DANGERS OF LEGAL ABORTION
Although one often hears slogans about "safe, legal abortion," all too
many women have discovered to their sorrow that abortion, even legal
abortion, is far from "safe."
According to Herbert Ratner, M.D., five to ten
percent of women who undergo abortion will never be able to
achieve pregnancy or carry a child to term, which is obviously a
devastating blow to many women.
An infection in the fallopian tubes can cause blockage of scar tissue
that renders a woman barren. The infection can also cause a serious
condition called Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), which entails
severe, chronic pain. Sometimes a hysterectomy is necessary; in some
cases, an emergency pan-hysterectomy must be performed in which all of
the woman's reproductive organs, including the ovaries, must be
removed.
SURGEON OPERATES BLIND
Unlike most other surgeons, the abortionist works "in the dark" by
feel alone. Not being able to see what he is doing, he is obviously
at a disadvantage. Sometimes the abortionist uses a sharp, knife-like
scraping tool; other times, he uses a high-powered suction machine.
For most early abortions, a suction device is attached to a vacuum
pump that is 29 times more powerful than the average home vacuum
cleaner.
Danger is ever present. The suction can easily puncture the wall of
the uterus and damage the intestines and other visceral organs. Some
women have bled to death from visceral damage; others have been saved
by emergency surgery but must go through life with a colostomy. Safe,
legal abortion?
August of 1986, a woman (Jane Doe) had an abortion at the Dayton
Women's Health Center. Bleeding profusly, she was rushed by
ambulance from the abortion center to a hospital. In emergency
surgery the physicians discovered that "the entire front of her uterus
was blown away."
HORRIBLE DISCOVERY
The surgeons removed the damaged uterus, but before closing the
surgical wound, one of the physicians explored her abdominal cavity
with his hand. Behind her liver he found the decapitated head of a
24-week-old unborn child. The abortion center is nervous about a
possible lawsuit stemming from this case.
Early in 1987, another woman (Jane Roe) had an abortion at the Dayton
Women's Center. Several days after the abortion she went to a
hospital emergency room in septic shock. Her condition was critical.
Physicians immediately operated and found parts of the aborted child
that the abortionist had failed to remove. The felt they probably
could not save her.
But the physicians were able to bring the infection under control.
Nevertheless, the woman's body was devastated by the pervasive sepsis.
She had to have her feet and lower arms amputated.
The cervix is the muscular ring at the neck of the womb. This muscle
is designed to open from the inside out, during childbirth. The
abortionist must stretch this muscle unnaturally from the outside in.
This unnatural opening often ruins the cervix, which makes it
impossible for the woman to carry another pregnancy to term.
PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE
Although the physical complications of abortion can be devastating,
the psychological damage is perhaps even worse. Some women who have
had an abortion find they cannot look a baby in the eye. Some dread
the sound of an ordinary home vacuum cleaner because it reminds them
of the sound of the abortion vacuum machine. Some block out the guilt
of the abortion through excessive use of alcohol, over-eating, or
abuse of Valium or other drugs.
Some women may feel a sense of relief after the abortion, but the
guilt will probably be felt, off and on, for the rest of their lives.
It is common for an aborted woman to wonder whether her child was a
boy or girl; she will calculate what would have been the baby's
birthday, year after year for the rest of her life.
If she is unable to achieve pregnancy or carry a child to term, the
guilt and remorse are intensified. Suicidal tendencies are not
uncommon.
One woman who had an abortion was troubled by the same nightmare over
and over again. In her dream, she was running down the streets of the
city, frantically looking for her baby. When she woke up, she knew
the baby she was looking for in the dream was the one she had killed.
ABORTIONISTS ADMIT DANGERS
Abortion is obviously hazardous, and few women make it through the
procedure unscathed. Abortionist Warren Hern of Boulder, Colorado,
one of the most experienced abortionists in the country, addressed a
meeting of the National Abortion Federation (NAF) in Dallas in 1981.
Hern said, "It's impossible to do a sterile abortion." He said that
even "after my I-don't-know-how-many-thousandth abortion," he still
occasionally experiences a complication. "No matter how good you
are," he asserted, "there is a danger of retained tissue."
At the meeting, abortionist Phillip Stubblefield warned of the
"danger" that the abortion movement may leave a "legacy of
prematurity and miscarriage."
At the 1982 NAF meeting in Minneapolis, abortionist Philip Darney
cautioned his colleagues to be aware of "the relative position of
your instruments...(because) these instruments can inflict
considerable damage on the pelvic viscera."
NAF held its 1983 meeting in New Orleans. Feminist Cindy Pearson,
who runs the Feminist Women's Health Center in San Diego, addressed
this meeting and admitted to a complication rate as high as eight
percent.
Lawsuits for medical malpractice and physical damage are common, and
the courts are starting to see more lawsuits about psychological
damage.
******** Postabortive Legal Action for Women 1-800-962-2319 ********
If you or someone you know has been injured by legal abortion, please
call this number. These people can put you in touch with a lawyer and
work on getting you compensation for your injury. Malpractice lawyers
are quite willing to talk to you free of charge; if they decide to take
your case, you will not be charged a fee unless the lawyer wins your
case and you collect an award.
IF YOU ARE INJURED BY YOUR ABORTION
You may be entitled to a settlement or award for injuries you suffer in
abortion.
Legal abortion is often followed by physical complications and even more
by emotional complications. If you have been injured by legal abortion,
you have the right to copies of your abortion records. You have the
right to seek counsel of an attorney who may be able to sue this clinic,
its administration and owners and the employees of this clinic for
damages to your body.
If you or someone you know develop any of the following problems, call
1-800-962-2319. Personnel at this number can advise you to seek more
medical attention and can refer you to lawyers who are familiar with
cases of abortion malpractice, negligence, and fraud.
SOME PHYSICAL COMPLICATIONS OF ABORTION ARE:
Amniotic fluid embolism Failed abortion
Perforation of bladder Anesthesia reaction
Perforation of the bowel Brain damage
Genital tract infection Collapsed lung
Perforation of the uterus Hemorrhage
Peritonitis Damage to womb
Incomplete abortion Postabortion syndrome
Ectopic pregnancy Punctured vagina
Incomplete separation of placenta Embolism
Infection Shock
Kidney failure Injury to cervix
Sterility Pulmonary edema
Kidney loss and damage Respiratory arrest
Loss of sleep Retained placenta
Trauma of reproductive tract Metabolic complications
Unintended major surgery Anuria
Multiple organ loss Urinary tract infection
Bladder damage Myocardial infarction
Bleeding Ovary loss
Cervical trauma Intense pain
Cervical adhesions and stenosis Amenorrhea
Cervical incompetence General complications
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If you have suffered or are suffering from any of the above or are
suffering from emotional problems, or do not think you were given
adequate information regarding abortion call 1-800-62-2319.
ALL INQUIRIES ARE CONFIDENTIAL
Abortion-rights groups are approaching other organizations -- many of
which should logically have nothing to do with abortion -- to form a
broad-based coalition of support. Labor unions have been hard hit for
support, which ahs been forthcoming from the following unions (most of
which are AFL-CIO related):
American Postal Workers Union
Communication Workers of America
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
National Education Association
Association of Professional Flight Attendants
Oregon AFL-CIO
Minnesota AFL-CIO
Oil and Chemical Atomic Workers
Service Employees International Union
Writers Guild of America
United Auto Workers
Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union
American Federation of Government Employees
American Nurses Association
International Ladies Garment Workers Union
Sacramento AFL-CIO
International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried Machine
and Furniture Workers
United Food and Commercial Workers Union
Other groups working with abortion-rights activists include the:
Alan Guttmacher Institute
American Association of University Women
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American Medical Association
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychological Association
American Public Health Association
American Veterans Committee
Black Women's Agenda
National Association of Public Hospitals
National Association of Social Workers
National Coalition of American Nuns
National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs
National Lawyers Guild
National Urban League
Newspaper Guild
Presbyterian Church of the USA
Union of American Hebrew Congregations
Sierra Club
Unitarian Universalist Association
United Methodist Church
If you have any influence with any of these groups, you should strongly
object to their abortion advocacy.
Pro-Life groups have attempted to keep up. While pro-life groups cannot
hope to compete on a financial level ... [all have reported decreased
funding since the Webster decision] ... they have increased their
pressure on politicians in order to counter the activity of pro-abortion
groups.
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