Abortion is a legal medical procedure that has been provided to millions of American women. Since the Institute of Medicine first reviewed the health implications of national legalized abortion in 1975, there has been a plethora of related scientific research, including well-designed randomized clinical trials, systematic reviews, and epidemiological studies examining abortion care. This research has focused on examining the relative safety of abortion methods and the appropriateness of methods for different clinical circumstances. With this growing body of research, earlier abortion methods have been refined, discontinued, and new approaches have been developed. The Safety and Quality of Abortion Care in the United States offers a comprehensive review of the current state of the science related to the provision of safe, high-quality abortion services in the United States. This report considers 8 research questions and presents conclusions, including gaps in research.

The Clinical practice handbook for safe abortion care is intended to facilitate the practical application of the clinical recommendations from the second edition of Safe abortion: technical and policy guidance for health systems (World Health Organization [WHO] 2012). While legal, regulatory, policy and service-delivery contexts may vary from country to country, the recommendations and best practices described in both of these documents aim to enable evidence-based decision-making with respect to safe abortion care.

At a UN General Assembly Special Session in 1999, governments recognised unsafe abortion as a major public health concern, and pledged their commitment to reduce the need for abortion through expanded and improved family planning services, as well as ensure abortion services should be safe and accessible. This technical and policy guidance provides a comprehensive overview of the many actions that can be taken in health systems to ensure that women have access to good quality abortion services as allowed by law.

"Now with a new afterword by the author"--Back cover.

In today’s contentious political environment surrounding abortion, clinicians, counselors and social workers need a clear framework for providing skilled, compassionate decision counseling. They need help working with the hard stuff: “What do I do when my patient asks me if God will forgive her?” or “What do I say when a woman says that she feels like she’s killing her baby?” These are the questions asked by clinicians and mental health professionals everywhere; these are also the questions for which this book offers answers. The fields of healthcare and counseling psychology have long-awaited a manual for conducting pregnancy decision counseling across the spectrum of patient issues, employee skill levels, and clinic resources. Using case examples, individual and group exercises, guided self-reflection, and values clarification, the reader will develop the necessary skills to provide compassionate and informed pregnancy decision counseling. This book will define the gold standard for decision assessment and counseling for all pregnancy options and will be cited as the definitive guide for learning, teaching, and providing high-quality, compassionate counseling in abortion and family planning clinics nationwide.

Access to high quality abortion care is essential to women’s health, as evidenced by the dramatic decrease in pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality since the legalization of abortion in the United States, and by high rates of maternal death and complications in those countries where abortion is still provided under unsafe conditions. The past two decades have brought important advances in abortion care as well as increasing cross-disciplinary use of abortion technologies in women’s health care. Abortion is an important option for pregnant women who have serious medical conditions or fetal abnormalities, and fetal reduction techniques are now well-integrated into infertility treatment to reduce the risks of multiple pregnancies resulting from assisted reproductive technologies. Management of Unintended and Abnormal Pregnancy: Comprehensive Abortion Care is the textbook of the National Abortion Federation, and serves as the standard, evidence-based reference text in abortion care. This state-of-the-art textbook provides a comprehensive overview of the public health implications of unsafe abortion and reviews the best surgical and medical practices for pregnancy termination, as well as managing ectopic and other abnormal pregnancies. Management of Unintended and Abnormal Pregnancy: Comprehensive Abortion Care is the leading source for a comprehensive understanding of issues related to unintended and abnormal pregnancy. This textbook: is authored by internationally-known leaders in women's health care; addresses unintended pregnancy and abortion from historical, legal, public health, clinical, and quality care perspectives; includes chapters on pregnancy loss, ectopic pregnancy, gestational trophoblastic disease, and multifetal pregnancy reduction; covers treatment of pregnancies in the first and second trimester by both medical and surgical techniques; and provides resources for clinical, scientific, and social support for the abortion provider and patient.

Neither legalization of abortion nor scientific and political advances in contraception and abortion ensure that training and research in family planning are routinely integrated into medical education. Without integration, subsequent generations of healthcare professionals are not prepared to incorporate evidence-based family planning into their practices, teaching, or research. Omission of this crucial component prevents the cultural and professional normalization of an often stigmatized and embattled aspect of women's health. Taking the successful US-based Ryan and Family Planning Fellowship programs as templates for training, teaching, and academic leadership, this book describes the integration of family planning and pregnancy termination into curricula with an international outlook. With an evidence- and systems-based approach, the book is a unique and practical guide to inspire and train the next generation of healthcare professionals.

The definitive history of abortion in the United States, with a new preface that equips readers for what’s to come. When Abortion Was a Crime is the must-read book on abortion history. Originally published ahead of the thirtieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, this award-winning study was the first to examine the entire period during which abortion was illegal in the United States, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century and ending with that monumental case in 1973. When Abortion Was a Crime is filled with intimate stories and nuanced analysis, demonstrating how abortion was criminalized and policed—and how millions of women sought abortions regardless of the law. With this edition, Leslie J. Reagan provides a new preface that addresses the dangerous and ongoing threats to abortion access across the country, and the precarity of our current moment. While abortions have typically been portrayed as grim "back alley" operations, this deeply researched history confirms that many abortion providers—including physicians—practiced openly and safely, despite prohibitions by the state and the American Medical Association. Women could find cooperative and reliable practitioners; but prosecution, public humiliation, loss of privacy, and inferior medical care were a constant threat. Reagan's analysis of previously untapped sources, including inquest records and trial transcripts, shows the fragility of patient rights and raises provocative questions about the relationship between medicine and law. With the right to abortion increasingly under attack, this book remains the definitive history of abortion in the United States, offering vital lessons for every American concerned with health care, civil liberties, and personal and sexual freedom.

Presenting a comprehensive, clinically oriented text covering all aspects of abortion care related to both medical and surgical abortion. Multiple contributors, well recognized for their expertise in abortion and women's health, contribute to make this a state-of-the-art reference on abortion for students, residents and practitioners involved in women's reproductive health care.