Wondering if you really need an ultrasound before abortion? While it can be tempting to skip, it’s vital to protect your health.
Some reasons you need an ultrasound before abortion include confirming how far along you are, confirming viability, and confirming the location of your pregnancy. We’ll explain more below. We at La Luz Women’s Center offer no-cost ultrasounds to women who receive positive pregnancy testing with us.
Confirm How Far Along Your Pregnancy Is
Confirming how far along you are is important when considering your abortion options, as it’s a safeguard to your health.
The FDA only approves medical abortion (the abortion pill) to women through 10 weeks of pregnancy. After this time of pregnancy, the risks go way up for side effects and risks for medical abortion.
Confirm Pregnancy Viability
An ultrasound also confirms pregnancy viability, which means whether the pregnancy has a heartbeat and is progressing.
Ultrasounds can detect pregnancy complications like a miscarriage, a non-viable pregnancy, and most occur before the 12th week of pregnancy. Some signs of a miscarriage may include:
- Vaginal spotting/bleeding
- Pain/cramping in your abdomen or lower back
- Fluid or tissue passing from your vagina
Confirm Location of Pregnancy
Lastly, ultrasounds confirm the location of your pregnancy. This refers to where your pregnancy is located within your uterus. Some women experience pregnancy complications such as ectopic pregnancy, where the pregnancy grows outside of the uterus, resulting in a non-viable pregnancy.
Ectopic pregnancy would disqualify you from abortion, requiring immediate medical treatment from your medical provider. Detecting this pregnancy complication is vital as it can be dangerous to a woman’s health if not treated right away.
Receive a No-Cost Ultrasound
Our team at La Luz Women’s Center provides no-cost limited ultrasounds once you’ve received positive pregnancy testing results with us.
Our nurses are trained to perform them to confirm intrauterine pregnancy, gestational age, and cardiac activity only. All ultrasounds are reviewed by a licensed OB/GYN.
Schedule a no-cost appointment to get started. We are here to help.
