garys@bunker.UUCP (Gary M. Samuelson) (09/19/85)
There has recently been some conversation in this group alluding to the relative safety of abortion vs. pregnancy, but so far no one has given any statistics. Let me be the first (setting myself up for what I'm sure will be another round of flaming). The data in this article is taken from _Handbook on Abortion_, by Dr. and Mrs. J. C. Willke. Citations are as listed in that book. (The Willkes are definitely pro-life -- cynic that I am, I imagine that some readers will reject the statistics out of hand on that account. C'est la vie.) The claim has been made that an early abortion is safer (for the pregnant woman, at any rate) than carrying a pregnancy to term. Two chapters in _Handbook on Abortion_ are devoted to refuting this claim. Some excerpts: DEATHS FROM ABORTION VS. DEATHS FROM LIVE BIRTHS ------------------------------------------------ "According to the documented statistics in an Amicus Curiae Brief, the following is reported: Country Maternal mortality per 100,000 Abortions Live Births Sweden (to 20 weeks) 39 14.0 Denmark 30 10-20 Hungary 1.2 49.7 U.S. Supreme Court, Roe vs. Wade, and Doe vs Bolton, Oct. 1971, Horan et al. "Official Candian figures for 1970 listed their abortion mortality at 36 per 100,000 abortions. They shared with the United States Maternal Mortality figures of about 20 per 100,000 live births. (Now about 9.0). "Professor Ian Donald, Professor of Midwifery, Glasgow University, reported on 20,000 legal abortions in England in 1969, which had resulted in the deaths of fifteen mothers." (This is 60/100,000). One wonders why the figures vary so widely. Several factors could lead to underreporting of complications and deaths resulting from abortions. First, the abortionist has a vested interest in perpetuating the belief that abortion is safe. Second, in some cases the patients -- or their survivors -- would rather have the fact that an abortion was performed be kept confidential. More specifically, one wonders why Hungary's figures are so much different, in both columns. Why is it safer to abort there, but more dangerous to continue to term? The Willkes conclude, "Since all of the more sophisticated medical countries of Europe agree with Denmark and Sweden's figures, no defense of the Hungarian figures is possible." (They say more than that, but I am trying to be brief.) INCREASE IN PREMATURE BIRTHS AMONG PREGNANCIES WHICH FOLLOW ABORTIONS --------------------------------------------------------------------- "After one legal abortion, the increase of premature births is 14%, after two it is 18%, after three it is 24%. Klinger, Demographic Consequences of the Legalization of Abortion in Easter Europe, Int. J. Gyn & OB. 8:691, Sept. 1971 "Non-aborted women have a premature rate of 5%, aborted women a rate of 14%. R. Slumsky, Course of Delivery of Women Following Interruption of Pregnancy, Cesk. Gynek 29;97, 1964. "Women who have had abortions have twice the chance of a premature baby later. G. Papaevangelou, U. Hosp. Athens, Greece, J. OB-GYN Br. Commonwealth, 80:418-22, 1973. This increase in prematurity is probably a result of the forced stretching and subsequent weakening of the cervical muscle which occurs during an abortion (D & C or D & E). INCREASED STERILITY AMONG ABORTION PATIENTS ------------------------------------------- "In a cross-section of the general population, about 10% of all marriages will be childless for a wide variety of reasons. If a woman has had one legal abortion, the additional sterility rate reported is up to 10% (Poland 6.9%, Japan 9.7%, with similar results reported from Holland, Norway, Singapore, and Russia). Induced Abortion, A Documented Report, Hilgers and Shearin, 1971, p. 30. "In 1974, Dr. Bohumil Stipal, Czechoslovakia's Deputy Minister of Health, stated: 'Roughly 25% of the women who interrupt their first pregnancy have remained permanently childless.'" INCREASE IN TUBAL PREGNANCIES AFTER ABORTION -------------------------------------------- "Tubal pregnancies in the U.S. constitute 0.5% of all pregnancies but after abortion rise to 3.9% Amicus Curiae Brief, U.S. Supreme Court, 1971, Horan et al. INCREASE IN MISCARRIAGE ----------------------- "As a general rule, many now believe that one suction abortion, done on a first pregnancy, will double the woman's chances for miscarriage later but, 'There was a tenfold increase in the number of second trimester miscarriages in pregnancies which followed a vaginal abortion.' Second Trimester Abortion after Vaginal Termination of Pregnancy, Wright, et al., The Lancet, June 10, 1972. "Women who had one induce abortion had a 17.5% miscarriage rate in subsequent pregnancies as compared to a 7.5% rate in a non-aborted group. Effects of Legal Termination of Subsequent Pregnancy Richardson & Dickson, Br. Med. J. 1:1303-4, p. 21, 1976." INCREASE IN FETAL DEATH ----------------------- "The incidence of fetal death during pregnancy and labor is twice normal, if the mother has been aborted previously. McDonald & Auro, S. Med. J., 67-560-66, 1974." OTHER COMPLICATIONS ------------------- "Perforation (1.0% of legal abortions) resulting in peritonitis and occassional death, but more frequently, emergency removal of the uterus. Amicus Curiae Brief, U.S. Supreme Court, Horan et al." Adherent placenta in subsequent pregnancies. "Synechia" or scarring together of the inner walls of the uterus. And in Japan: "The 1969 Survey of the Office of the Prime Minister of Japan listed the following complaints after abortion: 1) 9% sterility 2) 14% susequent habitual spontaneous miscarriage 3) 400% increase in tubal pregnancies 4) 17% menstrual irregularities 5) 20-30% abdominal pain, dizziness, headaches, etc. CONCLUSION ---------- "'There has been almost a conspiracy of silence in declaring its [abortion's] risks. Unfortunately, because of emotional reaction to legal abortion, well-documented evidence from countries with a vast experience of it receives little attention in either the medical or the lay press. This is medically indefensible when patients suffer as a result. For these reasons, we summarize the facts of our experience in this division of Obstetrics and Gynecology. We are proud neither of the number of pregnancies which have been terminated nor the complications described.' "...27% complication rate from infection, 9.5% needed transfusions 5% of suction and D & C abortions tore the cervical muscle, and 1.7% perforated. 'It is significant that some of the more serious complications occurred with the most senior and experience operators.' "These complications ... 'are seldom mentioned by those who claim that abortion is safe.' Legal Abortion, A Critical Assessment of Its Risks, J. A. Stallworthy et al., The Lancet, Dec. 4, 1971." Gary Samuelson ittatc!bunker!garys
barb@oliven.UUCP (Barbara Jernigan) (09/24/85)
> "'There has been almost a conspiracy of silence in declaring > its [abortion's] risks..... Gary's posting is sobering, to say the least. My reaction is a gut one -- if abortions are so DANGEROUS, then, if they are performed, they should be performed by a competent physician with the best possible medical care on hand. THIS IS WHY I SUPPORT LEGALIZED ABORTION. I do not support it because I think abortion is Right -- I support it because I Know abortions are a Fact. Now, some of you no doubt think I've got my feet planted firmly in mid-air. Perhaps I do -- I make no claims of omniscience. Personally, I believe abortion is a symptom rather than a disease. If there were no unwanted pregnancies, there would be no abortions. Simplistic? Yes. Much more so than the issue, alas. So this is where I run into a [personal] quandary. How -- *really* -- are we to treat the "disease" -- unwanted pregnancies? [I am excluding from this classification, as I believe most netters are, pregnancy by rape and most certainly pregnancy where the mother's life is endangered.] Education, better birth control methods (we've come a long way but have even farther to go), abstention . . . these are all possibilities. But it all comes down to two individuals in a heated moment. I would like to think that they would have the long-term vision to realize what they are risking. Some do -- for example myself, one night a very long time ago [perhaps the most difficult 'no' I've ever said]. But many don't. So what's the answer? I wish to God I had one -- but I certainly don't think illegalizing abortion is it. ___________________ ______________\ ___________ | ______ / . / / o .ooo. ./ /. . o@ooo0 .ooooo. .ooooo. .oooo Barb oo..oo oo...ooo ooo..ooo \ .oo oo oooooo oooooo ooo ooo +--------------------------------------+ | Others look to you for stability... | | so hide when you bite your nails. | +--------------------------------------+