Expert: Pat G - 2/13/2010

Question
I had an abortion on the 18th of January, after the surgical abortion I did not bleed. Then on the 20th of the said month I started bleeding lightly, almost like spotting. I continued to bleed for about 3 weeks, then on Feb 9th, I experienced severe cramping and later that night I bled heavily. There were blood clots the size bigger than a lemon. On Feb 13th, 12 midnight, something came out of me, it looks like a blood clot but it is much harder and looks like more of a tissue rather than just blood clot. Today I stopped bleeding heavily, just light bleeding and the cramping is gone. I am very nervous, I'm in a country where abortion is very much illegal and I am afraid I will go to jail. I hope you can help me...

Answer
Hello, mhay,

It sounds like the abortion didn't get everything. Unfortunately, this can cause a serious infection. This can pose a serious threat to your life. So you need to be checked out.

I am aware that abortion is illegal in the Philippines. It is one of the few countries that cares about its women enough to protect them from abortion. I don't know how they enforce the law there specifically. In the United States, the prosecutors go after the abortionists, not the women.

I recommend you find an organization near you that helps pregnant women. They can recommend a doctor. You can ask if confidentiality will be a problem. Doctors aren't supposed to give information from your medical records to anybody. If you are willing to tell the doctor who the abortionist is, that might be enough. After all, he obviously did a very poor job. We'd call that a "botched" abortion here.

You can find an organization near you by going here:

http://heartbeatservices.org/index.php/connections/worldwide-directory

Choose "Philippines" from the country list. You can talk to them and ask what if a friend of yours had a botched abortion. Ask if she can get care without having to go to jail.

Good luck. Please get this checked out. I don't see the point in getting a nasty infection to avoid the possibility of jail. Let me know what happens.