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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 d

eath 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 gestat
ional age an
d 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: “extremely preterm” “induced abortion” entry: “www.blackwell-synergy“. According of the UK Life League, the full study should be published in March 2005 in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

 

WILL IT EVER END? Efforts Made To Include Abortion in Millennium Development Goals – The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) wrapped up a two-day conference laying out the UN’s strategy for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in preparation for a major progress review this September. Conference participants agreed that the MDGs need to be expanded to include a broad feminist agenda, including universal access to reproductive health care, which in some UN circles includes abortion.

France Donnay, chief of the Reproductive Health Branch of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), said that “reproductive health and rights are at the core of life for every human being” and “include…the means to avoid unwanted pregnancies.” She also said that “universal access to reproductive health, including family planning, is the starting point” for achieving the MDGs, and “sexual and reproductive health…should be included in universal health care” within countries.

Lynn Freedman, lead author of a key UN-commissioned report on reducing maternal mortality, recommended the addition of a new target under the maternal mortality goal, to achieve “universal access to reproductive health” by 2015. Norway’s Ambassador Johan Lovald said, “We support the proposal in the task force report on child mortality and maternal health to establish a specific target on access to sexual and reproductive health by 2015 through the universal health care system.” Canada also welcomed the idea of including reproductive health within the MDGs.

Charlotte Bunch, Executive Director of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, also agreed that that the MDGs must include “sexual and reproductive rights,” “which were so central to all the conferences in the 1990s but are missing from the MDGs.”

Specifically, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) must be incorporated into the MDGs because both provide “norms and strategies” that “forward women’s rights.” Both documents have been used by UN agencies and activist groups to promote abortion.

Bunch also emphasized that “the mechanisms for enforcement of these norms must be strengthened” through means such as the CEDAW committee. The CEDAW committee has continually pressured countries to liberalize their abortion laws. The UN Secretary General’s progress report on the MDGs will be released on Monday, March 21, 2005. Columbia Law Professor Jeffrey Sachs, head of the UN’s Millennium Project Task Force advising the Secretary General in drafting his report, told conference participants that achieving the MDGs required investing in people “by providing health, education, nutrition, and family planning.” [23Mar2005 – C-FAM, Friday Fax, Volume 8, Number 13, www.TheFactIs.org]

 

PA ABORTION PROVIDER CITED — More details are emerging about the health and safety violations of an Erie, PA abortion practitioner. Harvey Brookman was cited by the PA Dept of State for unprofessional conduct/negligence. Brookman was not licensed to offer medical services to the public. Rogacs: “We checked the state department website. It said he only had an active-retired license,” meaning that he could treat only himself and family members. The state has charged Brookman with practicing without malpractice insurance, giving expired drugs to patients, letting unlicensed staff administer drugs, failing to check his patients’ ages/identities, and performing abortions without a licensed registered nurse. Brookman faces up to $60,000 in fines/revocation of his medical license if the allegations are proven true. He surrendered his NJ license in 1996. The same year, NY revoked his license. PA suspended his license in 1995. According to the NY Dept of Health, Brookman routinely examined the uteruses of pregnant women without a medical reason. He was also found guilty of maintaining inadequate patient records and altering others. He is currently being sued by a woman who says he injured her during a 2/02 abortion at an abortion site in King of Prussia, PA. [Susan Rogacs of Centre County Citizens; http://www.lifenews.com/state900.html  by Maria Vitale Gallagher, LifeNews.com, Erie, PA, 17Feb05]

 

U.S. BREAST CANCER FDN IS FUNDING ABORTION PROVIDER PLANNED PARENTHOOD Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation is funneling money into the abortion industry, according to the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer.

Although indisputable evidence links induced abortion with an increase in breast cancer risk, both Komen Fdn and Planned Parenthood conveniently deny the link. The Komen Fdn, famous for its annual “Race for the Cure” cancer research fundraising event – raised $154 million in funding for 2003, according to financial reports. The foundation gave $475 thousand to Planned Parenthood that same year.

That move prompted medical research analyst and former employee of the foundation Eve Sanchez Silver to resign her position there. Silver told the Cybercast News Service (CNSNews) Tuesday, “You can’t affirm life with one hand and support an organization that kills people with the other.”

Karen Malec [pres, Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer]: “Women have been told lies about the research and have been cruelly exploited by two industries – the breast cancer fundraising industry and the abortion industry. Women will not receive justice until they file civil lawsuits.”

A 15-year-old who procured an abort
ion from a Sea
ttle abortion site won a settlement last month after suing the clinic for failing to warn her of the breast cancer link to abortion.
She had a family history of breast cancer and indicated a history of cancer on the clinic intake forms. According to research in 1994 by Janet Daling and her colleagues at Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, teenagers with a family history of the disease who procure abortions before age 18 have an incalculably high breast cancer risk.

Abortions that occur before the birth of a first child are the most carcinogenic, a finding supported by biological and epidemiological evidence.

According to a National Cancer Institute (NCI) commissioned study, teens who procure abortions before age 18, more than double their risk. Girls and women have a predominance of immature, cancer-vulnerable Types 1 & 2 breast lobules, which aren’t matured into cancer-resistant Types 3 & 4 lobules until a term pregnancy takes place.

Since 1973’s Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, a woman’s chance of developing breast cancer has jumped 40%, from 1 in 12 to 1 in 7.5. [LifeSiteNews.com – 22Feb05]

Pharmaceutical Profits behind Rejection of Abortion Breast Cancer Link http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/jun/04060205.html;

Second Successful Abortion-Cancer Lawsuit in U.S. Completed – http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jan/05012601.html;

U.S. Abortion-Breast Cancer Lawsuit Settlement Backs Informed Consent Obligation – http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/oct/03102205.html

 

NRLC ALERT: CHILD INTERSTATE ABORTION NOTIFICATION ACT – this is a federal parental notification bill, introduced in U.S. House of Reps on 10Feb05, by Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl.), with 105 original cosponsors. “All members of the U.S. House of Representatives should be urged to immediately cosponsor HR 748, Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA, pronounced “SEE-anna”), or to thank those who have already done so.”  Always-current list of cosponsors: http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/issues/bills/?bill=6955201&cs_party=all&cs_status=C&cs_state=ALL. Capitol Switchboard: 202-225-3121 (when given your zip code, the operator will transfer the call to the appropriate House member’s office).  Go to: http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/issues/bills/?bill=6955201 to contact legislators. Over 30 states have enacted parental notification or parental consent laws. 

(factsheet: http://www.nrlc.org/federal/ccpa/index.html). However, these laws are often circumvented by minors traveling or being transported to other states that do not have parental notification requirements, often under pressure from older boyfriends or at the urging of abortion providers.  In order to protect the welfare of minor girls and the rights of parents, Congress has a duty to regulate this interstate activity.

CIANA requires abortionists to notify a parent before performing an abortion on a minor who is a resident of another state, unless the minor has already received authorization from a court in her home state.  If the minor asserts that she is the victim of abuse, the abortionist would notify the appropriate state child abuse agency instead of a parent. 

H.R. 748 also incorporates the provisions of the “Child Custody Protection Act,” a bill originally proposed in 1998, under which it would be a federal offense to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion without fulfilling the requirements of a parental notification law in effect in the home state. Parental notification/ consent laws are supported by overwhelming majorities of the public — exceeding 80% in some polls.  [[email protected], NRLC Federal Legislation 202-626-8820; 11Feb05] 

 

MISSISSIPPI CUTS ABORTIONS IN HALF – tough abortion regulations have helped reduce the rate of abortion in MS by half in just 12 years. The state now has only one abortion site. The legislature recently passed a law that allows any health care provider to refuse to provide abortion-related services. MS is one of 2 states that require minors to have the consent of both parents to get an abortion; and abortionists are required to explain to women seeking the procedure that there is an increase in the risk of breast cancer following an abortion. [World Net Daily 12-28-04; EF News and Notes, 11Mar05]

 

MODERN DAY GENOCIDE — Black Genocide. Since 1972, it is estimated that 14 million+ unborn African-American babies have lost their lives to the abortion industry. According to C. Childress Jr. [dir, Northeast Chapter, Life Education And Resource Network]: “For every 5 African-American women who get pregnant, 3 have abortions. This is a horrific injustice to women, and it’s decimating our communities.”

Since 1973, more than twice as many blacks have died from abortion as from heart disease, cancer, accidents, violent crimes & AIDS combined. Blacks compose ~12% of the US population; but accounted for 36.6% of all abortions in 2001; about 1,450 black infants are aborted every day in the USA.

[Alabama Citizens Watch Weekly Radio Spots, 02/08/05, http://www.ccbama.com/audio/CCBAMA-020805.mp3; http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports.asp?Page=/SpecialReports/archive/200502/SPE20050207a.html; CDC.]

 

UN TELLS POLAND TO LEGALIZE ABORTION – The UN Human Rights Committee reported that Poland has not complied with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and demanded it “liberalize its legislation and practice on abortion.” Poland is also being pressured to provide contraception and sex education: “The State Party should assure the availability of contraceptives and free access to family planning services and methods. The Ministry of Education should ensure that schools include accurate and objective sexual education in their curricula.” The UN is also forcing homosexuality on the Poles. [“U.N. Demands Poland Overturn Anti-Abortion Laws,” LifeSite.net Special Report, 9Nov04; PRI, Nov-Dec04]

 

ABORTION IN FRANCE – Three of 4 French women, 20-44, use some form of contraception while the number of abortions remains high. Despite massive contraceptive use, 30% of pregnancies are unplanned. Two-thirds of unplanned pregnancies occur in women using a contraceptive [NOTE: this figure of 2/3, or about 67% of unplanned pregnancies, resulting in women using contraceptives, is consistent with findings of several studies in France and the USA]. Half of these pregnancies are aborted. About 206,000 French women underwent abortions in 2002, an increase of 1.7% over 2001; 11,000 girls were under age 16. [“Obstacles to Abortion in France 30 Years ager Legalization”, Medical News Today, 24Nov04; “Contraception and Abortion: the Situation in France, Genethique Press Review, 8-19Nov04; “France: Abortion Figures on the Increase”, Genethique Press Review 1-5Nov04; PRI, Nov-Dec04]

 

ABORTION IN RUSSIA – Abortions in Russia outnumber live births about 2/1.5 to 1; perhaps the highest abortion rate in the world. [Demographic Yearbook of
t
he European Council; “Abortion in Russia: No Big Deal”, The Moscow News, 29Nov04; PRI Review, Nov-Dec04]