National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day: April 26

CDC USA Abortion Surveillance for 2001

Supreme Court Refuses to Review Roe

CDC Considers Pregnancy-Homicide Link

Abortion and Subsequent Premature Birth

UN Tells Poland to Legalize Abortion

More...

NATIONAL PRO-LIFE T-SHIRT DAY IS TUESDAY APRIL 26. Help promote this day by placing banners on your websites, discussion boards and by using AOL IM buddy icons. To find these web banners and AOL IM buddy icons, go to www.NationalProLifeTshirtDay.com, enter, then click on “Help Us Promote.”

CDC 2001 U.S. ABORTION SURVEILLANCE - data voluntarily reported from 49 reporting areas: 853,485 legal induced abortions - 0.5% decrease [CA, NH, AK not included ] [857,475 legal abortions for same 49 reporting areas, 2000]. The abortion ratio [abortions per 1,000 live births] was 246 in 2001 [245 reported for 2000]: 0.4% increase. The abortion rate: 16/1,000 women aged 15-44 years for 2001 & 2000. Women: unmarried (82%), white (55%) [36% Black] & aged under 25 years (52%).  Married women - incl. married AND separated women - had 18.4% of all abortions. Abortions performed: 59% <8 weeks gestation, 88% <13 weeks, 4.3% at 16-20 weeks, 1.4% at/over 21 weeks (11,949 babies). From 45 areas: 2.9% of all abortions were “medical”, non-surgical abortions, from RU-486 etc. From 46 areas: 12,137 abortions on girls under age 16. About 60% of all US abortions are performed at/under 8 weeks gestation. In 2000, the abortion numbers given to CDC were 20% lower than the numbers reported by Alan Guttmacher Institute [Finer LB, Henshaw. Abortion incidence and services in the United States in 2000. Perspect Sex Repro Health 2003;35:6-15], which contacts abortion providers directly. “In a study of abortion patients conducted during 2000-2001, a total of 54% of the patients reported that they were using contraception during the month they became pregnant. [Jones RK, Darroch, Henshaw. Contraceptive use among U.S. women having abortions in 2000-2001. Perspect Sex Reprod Health, 2002;34:294-303]  [CDC, MMWR, Surveillance Summaries, vol 53, 26Nov04]

FRENCH APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS DENIAL OF EXISTENCE OF UNBORN CHILD - ruled that a man who killed a pregnant woman in a car accident is not responsible for 2 deaths.  In France, which like most European and North American countries has unrestricted access to abortion, the unborn child cannot be a victim of a crime since a victim of a crime must be a person. In perhaps conscious irony, the BBC reported that the prosecution’s position was that the “the law should recognize that the future baby was ‘a human being from the moment of conception.’” Only in the USA, with the passage of the Unborn Victims of Violence act, has this rhetoric been seriously challenged. Where abortion is legal without restrictions, it is necessary to maintain the legal fiction that an unborn child is a non-entity legally or medically until birth. [LifeSiteNews.com - 22Feb05]

1973 ABORTION ROE V WADE  DECISION STANDS: US SUPREME COURT REFUSES REVIEW The US Supreme Court refused 22Feb05 to hear an appeal of its 1973 Roe v Wade decision which permitted abortion in the USA. The appeal was launched by Norma McCorvey, the same woman who, over 30 years ago, was used by pro-abortion forces as the “Jane Roe” which led to abortion’s legalization. In response to the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case, McCorvey’s attorney, Allan Parker [pres, The Justice Fdn] said: “It is tragic and disappointing that the Court is not willing to consider the aftermath of 32 years of abortion and its devastating affect to women, their families, and our culture.” McCorvey’s attempted appeal brought 1 thousand more witnesses than did the original Roe case in 1973. They submitted over 5,000 pages of evidence, including expert testimony of which the Court had none in 1973. “This year alone, 100,000 women will be in abortion recovery programs across the nation. We find it sad and tragic that their voices have been rejected,” said Parker. “It is also disturbing that the highest court in the land is not willing to consider the compelling and significant scientific and medical evidence and at least formally re-evaluate its far-reaching decision.” Parker noted that the Supreme Court’s denial does not reflect its views on the merits of the case. “The denial order merely expresses the Court’s discretionary refusal to give appellate review to a lower court decision,” he said. “A denial is not a reaffirmation of Roe v. Wade. We believe this decision sends an important message that the High Court needs compassionate judges who care about the pain and suffering of women hurt by abortion.” The case is McCorvey v. Hill, 04-967. [LifeSiteNews.com - 22Feb05]

WHEN ROE  IS REVERSED…abortion will not be banned, but returned to a state’s right. Currently, 17 states fund abortion with state tax dollars; of these 4 [HI, MD, NY, WA] voluntarily pay for abortions under edict of state statutory law. “It is highly unlikely that these states would, in the event of a reversal of Roe, change from a public policy of funding abortion to banning. Statistics from CDC indicate that 54% of the approximate 1.3 million annual abortions occur in these 17 states. More than one-third of the total annual abortions take place in NY and CA. Another 13 [AK, AZ, CA, CT, IL, MA, MN, MT, NJ, NM, OR, VT, WV] are under court order to fund abortion on the same terms as other pregnancy-related and general health services are funded. When one factors in the reality that women would be traveling from states where it is illegal to obtain an abortion to a state where it is allowed it is very reasonable to foresee 1 million legal abortions annually in the immediate aftermath of a Roe reversal.” [Life in Post-Roe America, Tom Glessner, Pres, National Inst of Family & Life Advocates – NIFLA; HGPI, Jan-Feb05]

CDC EXPLORES PREGNANCY-HOMICIDE LINK: Homicide Is Top Cause of Trauma Death for New, Expectant Mothers -- with higher risks for women who are younger than 20 or black. It was the CDC's first national look at pregnancy and homicide.

The study [released 22Feb05, March issue, American Journal of Public Health], documents 617 slayings from 1991 to 1999. That number significantly understates the actual toll because many states do not have reliable methods for tracking such deaths, researchers said. The CDC study was lauded by several public health experts for recognizing an overlooked phenomenon.

Using data from more than 30 states, the CDC found that homicide ranked second, after auto accidents, among trauma deaths of pregnant women & new mothers. The study looked only at "injury deaths" and drew no comparison to deaths from medical causes. "I think it's a very important first step," said Jacquelyn Campbell [domestic homicide researcher, Johns Hopkins Univ School of Nursing]. She said more research is needed "to really understand how widespread it is and . . . how to best intervene to prevent these deaths."

In the CDC report, researchers recommended that state and local health officials take ambitious steps to improve the way they identify maternal homicides, linking information from autopsy records, police reports and birth/death records, for example, to develop a clearer portrait of victims and offenders. Few states do this.

"Homicide is an important cause of death for women during pregnancy or within one year of pregnancy," said Jeani Chang, lead author of the CDC study.  Many of the CDC's findings were comparable to those produced by The Washington Post in a year-long examination of homicide and pregnancy, published in December. After culling cases from death certificate data, medical examiner records, news reports and interviews, the paper identified 1,367 maternal homicides since 1990, a total that also falls short because so many cases are missed.

The CDC study found that homicide accounted for 31% of maternal injury deaths. Auto accidents accounted for 44%, other unintentional injuries for 13% and suicide for 10%.  The analysis showed Black women had a maternal homicide risk about 7 times that of white women. The disparity was even more striking at ages 25 to 29, with black women in that age group about 11 times as likely as white women to be killed.

The authors reported that age stood out more than race, with the highest homicide risk for women younger than 20 when all races were combined. Among other differences noted, married women were found at less risk than unmarried women. Women who received no prenatal care had a higher risk of homicide than those who did.

The study found that 57% of maternal homicides were caused by gunfire; stabbings ranked second, with nearly 18 percent. The CDC study said it was "important but difficult to assess" whether women in general are at an increased risk of homicide during pregnancy and the postpartum period, which covers 12 months under the public health definition of "pregnancy-associated" deaths.

It noted that homicide is a leading cause of death among black and young women, regardless of maternal status. Using its 617 cases, the CDC calculated a ratio of 1.7 homicides per 100,000 live births, but Chang, the lead author, acknowledged the ratio is understated because homicides are so poorly tracked.

In Maryland, researchers found 11.5 homicides/100,000 live births. In 2 other state studies, the figures were much higher than the CDC number, said Isabelle Horon, co-author of a Maryland study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2001.

Horon said the CDC study "may call attention to the problem, but I think that it also does a disservice to the problem because it suggests the magnitude of the problem is less than what it is." The CDC report pointed out that several studies, including Horon's, showed pregnant and postpartum women faced an increased risk of homicide. In Maryland, researchers found that new and expectant mothers were nearly twice as likely as other women to be victims of homicide, even after adjusting for race and age.

Cara Krulewitch, a researcher at the University of Maryland at Baltimore School of Nursing, called the CDC findings significant. "Homicide was second on the list of injuries," she said. "It wasn't falls. It wasn't suicides. It wasn't anything else." This does not mean that most pregnant women are in peril, she said, "but that there is a phenomenon going on out there and we don't understand it yet." [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45626-2005Feb22.html, Washington Post, By Donna St. George, 23Feb05; Page A05; N Valko  RN, 23Feb05] 

Abortion and Subsequent Premature Birth (3/05)

There are over 40 studies that demonstrate a statistically significant association between abortion and subsequent premature birth, especially extreme premature birth (XPB): 

1993 Study:

An Australian study by Lumley in l993 showed that having 3 abortions (mostly suction) is associated with a risk ratio of 5.6 for XPB (22-28 wks) (data base 121,000 deliveries)...  Reduce Preterm Risk Coalition Comments:

Extremely preterm newborn (<28 weeks' gestation) have about
THIRTY-EIGHT (38) times the risk of CP (Cerebral Palsy) as the general population of newborn.  In 1993 the truly great Australian preterm birth expert Judith Lumley reported that prior induced abortions boosted the risk of EXTREMELY newborn; one prior IA boosted relative XPB risk by 55% and two prior IAs boosted XPB risk by 146%. (Lumley J. The epidemiology of preterm birth. Bailliere's Clin Obstet Gynecology.1993;7(3):477-498) [comments by Brent Rooney, Reduce Preterm Risk Coalition, Vancouver, Canada www.jpands.org/vol8no2/rooney.pdf]

1998 Studies:

Dr. DeCook: 
In 1998, (data base of 243,000 deliveries), Lumley showed that 4 or more IAs [induced abortions] had a risk increase of 9 fold-NINE times the primagravida controls. 

A 1998 study from Bavaria (data base 106,000) showed, for less than 32 wk deliveries, a RR of 2.5 after 1 abortion, 5.2 after 2 abortions, and 8.0 after 3 abortions. 

1999 Study:

A 1999 Danish study showed that a D&E [abortion] increased the risk of PTB [Pre-Term Birth] substantially:  after 1 D&E , RR 2.2,; after 2 D&Es, RR 12.5.

2002 Thorpe Study:

The Thorpe study (Jan 2002, OB GYN Survey) noted 12 studies finding an association between IA and PTB, with an "increased risk of very early deliveries at 20 to 30 weeks gestation after induced abortion..."

2004 Study:

The Europop study (in Human Reproduction, Jan, 2004) concludes:  Previous induced abortions were significantly associated with preterm delivery and the risk of preterm birth increased with the number of abortions. (data base 2939 PTB, 4881 controls).

2005 (Published) Study:

And now a French study (in Brit J of Ob&Gyn,  Online early abstract) concludes:  Women with a history of induced abortion were at higher risk of very preterm delivery - under 33 wk - than those with no such history (OR 1.5).  The risk was even higher for XPB - under 28 wk (OR not mentioned).  A history of induced abortion was associated with an increased risk of PROM, antepartum hemorrhage, and idiopathic spontaneous preterm labor.

[Joe  DeCook, MD, for AAPLOG, 25Mar05]

2005 Study Abstract

BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
OnlineEarly
doi:10.1111/j.1471-0528.2004.00478.x
Previous induced abortions and the risk of very preterm delivery: results of the EPIPAGE study
Caroline Moreaua, Monique Kaminskia, Pierre Yves Ancela, Jean Bouyerb, Benoît Escandec, Gérard Thiriezd, Pierre Boulote, Jeanne Fressonf, Catherine Arnaudg, Damien Subtilh, Loic Marpeaui, Jean-Christophe Rozéj, Françoise Maillarda, Béatrice Larroquea, EPIPAGE Group

To evaluate the risk of very preterm birth (22-32 weeks of gestation) associated with previous induced abortion according to the complications leading to very preterm delivery in singletons.

Design:  Multicentre, case-control study (the French EPIPAGE study).

Setting:  Regionally defined population of births in France.

Sample:  The sample consisted of 1943 very preterm live-born singletons (<33 weeks of gestation), 276 moderate preterm live-born singletons (33-34 weeks) and 618 unmatched full-term controls (39-40 weeks).

Methods:  Data from the EPIPAGE study were analysed using polytomous logistic regression models to control for social and demographic characteristics, lifestyle habits during pregnancy and obstetric history. The main mechanisms of preterm delivery were classified as gestational hypertension, antepartum haemorrhage, fetal growth restriction, premature rupture of membranes, idiopathic preterm labor and other causes.

Main outcome measures:  Odds ratios for very preterm birth by gestational age and by pregnancy complications leading to preterm delivery associated with a history of induced abortion.

Results:  Women with a history of induced abortion were at higher risk of very preterm delivery than those with no such history (OR + 1.5, 95% CI 1.12.0); the risk was even higher for extremely preterm deliveries (<28 weeks). The association between previous induced abortion and very preterm delivery varied according to the main complications leading to very preterm delivery.

A history of induced abortion was associated with an increased risk of premature rupture of the membranes, antepartum haemorrhage (not in association with hypertension) and idiopathic spontaneous preterm labour that occur at very small gestational ages (<28 weeks). Conversely, no association was found between induced abortion and very preterm delivery due to hypertension.

Conclusion:  Previous induced abortion was associated with an increased risk of very preterm delivery. The strength of the association increased with decreasing gestational age.

Comments from Reduce Preterm Risk Coalition:

This is the first study ever in Europe (French women) or the U.S. of the XPB risk of IAs (Induced Abortions). It confirms Lumley's finding (1993 study below).
Here is an excerpt from an abstract in the highly respected British
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (above):

     "Results: Women with a history of induced abortion were at a
     higher risk of very preterm [<33 weeks' gestation] delivery
     than those with no such history (OR: 1.5, 95% CI 1.1-2.0);
     [OR= 1.5 is a 50% boost in relative risk] the risk was even
     higher for extremely preterm (<28 weeks)."
     Full abstract: www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/j.14710528.2004.00478.x/abs/

or, do a 'Google' search: "extrem