Fact Sheet on Abortion

Fact Sheet on Abortion

September 1997

A. No Benefit

Abortion has no proven psychological or social benefit for any condition during pregnancy.

Abortion is contraindicated for psychiatric illness. Psychiatric illnesses are made worse by abortion. (Babikian HN. Abortion. In: Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. 2nd Ed. Kaplan H, Freedman, AM (Eds.) 1975; Williams and Wilkins: 1496-1500.)

There is medical necessity in only 1-2 % of abortions. Almost every medical or surgical problem can be well treated when a woman is pregnant.

There is no established benefit from abortion in cases of rape and incest.

The rate of child abuse and neglect has increased, not decreased, since abortion made it possible that every child was a wanted child.

B. Established Hazards of Abortion

Breast Cancer: There is a 90% increased risk of breast cancer for aborting women. (Medical record based American study, Howe HI et al. Int J Epidemiol, 18:300-4, 1988.) In a meta analysis of 33 studies world wide, 27 showed an average of 30% increased risk of breast cancer after abortion. (Brind et al. J Epidemiol Community Health 50;481-96, 1996. "The Brind paper had no major methodological short comings." -The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.)

Suicide: Aborting women are 600% more likely to kill themselves than women who deliver their babies. (Gissler et al. (Finland 1987-94) BMJ 313:1431-34, 1996.) Pregnancy and childbirth reduce the risk of suicide. (Appleby L. Suicide during pregnancy and in the first postnatal year. BMJ 1991;302:137-40.)

Psychiatric Illness: Psychiatric admissions increase with the number of abortions: no abortion, 1.9%; one abortion, 3.4%; two abortions, 4%; three abortions, 6.9%. No increase with the number of live births. (Somers R. Risk of admission to psychiatric institutions among Danish women who experienced induced abortion: An analysis based upon record linkage. PH.D. Dissertation, 1979. Los Angeles: University of Southern California, Dissertation Abstracts International, Order No. 7926066) 25% of aborting Canadian women had outpatient psychiatric visits compared to 3% in the general population. (Badgley RF et al. Report of the Committee of the Operation of the Abortion Law. 1977:313-321. Ottawa Supply and Services.)

Drugs and Alcohol: Women who abort have higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse. (Drower SJ, Nash ES. S Afr Med J 54:604-8, 1978. Kieth LG. Obstet Gynecol 73;715-20, 1989.)

Homicide: Following an abortion, women are more likely to be murdered. (Gissler M et al. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 76:651-57, 1997. Shelton JD Public Health Rep 93;375-8, 1978.)

Health: Women are more likely to have poor general health following an abortion. (Berkeley D, Humphreys PL, Davidson D. "Demands made on general practice by women before and after an abortion". J Royal Coll Gen Pract 34, 310_5, 1984. Ney PG, Fung T, Wickett AR, Beaman-Dodd C: The effects of pregnancy loss on women's health. Social Science & Medicine 1994; 38(9): 1193-1200.)

Later Pregnancy: Women who have abortions are more likely to have miscarriages and low birth weight in later pregnancies. (W.H.O. Task force on sequelae of abortion. Lancet 1:142-145, 1979. Levin A et al. JAMA 243:2495-2502, 1980) Women who aborted a child have a greater chance of having a post-partum depression with difficulty bonding in a subsequent pregnancy. (Klaus MH, Kennell JH. Maternal Infant Bonding, CV Mosby, 1976. Colman AD, Colman LL. Pregnancy: The Psychological Experience, Herder and Herder, New York, 1971.)

C. Repeatedly Reported Hazards of Abortion*

Abortion increased: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) and later sterility; first trimester bleeding; nightmares; retained placenta; uterine perforation; depression; ectopic pregnancies; RL sensitisation; haemorrhage; cervical scarring; prolonged grief; acute pain; survivor guilt in later children; child abuse and neglect; marital breakup.

*Many more scientific references available on request

A Better Way Than Abortion

Medical. Make the control of abortion like the rest of medical practice. In "evidence based medicine" there must be a scientifically established benefit to the patient for the surgery. Doctors who do unnecessary surgery can be liable for damages and/or charged with assault.

Family. The most important reason women chose abortion is lack of partner support. Give parents and men good reasons to be responsible.

Options. Provide wider options for pregnant women, e.g. homemakers, whole family fostering, full spectrum of adoptions, shared care, etc.

Informed consent. Women and men must know all the options, established hazards and reported damages to abortion.

Safe houses. Women need a safe place where they can be nurtured, encouraged, informed and protected from coercion while dealing with the crisis of pregnancy.

Education, not experimentation. Young people need less sexual titillation and better health education, with emphasis on the benefits of chastity, bonding and monogamy.

Healing. In-depth counselling should be available for all who are deeply damaged by mistreatment and abortion.

Welcome. To be alive because you were wanted results in deep psychological conflicts. It is better for all to be welcomed and to welcome every child whenever they arrive, whoever they are.