Those who have chosen to popularize abortion and to force it on millions as a solution to their problems have also seen fit to spread the lie that abortion, if “properly performed”, is safe. The bourgeois press and the Trotskyites have been two of the more vocal mouthpieces of the ruling class on this subject. They tell us abortions are no more dangerous than a tonsillectomy or a tooth extraction. (With the current state of health care in North America, one might wonder just how safe that is.)
But there is a huge body of medical evidence and experience that says this assertion is a hoax.
The Executive Board of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and a majority of its fellows approved the following official statement in May, 1968:
It is emphasized that the inherent risk of such an abortion is not fully appreciated both by many in the profession and certainly not by the public... The public should realize that in countries or societies that permit abortion on demand, many, if not the majority, are performed in physicians’ offices. Under these circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude that the mortality from this operation may exceed the maternal mortality of the United States and Canada while the incidence of serious complications is substantial.[1]
In 1970, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists re-emphasized:
The risks of any of the currently available methods of termination of pregnancy, which involve general anaesthesia, have always been recognized by gynaecologists but have been dismissed by others as non-existent and imaginary. The long-term hazards to physical well-being require follow-up studies which so far have not been undertaken in this country. Nevertheless, reports from other countries where abortion on demand has been the rule for several years show that late physical ill-effects are not uncommon.[2]
On March 26, 1970, the Medical Society of the State of New York issued a set of “abortion guidelines” in which they wrote:
The Medical Society of the State of New York would like to caution all physicians that an abortion performed after the twelfth week of gestation is fraught with tremendous danger.[3]
Advocates of abortion boast of “remarkable records of safety”. Mr. Gordon Chase, then administrator for the Health Services Administration for the City of New York, announced in 1971 a mortality rate of 5.3 deaths per 100,000 abortions.[4] However, this data can hardly be taken seriously when 58.8% of the abortions were performed on out of state patients with whom no follow-up was possible.[5]
It is well known that women fly in and out of New York and have the abortion all on the same day. Does Mr. Chase know what happens to them?
Even leaving aside the question of mortality there are tremendous other complications resulting from abortion. Hemorrhages and infection, often resulting in permanent damage, are not uncommon. A report from Poland showed 6.9% of women who had had abortions were sterile after 4 or 5 years.[6] In Japan, 9.7% were subsequently sterile on a three year follow-up.[7]
The prematurity rate in Hungary in 1954 (before legalized abortion) was 7%. However, in 1963 (14 years after legalization) it had increased to 12%. The incidence of prematurity developing in any one individual has been shown to be well correlated with the number of abortions a woman has.
Hungarian studies revealed that the likelihood of premature labor and delivery following one previous abortion increased to 14%; after two abortions, to 18%: and after three abortions, to 24%.[8] In Czechoslovakia a comparison of women who have never had a previous legal abortion with women who had such a history revealed that the prematurity rate in the former group was 5%, while in the latter group it had increased to 14%.[9]
The significance of this trend lies in the fact that premature birth is the leading cause of infant death, and one of the leading causes of mental and motor retardation.
A number of countries have reported a significant increase in the incidence of ectopic pregnancy (pregnancies which occur someplace other than in the womb, usually in the Fallopian tube). One Japanese study revealed that 3.9% of women with previous history of legal abortion had a subsequent ectopic pregnancy.[10] This is eight times the incidence of ectopic pregnancy in the United States before any legalization of abortion. An ectopic pregnancy is not infrequently life-threatening because of rupture and hemorrhage. This, therefore, subjects an individual woman to a very substantial future risk.
But perhaps the most startling evidence of all is the complications that abortion brings to future pregnancies. The incidence of spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) in women with a history of legal abortion is reported to be 30-40% higher than in those without such a history and the incidence of fetal death during pregnancy is twice as great.[11]
Apart from these physiological complications there is no way of judging the psychological effects of abortions – particularly when in most cases it is prompted, not because the child is unwanted (as we are told) but because the family feels it cannot afford the child, because of the rotten conditions they are struggling to live under.
The liberals cry out about the “back street” abortionists – the butchers, but as a result of their campaigns, legal abortion has become legalized butchery!
[1] College Statement and Minority Report on Therapeutic Abortion, Issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Chicago, IL, May 1, 1969.
[2] The Abortion Act (1967) Findings of an inquiry into the first year’s working of the Act conducted by the Royal College of Obstet. and Gynec., Br. Med. J., 2:529-535, May 30, 1979.
[3] Klemfuss, P.: State M.D.S. Clarify Abortion Stand, news release, Med. Soc. of the State of N.Y., March 26,1970.
[4] Chase, Gordon: Gordon Chase Cites Success of First Year of New York’s Abortion Law in Twelve Month Report on 165,000 Abortions, news release, Health Services Admin., The City of N.Y. June 29, 1971, n.l.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Midak, E.: Early and Late Sequelae of Abortion, Pol. Tyg. Lek., 21:1063,1966.
[7] Hayasaka, Y.,et al.: Japan’s 22-Year Experience with a Liberal Abortion Law, XIIth International An Congress of FIAMC, Washington, D.C., October 11-14, 1970.
[8] Klinger, A.: Demographic Consequences of the Legalization of Induced Abortion in Eastern Europe, Int. J. Gynec. and Obstet. 8691, Sept.,1970.
[9] Slumsky, R.: Course of Delivery of Women Following Interruption of Pregnancy, Cesk. Gynek., 29:97,1964.
[10] Hayaska, Y., op.cit.
[11] Kuck, M.: Abortion in Czechoslovakia, Pro. Roy. Soc. Med., 62:831-832,1969.