According to the best medical evidence available, abortion is safer than getting a dental procedure or cosmetic surgery, and much safer than childbirth. According to that evidence, in the United States, a woman is about 15 to 25 times more likely to die in childbirth than she is during an abortion.

There is some discomfort associated with both medication and suction/aspiration abortion, as with most medical procedures. Most patients describe it as uncomfortable but bearable cramping. Most early abortion procedures last between five - 10 minutes.

According to the best medical evidence, abortion is extremely safe in terms of a person’s ability to get pregnant again in the future. In fact, fertility often returns quickly after an abortion. If a person wants to delay pregnancy, they should use a reliable method of birth control starting immediately after an abortion.

After recovery from an abortion without complications, there will be no physical sign of your choice. It's important to give an honest and complete medical history to any trusted health care provider, but your future doctors will not be able to tell that you have had an abortion unless you tell them.

In February 2003, the National Cancer Institute convened a symposium of more than 100 of the world’s leading experts who study pregnancy and the risk of breast cancer. They concluded that having an abortion does not increase a person’s subsequent risk of developing breast cancer. A summary of their findings can be found on the American Cancer Society website.

People decide to have an abortion after concluding that it is the right choice for themselves and their lives. According to the best evidence, if you ask people who had an abortion five years later whether abortion was the right choice, over 99% of them will say that it was [1]. The story that women regret their abortions is one that is mostly made up by people who are against abortion.

[1] Rocca, C.H., Samari, G., Foster, D.G., Gould, H. and K. Kimport. Emotions and decision rightness over five years following an abortion: an examination of decision difficulty and abortion stigma. Soc Sci Med, 2020. 248:112704.

It is possible to get pregnant right after an abortion, even before you have had a period. To prevent a pregnancy, talk to your provider about birth control methods that you can use immediately after an abortion.