Immediate Effects

• Excessive bleeding (Hemorrhage)

• Puncture and tearing of the womb (Uterus)

• Infection from mild to fatal (sometimes parts of the baby are left inside the womb)

• Cervical laceration in 5% of women

• Hepatitis from blood transfusions; blood clots and embolisms

• Sterility, ranging from 2% to 5% of abortions

• Pain, Shock, Vomiting

Maternal Mortality (Mother's Death) From Abortion
Elliot Institute published a news release on a study by Finnish researchers showing that 94 percent of women's deaths from abortion are not verifiable by looking at death certificates alone.

This means that many maternal deaths from abortion go unnoticed and uncounted in statistics reports, and allow abortion advocates to continue claiming that abortion is safer for women than childbirth -- one of the key arguments for abortion that was laid out in Roe v. Wade.

For more information on death rates after abortion and the scope of the abortion death cover-up, readers can link to the following articles posted on the Elliot Institute's web site:

The Cover Up: Why U.S. Abortion Mortality Statistics Are Meaninglesswww.afterabortion.info/PAR/V8/n2/abortiondeaths.html

Abortion Four Times Deadlier Than Childbirth: New Studies Unmask High Maternal Death Rates from Abortion www.afterabortion.info/PAR/V8/n2/finland.html

Abortion May Increase Women's Mortality Rate: New Study Shows Women's Death Rate from Abortion Much Higher Than Previously Known www.afterabortion.info/news/deathssmj.html
[Elliot Institute, 27Sept05]

Long Term Effects

• Guilt and personality disturbances

• In future desired pregnancies...
  1. 1. Miscarriage/ Stillbirth
  2. 2. Premature delivery because of damage to the cervix
  3. 3. Tubal pregnancies (increased from 8-fold to 20-fold by abortion)
  
  
• Peritonitis / Future Menstrual Problems

• Depression / Anger / Mourning / Self-Destructive Tendencies

• Loss of Sexual Interest / Nightmares / Troubled Relationships

• Flashbacks of the Abortion / Intense Feeling of Loss

• Inability to Forget Baby & Baby's Due Date / Drug & Alcohol Abuse

POST-ABORTION STRESS SYNDROME SYMPTOMS

• [The Mourning After, Terry Selby, M.S.W., Baker Book House: Grand Rapids, 1990; Human Development Resource Council, Inc., LifeSupport, Spring/Summer 1991]

Re-experiencing Trauma:

• Nightmares/ recurrent dreams

• Flashback episodes

• Anniversary reactions (on the date of the abortion)

• Extreme distress at exposure to events that resemble some aspect of the abortion (i.e. a pelvic examination, sexual intercourse, childbirth, the sound of a vacuum cleaner)

Avoidance/ Denial:

• Avoiding thoughts of feelings about the abortion

• Avoiding situations/activities that cause thoughts of the abortion (i.e. medical exams, sexual intercourse, exposure to infants, conversations about abortion or childbirth)

• Inability to recall aspects of the abortion – memory blocks

• Emotional numbing – estrangement from others, inability to have loving feelings to children, mate, parents, friends

Increased Arousal:

• Sleep disorders

• Irritability or outbursts of anger

• Difficulty concentrating

• Hyper-vigilance

• Exaggerated startle response

Associated symptoms:

• Depression, frequent crying, anxiety

• Guilt/ Inability to forgive self

• Self-destructive behavior, including drug/ alcohol abuse, eating disorders, suicidal urges

[The Mourning After, Terry Selby, M.S.W., Baker Book House:Grand Rapids, 1990; Human Development Resource Council, Inc LifeSupport, Spring/Summer 1991]

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The Decline of Partner Relationships in the Aftermath of Abortion, Winter 2007, vol 20, no 1, Association for Interdisciplinary Research in Values and Social Changehttp://www.abortionresearch.us/images/Vol20No1--2007.pdf