In most cases an abortion can be performed when a urine pregnancy test shows a positive result. The pregnancy must be visible on ultrasound, which usually happens around 5 to 6 weeks. For your safety, we need to be able to see the pregnancy in the uterus in order for an abortion procedure to be performed. This is true both for the surgical abortion and the abortion pill procedure.
A pregnancy can develop outside of the uterus, in an ovary, fallopian tube or the cervix. This is called an ectopic pregnancy, and it is treated very differently than a pregnancy in the uterus. This is a serious medical condition that can become life threatening.