Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy that results in the death of the embryo or fetus before it has reached the stage of viability. The methods of abortion are used too much as a risky form of birth control instead of as a medical procedure to help someone who actually needs it.
             To begin with, there are two different types of abortion. Some abortions occur naturally due to disease, trauma or some genetic disorders. This type of abortion is called a miscarriage (Abortion 35). An abortion is intentionally brought on is called an induced abortion (Abortion 35).
             Induced abortions are performed using one of several methods. "The safest and most appropriate method is determined by the age of the fetus, or the length of the pregnancy, which is calculated from the beginning of the pregnant women's last menstrual period (Encarta)." Most pregnancies last an average of thirty-nine to forty weeks. This period is divided into three stages known as trimesters. The first trimester consists of the first thirteen weeks of pregnancy, the trimester lasts from fourteen to twenty-four weeks, and the third trimester lasts from the twenty-fifth week of pregnancy to the day the baby is born. Abortions in the first trimester of pregnancy are easier and safer to perform while abortions in the second and third trimesters require more complicated procedures and pose greater risks to woman's health (Encarta).
             A variety of drug-based abortion methods may be carried out under a physician's supervision. In a method commonly referred to as the "morning after pill," a women is given large doses of estrogen (a female hormone) within seventy-two hours unprotected sexual intercourse and again twelve hours later (Encarta). This high dose halts fetal development at the earliest stages of development after conception, (Encarta). Typical side effects of the morning after pill may include nausea, headache, dizziness,...