 hours later, usually at home. It causes cramping and bleeding that empty the uterus. Most women pass the pregnancy within 2 to 24 hours of taking it.
• What it is like: the FDA’s guide for patients says, “Your bleeding may be similar to, or greater than, a normal heavy period. You may see blood clots and tissue.” Bleeding or spotting lasts 9 to 16 days on average and can last up to 30. A British hospital’s leaflet tells patients that before 8 weeks they will usually see only the pregnancy sac, and that nearer 10 weeks the baby is a little over an inch long and may be recognizable.
• When it doesn’t work: about 2 to 7 women in 100 need a procedure afterward, the FDA says, because the pregnancy did not pass completely or the bleeding had to be stopped.
• When to get help: the label says to get medical care immediately for heavy bleeding, meaning soaking through two thick full-size pads an hour for two hours in a row. It also says to contact a clinician right away about a fever of 100.4°F or higher that lasts more than 4 hours, or about belly pain or feeling sick more than 24 hours after the second pill. These can be signs of a serious infection.

Procedures

• In the first trimester, the cervix is numbed and stretched open, a tube is passed into the uterus, and suction removes the baby and the placenta.
• In the second trimester, the cervix is opened over several hours, or over a day or two. From about 16 weeks, the baby is removed in parts with forceps, followed by suction.

Lesson 4

The risks, told straight

You will hear that abortion is dangerous, and you will hear that it is nothing. Here is what the evidence says.

• Serious physical harm to the mother is uncommon. On the FDA label for abortion pills, serious reactions were reported in fewer than 1 in 200 women, about 3 to 5 in 100 went to an emergency room, and for about 1 in 100 the bleeding was heavy enough to need a procedure. The label carries the FDA’s strongest kind of warning. It says that serious and sometimes fatal infections and bleeding “occur very rarely” after miscarriage, surgical abortion and abortion with pills, and that the pills have not been shown to be the cause.
• The risk grows every week. In national data for 1998 to 2010, about 0.3 women died for every 100,000 abortions done at 8 weeks or earlier, and 6.7 for every 100,000 done at 18 weeks or later. An earlier national study found that the risk rose 38% with each additional week.
• Later pregnancies. A 2018 review by the National Academies found no overall increase in infertility, breast cancer or preterm birth after an abortion. It did find that a first baby was more often born very early, before 28 weeks, to women who had had two or more suction abortions, though such births were rare in every group. Some newer studies report a modest link between surgical abortion and preterm birth. You may hear that abortion causes breast cancer or infertility. The evidence doesn’t support that, and we won’t say it.
• Pills don’t treat an ectopic pregnancy. The label says they must not be used when a pregnancy is, or might be, outside the uterus. Sudden, severe belly pain, shoulder pain or fainting is an emergency: call 911.

Your heart and mind

Large reviews, including those by the National Academies and the American Psychological Association, have not found that abortion causes depression, anxiety or other mental illness. In the best-known study, more than 95% of the women still taking part five years later said the abortion had been the right decision. Fewer than 4 in 10 of the women who were invited agreed to join that study, and many of those had left it by the fifth year.

The same reviews say plainly that some women carry sadness, grief and a sense of loss, and that some have lasting problems. The American Psychological Association’s review lists what goes with more distress afterward:

• feeling pressured by other people to end the pregnancy
• ending a pregnancy that was wanted, or that meant a great deal
• having little support, or feeling that it has to be kept secret
• earlier mental health problems, which the review calls the strongest predictor

The review adds that many of the same things affect how women feel after giving birth.

If you want this baby, or someone is pushing you, take that seriously. Those are among the situations in which women most often struggle afterward.

Lesson 5

Is this really your choice?

Other people’s wishes are often part of the decision. In a 2004 survey of more than 1,200 patients at 11 large abortion clinics, 14% listed their husband’s or partner’s wish among their reasons and 6% listed their parents’, though very few called that their main reason. No one has a reliable national count of how many women are pushed into an abortion, so we won’t give you a number. One is too many.

• The law is on your side. Washington law protects every pregnant person’s right “to choose or refuse to have an abortion.” The state Department of Health says that right is yours at any age, with no consent needed from a parent, guardian or partner. No one else gets to decide for you.
• Threats of harm are a crime. In Washington it is the crime of coercion to make someone do what she has a legal right to refuse by threatening to hurt her or someone else, to damage property, or to confine her. A pattern of reproductive coercion by a partner or family member can also count as domestic violence when a court considers a protection order.
• Pressure isn’t always a crime, and it still isn’t right. “I’ll leave if you keep it.” “You’ll ruin your life.” “Don’t expect any help from us.” Doctors have a name for a partner trying to control how a pregnancy turns out: reproductive coercion.
• You can say no at any point, including in the waiting room.

Lesson 6

Every reason has an answer

When women are asked why they are considering an abortion, most give several reasons, and nearly all of them are about their circumstances. In a 2004 survey of more than 1,200 patients at 11 large abortion clinics, 73% said they couldn’t afford a baby now, 74% said a baby would dramatically change their life, for example by interrupting school or work, and 48% pointed to problems with a relationship or to not wanting to be a single mother. Each of those is a real problem. Here is the help that exists for each.

• Money. Apple Health covers pregnancy care and the year after it for those who qualify by income, and WIC provides food. Washington’s Pregnant Women Assistance pays up to $450 a month, as of November 2026, to low-income pregnant women who don’t qualify for the state’s main cash assistance program: 877-501-2233. On Orcas, the Community Resource Center has diapers, food, and help with rent and utilities: 360-376-3184.
• School. Under the federal law called Title IX, a school that takes federal money can’t exclude a student because she is pregnant (some religious schools are exempt). It must excuse absences for pregnancy and childbirth for as long as her doctor says is necessary, and give her back her place when she returns.
• Work. Federal law requires employers with 15 or more employees to make reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, and Washington extends that to every employer on January 1, 2027. Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave pays for 12 weeks or more around a birth.
• Child care. The state’s Working Connections subsidy helps pay for child care while you work or finish high school. As of October 2026, a family of two qualifies with income under $4,736 a month, and the monthly copay runs from $0 to $215: 844-626-8687.
• A place to live. The Anacortes Family Center shelters women and families with children: 360-293-2993. The Orcas Community Resource Center helps with housing, and dialing 211 reaches housing help anywhere in the state.
• A free pregnancy test and ultrasound. Skagit Valley Pregnancy Care Center in Mount Vernon, (360) 428-4777, and Whatcom County Pregnancy Clinic in Bellingham, (360) 671-9057, offer free pregnancy tests and limited ultrasounds. Both are faith-based. The first describes itself as a licensed medical clinic, and the second says a licensed physician supervises its services. Neither performs or refers for abortions, and neither replaces prenatal care.
• Someone beside you. Growing Families San Juan Islands sends a nurse or community health worker to your home, free, from pregnancy until your child turns 2: 360-378-4474. PREPARES, a Catholic program, pairs families with volunteers from pregnancy until a child turns 5: 206-737-9264.

See the local help for what you’re facing

Lesson 7

Other paths

• Raising your child, with help. In a study of women who were turned away from an abortion and gave birth, 91% chose to raise the child. The same study followed 161 of those women for five years. Their feelings about having been turned away became less negative and more positive over time, and in interviews some described bonding with their child as part of the reason.
• Adoption. You can choose the family and how much contact to keep. Two licensed Washington agencies that work with expectant mothers are Antioch Adoptions in Redmond, 24/7 pregnancy line 425-529-3943, and Open Arms Adoption on Mercer Island, 206-492-4196. Both say their services cost birth parents nothing. In Washington your consent can’t go before a judge until at least 48 hours after the birth, and you can change your mind until the judge approves it. An agreement to stay in contact is binding only if it is written into the court’s order, so ask for that. One study found that birth mothers adjusted better when the adoption was more open. In a 2023 survey of more than 1,000 birth mothers by the National Council For Adoption, which was not a random sample, 63% said they were satisfied with their decision and 22% said they were not.
• Safe Haven. A parent can safely leave a newborn less than 72 hours old with staff at a hospital emergency department, at a fire station while firefighters are there, or at a federally designated rural health clinic during its hours. No name is required, and the parent won’t be prosecuted for abandonment.
• The 24-hour Safe Haven hotline helps with parenting support, temporary placement and adoption information: 1-888-510-2229.

More in Pregnancy & adoption.

Lesson 8

After an abortion

About 1 in 4 American women will have an abortion by age 45. If you are one of them, or the father, or the friend who drove, you are not beyond the reach of love, or of this community.

Many women feel relief. Some feel grief, guilt or regret, sometimes right away and sometimes years later. Both are real. If it hurts, you don’t have to carry it alone or in secret.

• Project Rachel of Western Washington. Confidential listening, referrals to counselors and priests, and retreats. It is a Catholic ministry, open to people of every faith and to men. English: (206) 920-6413. Español: (206) 450-7814.
• Rachel’s Vineyard. Weekend retreats for women and men, Catholic-run: 877-467-3463.
• Your Abortion Experience. A free, private online space for working through it at your own pace, and not built around religion: yourabortionexperience.org.
• Someone you trust. A counselor, a pastor, or a friend who can listen without fixing. The Orcas Community Resource Center arranges low-cost counseling for uninsured residents who qualify: 360-376-3184.

If you are thinking about hurting yourself, call or text 988 now.

Checked in November 2026 against the FDA label for abortion pills, the CDC, the National Academies, the American Psychological Association, Washington law and the studies described above. Federal reviews of abortion pills are under way, so some details may change. This page gives OISHA’s view. It isn’t medical or legal advice.

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