Short answers, pulled from the story.
Between 40 and 60 percent of all human embryos fail to progress to birth before medical detection. This spontaneous abortion or miscarriage accounts for at least half of all early pregnancy losses and is nature's way of correcting chromosomal abnormalities.
The Catholic Church did not begin to vigorously oppose abortion until the 19th century. Pope Sixtus V was the first Pope to institute a Church policy labeling all abortion as homicide in 1588, though this was reversed by Pope Gregory XIV in 1591.
The typical regimen involving 200 milligrams of mifepristone followed 24 to 48 hours later by 800 micrograms of vaginal misoprostol is 98.5 percent effective through 63 days of gestation. This method allows women to take medication home to complete the procedure and has a safety profile comparable to surgical abortion.
The risk of death from abortion is nearly one in ten thousand at 21 weeks or more gestation. This risk approaches roughly half the risk of death from childbirth the farther along a woman is in pregnancy.
Estimates suggest that 20 million unsafe abortions are performed annually, with 97 percent taking place in developing countries. These unsafe abortions are believed to result in millions of injuries and deaths ranging from 37,000 to 70,000 in the past decade.