My name is Dr. Anthony Levatino.
I’m a practicing obstetrician-gynecologist, and I’ve performed over 1,200 abortions.
Today, I’m going to describe a 1st Trimester Medical Abortion.
This is a procedure in which the mother swallows pills in order to terminate her baby, and
it is performed up to the 10th week of pregnancy.
The procedure involves two steps:
Step One.
At the abortion clinic or doctor’s office, the woman takes pills which contain Mifepristone,
also called RU-486. RU-486 blocks the action of a hormone called Progesterone.
Progesterone is naturally produced in the mother's body
to stabilize the lining of the uterus.
When RU-486 blocks Progesterone, the lining of the mother’s uterus breaks down, cutting
off blood and nourishment to the baby, who then dies inside the mother's womb.
It is important to note that even after it has been taken, it is possible to reverse
the effects of RU-486 and save the baby, if Progesterone is administered.
The sooner, the better.
Step Two.
24-48 hours after taking RU-486, the woman takes Misoprostol, also called Cytotec, that
is administered either orally or vaginally.
RU-486 and Misoprostol together cause severe cramping, contractions, and often heavy bleeding,
to force the dead baby out of the woman's uterus.
The process can be very intense and painful, and the bleeding and contractions can last
from a few hours to several days.
While she could lose her baby anytime and anywhere during this process, the woman will
often sit on a toilet as she prepares to expel the child, which she will then flush.
She may even see her dead baby within the pregnancy sac.
At 9 weeks, for example, the baby will be almost an inch long, and if she looks carefully,
she might be able to count the fingers and toes.
After she has disposed of her baby,
the woman may have bleeding and spotting for several weeks.
Bleeding lasts, on average, 9-16 days.
8% of women bleed more than 30 days, and 1% require hospitalization because of heavy bleeding.
the failure rate increases as the pregnancy progresses.
If failure occurs, she will usually be offered a surgical abortion.
For the mother, medical abortion often causes abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,
headache and heavy bleeding.
Maternal deaths have occurred, most frequently due to infection and undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I’m Dr. Anthony Levatino, and in the early part of
my career as an OB/GYN, I performed over 1,200 abortions.
One day, after completing one of those abortions, I looked at the remains of a preborn child
whose life I had ended, and all I could see was someone's son or daughter.
I came to realize that killing a baby at any stage of pregnancy, for any reason, is wrong.
I want you to know today, no matter where you’re at or what you’ve done,
you can change.
Make a decision today to protect the preborn.
Thank you for your time.
I will no longer do any more abortions.
When you finally figure out that killing a baby that big for money is wrong, then it
doesn’t take you too long to figure out it doesn’t matter if the baby is this big,
or this big, or this big, or maybe even this big— it’s all the same.
And I haven’t done any since then and I never will.