Other Important Things to Know Before Making an Abortion Decision

Will you be given a blood test? If so, why do they do the blood test? It is our understanding that it is to determine your hemoglobin level, to see if you are healthy enough for surgery, and to test for the Rh factor.

More than 85 percent of the world's population possess a particular antigen on their blood cells. These people are defined as Rh positive. If you are part of the minority of Rh negatives who lack that antigen, your doctor needs to know in case you would need a blood transfusion. Also, if you are Rh negative and you were to abort an Rh positive baby, some of that fetal blood would most likely mix with yours, causing you to become sensitized. Once you're sensitized, your body would begin producing antibodies to fight that foreign blood type. If you were to get pregnant again with an Rh positive baby, those antibodies would attack and would put his/her life in jeopardy. In order to prevent this, you would need an injection of RhoGam (Rhlg), a synthetic form of a naturally occurring immunoglobulin in the body, to suppress your body's natural response of attacking any foreign blood type.

STDs — It is our understanding that most abortion clinics do not test for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Ask if the clinic tests for STDs and, if they do, ask which of the 20 or more STDs they check for and why.

If the clinic does not test for STDs, you should see your doctor to check if you have an STD and be treated before an abortion.

If you have an STD and you are not treated before an abortion procedure is performed, the STD can spread into other areas of your body causing additional complications.
Most STDs can infect you for long periods of time with no symptoms.
It is estimated that one in five Americans is now infected with a viral STD. This does not include the bacterial STDs such as Chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea which are at very high levels.
Tragically, 63 percent of these infections occur in persons under age 25. ¹

Here is one example of why this is so important:

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) is a potentially life threatening disease which can lead to increased risk of ectopic pregnancy and reduced fertility. Of patients who have a Chlamydia infection at the time of the abortion, 23 percent will develop PID within four weeks. Studies have found that 20 to 27 percent of patients seeking abortion have a Chlamydia infection. Approximately five percent of patients who are not infected by Chlamydia also develop PID within four weeks after a first trimester abortion. Abortion providers should screen for and treat such infections prior to an abortion. ²

If you would like to discuss these issues further, click here for online assistance.

Visit the following sites to learn more about STDs.

Sources

The Facts About the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Epidemic, Medical Institute for Sexual Health, P.O. Box 4919, Austin TX 78765.
David C. Reardon, Abortion Malpractice, 1993, p. 4. Life Dynamics, Inc., P.O. Box 185, Lewisville, TX 75067.

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