Posted on 04/24/2002 8:27:48 AM PDT by Saundra Duffy
New Study Finds Abortion Risks Higher Than Expected
Toronto, CA -- Abortion complications are seriously underreported, leaving women who undergo abortion largely unaware of the range of physical and psychological risks they face, according to a new study by a Canadian bioethics institute.
Breast cancer, pelvic infection, infertility, life-threatening ectopic pregnancy, and subsequent premature births - with higher rates of children born with cerebral palsy - were found to be associated with abortion in a comprehensive review of the world medical literature. Abortion complications were not limited to physical health. While abortion is often regarded as a cure for the depression and stress of a crisis pregnancy, the study found that women are more likely to commit suicide after abortion than after giving birth to a child.
Current abortion rates of 114,000 in Canada and 1.4 million in the U.S. underscore the magnitude of this potential public health issue.
"In the absence of this knowledge, how can a woman give her informed consent to an abortion?" asks Ian Gentles, history professor at York University in Toronto, and one of the authors of the study entitled Women's Health after Abortion: The Medical and Psychological Evidence, published by the deVeber Institute, a nonprofit bioethics and social research group based in Toronto. Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Emory University professor of humanities and women's studies, calls the findings "compelling", and says the study "makes overwhelmingly clear [that] women who seek abortions in the United States and Canada are not even told of the risks they are running."
The study calls for a more accountable system of risk assessment where research data accurately reflect the true risks of abortion to their future health and fertility.
Key abortion risks
An extensive review of the world medical literature reveals abortion is associated with:
* Suicide risk
A woman's risk of suicide is up to 6 times higher after abortion than after giving birth to a child, according to three large worldwide studies.
Gissler M et al. Suicides after pregnancy in Finland 1987-94: register linkage study. British Medical Journal 1996 Dec. 7;313(7070):1431-4.
* Breast cancer
27 worldwide studies, including 13 U.S. studies, show the risk caused by the unprotected internal estrogen exposure a woman receives after an abortion. A young woman who aborts her first pregnancy nearly doubles her lifetime risk of developing breast cancer.
Daling JR et al. Risk of breast cancer among young women: relationship to induced abortion. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 1994 Nov(2);86(21):1584-92.
* Immediate complications
Pain, bleeding, infection, perforated uterus, and occasional death occur at rates higher than usually reported. True rates are often underestimated by inadequate hospital diagnostic coding.
Heisterberg L, Kringelbach M. Early complications after induced first-trimester abortion. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandanavica,1987;66(3):201-4.
* Infertility, prematurity, cerebral palsy
P> Subsequent infertility, life-threatening ectopic pregnancy, and premature delivery of subsequent children - which increases the risk of cerebral palsy 38 times in the earliest premature babies.
Escobar GJ et al. Outcome among surviving very low birthweight infants: a meta-analysis. Archives of Disease in Childhood 1991;66:204-211.
To order the study from the deVeber Institute visit the website: http://deveber.org/publications2.html#launch
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Some say it was more for state's rights. It was probably some of all those and more.
Get ready for another one if they greedy buggers in Washington don't change the rules soon.
I can't agree there. The federal government is so much stronger and the international situation is so much different than in the 1860's that a civil war now is really not likely.
I agree that "the rules" in Washington are indeed a problem but I don't see a solution soon. The government keeps growing at an alarming rate no matter what party is in charge. There is no shortage of people who think they know better how to run the lives of others.
***Okay...but what about the woman who aborted her baby then changed her life? Is there any consideration or kindness for her? Or even though she changed her life, your view of her remains harsh? ***
Let me equate this to being a parent. I don't know if you are or not...Let's say my kid does something absolutely HORRID!!! He pays his dues, he asks for forgiveness, and he turns away from that behavior. What? Am I to go through the rest of my life wishing ill upon him???? That is NOT how God works. If you don't believe in God, use the above example. Same thing.
You know, a LOT of women who have abortions have been HORRIBLY MISLED by the abortion industry. I've read of accounts where the PARENTS take their teenage daughters in, demanding she have one. What about her? Due to her age and parental pressure, you hope she gets breast cancer?
Compassion, let's win them over, one at a time with compassion.
They don't hate them any more than they would hate a piece of grass that's lying on the sidewalk. Hate is an emotion that shows a level of care and concern that the baby-killing industry doesn't ever demonstrate. They don't hate them at all. Shalom.
heh heh, The "liar, liar pants on fire" defense.
You assume to much, or maybe you just want to be validated? Why don't you read the 30 + studies (many much more recent than yours) that Sandra has offered?
Also, Facts say the mortality rate of Abortions is at least 50%. At least one Human Dies in every abortion.
Actually, the concern would seem to be that this report didn't mention ANY of the contrary studies -- which implies an agenda rather than pure search for truth.
I'll buy that, pal. I'll buy that.
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