Legal abortion is a relatively safe procedure when experienced doctors provide it. However, no clinical procedures are completely free from risk.

Abortion is less risky to a woman-s health than continuing a pregnancy and having a baby, especially when provided in the first twelve weeks. Serious physical problems during the abortion are rare and only occur in one or two our of every thousand abortions.
Minor complications are a little more common.
Sometimes the abortion may need to be repeated because fragments of the pregnancy remain in the uterus. This occurs in around one per cent of cases.

Abortion 10 per cent of women consult a doctor about pain or bleeding in the first month after an abortion but mostly these women simply need reassurance. One or two out of every hundred women who have abortions have an infection and are treated with antibiotics.
Overall, studies of the long-term physical effects of abortion based on groups of up to several thousand women show that abortion does not affect subsequent pregnancies or reduce fertility. Some of the one or two women in every 1000 women who have a serious abortion complication may experience reduced fertility or may be unable to conceive again.

Several studies have shown that having an abortion does not lead to psychological problems. Although women may regret having to have an abortion the vast majority find that they have no emotional problems after it. A small number - about three per cent - have long-term feelings of guilt and some of these feel that the abortion was a mistake. But for these women the unwanted pregnancy was usually one of many problems in their lives, and these problems continued after the abortion. There is some evidence that for most of these women not having the abortion would have made matters worse.

Many women feel relieved once it is over and, looking back, view the decision to end the pregnancy as regrettable but necessary.