In 1983 the United States Supreme Court ruled that therapeutic abortion tissue must be examined by a pathologist. A review of 13,477 specimens indicated that 98.7% had routine confirmation of the intrauterine pregnancy. Of the remainder, 60% had a deciduoid appearance, suggestive of but not diagnostic of pregnancy, 39% were not diagnostic of pregnancy, and 1% showed hydatidiform mole. In a subgroup of patients with non-routine reports, 28% had a problem warranting further care for ectopic pregnancy or trophoblastic disease or intrauterine retained placental tissue. It is concluded that a small percentage of patients receive benefit from this additional study because real or potential complications are identified early in the post-abortion period.