Can Abortion Affect Your Reproductive Health?

March 18, 2026

Abortion is a major procedure, whether completed with the abortion pill or a surgical abortion. It absolutely can affect your short and long-term reproductive health.

We’ll break down what happens during an abortion, after, and potential complications. If you’re considering an abortion procedure, protecting your health starts with pregnancy confirmation with an ultrasound scan. This scan will provide key details to help you make the best possible decisions for your health and safety.

Choices offers no-cost pregnancy medical services, including ultrasound scans to safeguard your health and give you a clear picture of where your pregnancy stands. Contact us today to schedule a time that works for you.

Abortion: What Happens

If you are currently pregnant, your body is producing hormones, such as progesterone, to maintain the uterine lining and sustain the developing embryo or fetus.

When you have an abortion, the process terminates the pregnancy by either blocking progesterone and causing contractions (medical abortion) or manually removing the pregnancy (surgical abortion). With both types of abortion, the uterus must be empty at the end to prevent incomplete abortion, infection, heavy bleeding, and other complications.

There are also additional risks from a surgical abortion due to using scraping and suction tools, such as damage to the cervix, scar tissue development on the wall of the uterus, and poking a hole in the uterus. 

Abortion: Body Changes After

If the abortion goes completely to plan without complications, your body will undergo significant hormonal changes. Your hormone levels will drop, and some women who had abortions in the second trimester or later may experience lactation.

It takes time for a body to return to normal hormone levels, and many women will continue to receive positive pregnancy tests for weeks. After the abortion pill, a provider may ask you to take a pregnancy test several weeks later to confirm it’s negative.

If you’ve recently had an abortion, it’s essential to receive after-abortion follow-up care to protect your health and ensure you’re not experiencing complications. At Choices, we offer free follow-up exams because your health, safety, and well-being are our top priorities.

You may feel emotional changes due to the rapid hormonal drop and your experience. 

Abortion & Your Long-Term Reproductive Health

Generally speaking, if you do not have any complications after an abortion, you may not experience any significant changes to your reproductive health. 

However, having an STD during an abortion or experiencing a complication like pelvic inflammatory disease (a pelvic infection) can lead to long-term issues such as infertility, chronic pelvic pain, and other complications like Asherman’s syndrome.

If you had an abortion beyond 12 weeks and you have a negative blood type, such as A-, B-, AB-, or O-, there’s a possibility of developing Rh sensitization due to carrying a fetus with a positive blood type. This condition can impact future pregnancies when the fetus has a positive blood type. There’s a shot available called RhoGAM to prevent this issue.

During your pregnancy testing appointment, our medical professionals can provide no-cost STD/STI testing and guide you through treatment options, connecting you with trusted care if needed.

We’re Here to Answer Your Questions

Are you considering abortion? Did you just find out you’re pregnant and want to know your pregnancy status and details?

We’re here to serve you and give you the answers you need to make informed choices. We offer no-cost appointments, including Saturday hours from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., to make care more accessible.

Contact Choices today to schedule your confidential appointment.

Choices does not provide or refer for abortion services.