Some FACTS:
FACT: There appears to be current evidence of at least as
many fatalities after legal as illegal abortions.
According to the C.D.C., in every year since abortion
was legalized, MORE women have been killed by legal
abortion than illegal abortion -- as many as seven
times more deaths have been caused by legal abortion
and the number may be higher. [1]
FACT: Abortion deaths are classified as maternal mortality
deaths. Example: If 10 women died of abortion and
no one died of any other maternal mortality cause,
maternal mortality would show 10 deaths. [2]
N.O.W. claims: Until 1973, abortion was illegal in most
states. However laws never stopped abortion;
they only made poor women and teenagers risk
their lives to obtain illegal abortions in
"back alleys" or to attempt self-induced
abortion.
Prior to Roe vs. Wade, the mortality rate
for illegal abortions performed outside
hospitals by persons without medical training
was an estimated 100 deaths per 100,000
abortions.
FACT: In 1972, the year before the legalization of abortion,
there were only 39 deaths from illegal abortion and
24 deaths from legal abortion. [3]
The C.D.C. reports show 90 deaths from ALL types of
abortion in 1972. Legal, 24; illegal, 39; Spontaneous,
25; Other, 0; Unknown, 2. [4]
According to the C.D.C., 18 women died as a result of
abortion in 1982; of the 18 deaths, 11 were associated
with legally-induced abortion, 6 with spontaneous
abortion and 1 from illegal abortion. [5]
N.O.W. claims: Abortions were common even when illegal. An
estimated one million abortions occurred
annually before the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Illegal abortions all too frequently resulted
in women being killed or their reproductive
organs being so damaged they were never able
to have children.
FACT: In 1972, the year before the legalization of abortion
there were only 596,760 abortions. Since then, abortions
have more than tripled. [6]
An American obstetrician surveyed 486 colleagues: 87% had
hospitalized women with complications from legal
abortion; 91% had treated patients with complications
from legal abortion; and 29 doctors reported patients
dying from legally-induced abortions. [7]
N.O.W. claims: There is no proven biological moment when life
begins.
FACT: "Physicians, biologists, and other scientists agree that
conception [they defined fertilization and conception to
be the same] marks the beginning of the life of a human
being -- a being that is alive and is a member of the
human species. There is overwhelming agreement on this
point in countless medical, biological, and scientific
writing." [8]
OTHER EVIDENCE OF THE DANGERS OF LEGAL ABORTION:
FACT: Legal abortion is now the leading cause of abortion-
related maternal deaths in the U.S. [9]
FACT: The younger the patient, the greater the gestation,
the higher the complication rate. [10]
FACT: Infection is the main cause of death associated with
legal abortion in the U.S. [11]
FACT: Exact incidence of abortion complications are unknown
because:
1. Many women don't know the name of the doctor who
performs the abortion.
2. The abortionist is often not the doctor who sees
the complication.
3. Less than 40% of patients go back to the clinic
where they were harmed.
4. Infection or other damage may not be recorded as
abortion-related.
5. Selective under-reporting may occur.
6. Federal and State laws which require reporting of
complications are not enforced, and often
considered unconstitutional. [12]
[1] Abortion Surveillance, 1975, Centers for Disease Control
[2] _Every Woman has a Right to Know the Dangers of Legal Abortion_,
Anne Saltenberger, Air Plus Publishers
[3] C.D.C. Surveillance Summaries, Vol. 36, No. 1SS, p. 38SS
[4] Ibid. Table 21, Page 41SS
[5] Ibid. p. 38SS
[6] Ibid. p. 12SS Table 1
[7] Deaths and Near Deaths from Legal Abortion, M.J. Bulfin, M.D.,
1975
[8] Report, Subcommittee on Separation of Powers to Senate Judiciary
Committee S-158, 97th. Congress, 1st. Session 1981, p. 7
[9] American Journal of OB. & GYN., 130(3) 375, Feb., 1978
[10] "Surveillance of Abortion Program in N.Y.C. Clinic" OB. & GYN.,
March, 1971 (NOTE: Prior to Roe v. Wade)
[11] OB. & GYN., Survey, pp. 177-191, 1979
[12] Saltenberger, _Every Woman_
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