I do know that legally an aborted fetus (and even miscarriages are termed aborted pregnancies medically) is legally supposed to be sent to pathology along with the placenta to make sure all parts are there.
Because if any portion of the fetus or placenta are left in the woman's body it can cause her to hemmorhage. The uterus continues to contract, and if there is nothing to contract on then those contractions are what helps stop the bleeding. But if the placenta is still there (which is highly vascular) - then the uterus contracting forces more and more blood through the plancental scraps and cause her to bleed to death.
The hospital I worked at as a surgical tech did not do elective abortions, but if a woman came in with a tubal pregnancy or bleeding from a partial miscarriage - then we would have to finish the delivery/abortion in order to save the mother's life. In these cases the fetus was already dead.
I had always been pro-life, but the first time I held a tiny little fetus about the size of the first digit of my thumb - still only particlly formed, but obviously a baby, as soon as the surgery was over (it was a ruptured tubal) I went into the nurses lounge and had hysterics.
