Pro-Life Statistics on Abortion

3500 Americans killed per day...would this be a horror? 1.2 million humans killed intentionally each year? Unthinkable? How about 50 million casualties and counting since 1973 in a war that HAS NO EXIT STRATEGY YET... fed up?

The National Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC is a shiny black wall that stretches 492 feet and lists the names of the 58,022 known Americans killed in that war. If such a wall listed the names of the children killed by abortion since 1973, the wall would be about 60 miles long! The casualties of our wars put together are fewer than the casualties from abortion in a single year.

The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health stated, "Since 1957, evidence linking induced abortion to the later development of breast cancer has been observed in 27 of 33 studies world-wide."10 The International Journal of Cancer reported a higher risk of developing cervical and ovarian cancer after abortion.

Since December 2001, there have been 18 published studies in leading medical journals that indicate a significant correlation between abortion and later psychological/psychiatric health problems.45 These studies and articles support the need for further in-depth, long-term research of abortion and women’s health.

1. “Abortion in young women and subsequent mental health,” The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry”, David Fergusson et al., January 2006, Volume 47. A study from New Zealand found 42 per cent of women in the study group who had had an abortion also experienced major depression at some stage during the past four years. This was nearly double the rate of those who had never been pregnant and 35 per cent higher than those who had chosen to continue a pregnancy.
2. “Psychiatric admissions of low-income women following abortion and childbirth”, Canadian Medical Association Journal, May 13, 2003; 168 (10). Results: Overall, women who had had an abortion had a 2.6 times higher rate of psychiatric hospitalization compared with women who had delivered for every time period examined.
3. "Depression and unintended pregnancy in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth: a cohort study," British Medical Journal, 324: 151-152. This study from December 2001 indicates that married women who abort a first pregnancy are at greater risk of subsequent long term clinical depression compared to women who carry an unintended first pregnancy to term.
4. "State-funded abortions vs. deliveries: A comparison of outpatient mental health claims over five years." American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2002, Vol. 72, No. 1, 141–152. In this record-based study of 173,000 California women, women were 63 percent more likely to receive mental care within 90 days of an abortion compared to delivery. In addition, significantly higher rates of subsequent mental health treatment persisted over the entire four years of data examined.
5. “Pregnancy-associated mortality after birth, spontaneous abortion or induced abortion in Finland, 1987- 2000.” In the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2004; the mortality rate associated with abortion is 2.95 times higher than that associated with pregnancies carried to term. Non-pregnant women had 57.0 deaths per 100,000, compared to 28.2 for women who carried to term, 51.9 for women who miscarried, and 83.1 for women who had abortions. A 46% higher death rate than non-pregnant women. The study also revealed a seven fold increased rate of deaths from suicide among aborting women. The study included the entire population of women 15 to 49 years of age in Finland between 1987 and 2000. This same study was also published in the European Journal of Public Health 15(5):459-63 (2005). Stating that compared to women who have not been pregnant in the prior year, deaths from suicide, accidents and homicide are 428% higher in the year following an abortion. The publication also noted that the majority of extra deaths among post-abortive women were due to suicide. The suicide rate among post-abortive women was six times higher than that of women who had given birth in the prior year and double that of women who had miscarriages. The risk of death was lowest among women who gave birth within the prior year.
6. "History of induced abortion in relation to substance use during pregnancies carried to term." American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. December 2002; 187(5). Women with a prior history of abortion are twice as likely to use alcohol, five times more likely to use illicit drugs, and ten times more likely to use marijuana during the first pregnancy they carry to term compared to other women delivering their first pregnancies.
7. "Deaths associated with pregnancy outcome: a record linkage study of low income women." Southern Medical Journal, August 2002, 95(8):834-841. Over the eight year period studied, Women who have abortions versus those who carry to term are almost twice as likely to die in the two years following the pregnancy outcome. Women who aborted had a 154 percent higher risk of death from suicide and an 82 percent higher risk of death from accidents.
8. Medical Science Monitor, 2003, 9(4). Finding: Women whose first pregnancies ended in abortion were 65% more likely to score in the 'high-risk' range for clinical depression
9. "The quality of care giving environment and child development outcomes associated with maternal history of abortion using the NLSY data." Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2002; 43(6):743-757. Among first-born children, maternal history of abortion was associated with lower emotional support in the home among children ages one to four, and more behavioral problems among five- to nine-year-olds.
10. Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine, Volume 66, 2004. “Psychological Impact on Women of Miscarriage versus Induced Abortion: A 2-Year Follow-up Study.” Finding: Women who had induced abortion reported significantly more avoidance of thoughts and feelings related to the event than women who had a miscarriage.
11. “Induced abortion and traumatic stress: A preliminary comparison of American and Russian women.” Medical Science Monitor, 2004 10:SR5-16. Sixty-five percent of American women studied experienced multiple symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which they attributed to their abortions. Slightly over 14 percent reported all the symptoms necessary for a clinical diagnosis of abortion induced PTSD. The study also found 23% of the women reported sleep difficulties and 30% reported nightmares.
12. Archives of General Psychiatry, August 2000, Volume 57. Two years post abortion, 28% of 418 women were dissatisfied with their decision; 31% of 441 said they would not have the abortion again; 28% reported more harm than benefit their abortion; 20% were depressed. Negative emotions increased and decision satisfaction decreased over time.
13. “Long-Term Physical and Psychological Health Consequences of Induced Abortion: Review of the Evidence”, Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey, January 2003; 58(1):67-79. Induced abortion increased the risks for both a subsequent preterm delivery and mood disorders substantial enough to provoke attempts of self-harm.
14. Substance use among pregnant women in the context of previous reproductive loss and desire for current pregnancy,” British Journal of Health Psychology (2005), 10:255-268. This study found that women with a history of abortion are 3 times more likely to use illegal drugs during a subsequent pregnancy.
15. “Relative Treatment Rates for Sleep Disorders and Sleep Disturbances Following Abortion and Childbirth: A Prospective Record Based-Study,” Sleep Journal 29(1):105-106, 2006. The researchers examined medical records for 56,284 low-income women I California who gave birth or underwent an abortion in the first six months of 1989. The findings showed that, up to four years following abortion or delivery, women who underwent abortions were more likely to be treated for sleep disorders following an induced abortion compared to a birth.
16. “Generalized Anxiety Following Unintended Pregnancies Resolved Through Childbirth and Abortion: A Cohort Study of the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth,” Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 2005, 19:137-142. Using data collected from the National Survey of Family Growth, researchers examined a nationally representative sample of 10, 847 women ages 15-34 who had experienced an unintended first pregnancy and had no prior history of anxiety. Women who aborted were 30% more likely to subsequently report all the symptoms associated with a diagnosis for generalized anxiety disorder.
17. “Resolution of Unwanted Pregnancy During Adolescence Through Abortion versus Childbirth: Individual and Family Predictors and Psychological Consequences,” Journal of Youth and Adolescence (2006) Researchers report that adolescent girls who abort unintended pregnancies are five time more likely to seek subsequent help for psychological and emotional problems compared to their peers who carry ‘unwanted pregnancies’ to term. They also found that adolescents who had abortions were also over three times more likely to report subsequent trouble sleeping, and nine times more likely to report subsequent marijuana use.
18. “Associations Between Voluntary and Involuntary Forms of Perinatal Loss and Child Maltreatment Among Low-income Mothers,” Acta Paediatrica 94, 2005. This study found that women who have had abortions are 2.4 times more likely to physically abuse their children. The research looked at data taken from a survey of 518 low-income women in Baltimore who were receiving Aid to Families with Dependent

What’s so bad about abortion?
Abortion is often viewed as a solution to a problem. But what about the problems that abortion brings with it? #1 - Women still die from abortion.Women still die from the abortion procedure, as well as from complications that occur afterwards.1Studies also show that women with abortion history have an increased risk of dying from a variety of causes after abortion.

#2 - Abortion creates physical problems for women.Abortion advocates frequently assert that carrying an unintended pregnancy to term is more harmful to women than abortion. But all the research and women’s personal experience says something else. In the U.S., over 140,000 women a year have immediate medical complications from abortion.3Long-term health problems include an increased risk of breast, cervical and ovarian cancer. Abortion can also lead to infertility due to hysterectomies, pelvic inflammatory disease and miscarriage.4Abortion can cause the following complications during future pregnancies: premature birth, placenta previa, and ectopic pregnancy.5

#3 – Abortion creates emotional and behavioral problems for women. After an abortion many women find themselves dealing with increased use of drugs and/or alcohol, reoccurring insomnia and nightmares, eating disorders, suicidal feelings, and attempted suicide. Women experience difficulty in maintaining or developing relationships, loneliness, isolation, anger, fears of the unknown, indecision and a sense of self-hatred. Since 2001, 15 studies focusing on the psychological effects of abortion have been done. These studies underscore the fact that evidence-based medicine does not support the conjecture that abortion will protect women from ‘serious danger’ to their mental health. It indicates the opposite!

#4 - Abortion is a form of racism against poor and ethnic women.Planned Parenthood identifies its core clients as young, low-income women of color. Black and Hispanic women represent only a quarter of American women of child-bearing age, yet account for more than half of all abortions in the U.S.6Legalized abortion doesn’t help poor women, after their abortion they are still poor.

#5 – Abortion has led to increased violence against pregnant women. According to one study of battered women, the target of battery during their pregnancies shifts from their face and breasts to their pregnant abdomens, which suggests hostility toward the women’s fertility. Women are literally being killed for refusing to abort. The leading cause of death during pregnancy is homicide. In one study of violent deaths among pregnant women, three out of every four were killed during their first 20 weeks of pregnancy.7

#6 - Women are pressured and coerced by family, friends, employers, institutions of learning, and sexual predators into having abortions. In some cases, parents threaten to kick the girl out of the home. Boyfriends and husbands may threaten to leave. Women are told by well-meaning friends that having a baby will ruin their lives and they simply have to have an abortion.8

#7 - Abortion is a band-aid that allows society to abandon women.Our culture has come to depend upon abortion so that individuals and churches don’t have to get involved in caring for today’s widows and orphans. It often frees men from taking responsibility for their sexual promiscuity.Abortion stops being one choice among many and becomes the only choice because all the emotional and financial support dries up. Friends encourage abortion so they don’t have to be bothered.

#8 - Abortion negatively affects women’s future relationships. We struggle with issues of trust after an abortion. How can we trust those who said they loved us and then allowed us to go through a painful abortion?It affects how we relate to children we have in the future. Sometimes after abortion we can’t bond with them or we over-protect them.Abortion is often a secret we keep from spouses, children, or parents. If we do want to seek healing, we must tell them. Telling others creates another set of problems and concerns.

#9 - Abortion compromises who we are as women.Women are designed to give life and nurture it. When we abort our children, we interfere with the natural process of pro-creation and it leaves an imprint on our heart that never goes away but is often denied. #10 - Abortion affects women spiritually. Many women turn away from God or fear a ‘greater power’ because deep down inside we know we’ve taken the life of another being – our baby.

1. Pregnancy-associated mortality after birth, spontaneous abortion or induced abortion in Finland, 1987-2000." In the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,2004 and "Deaths associated with pregnancy outcome: a record linkage study of low income women." Southern Medical Journal, August 2002, 95(8):834-841
2. Goldner TE, Lawson HW, Xia Z, Atrash Hk. Surveillance for ectopic pregnancy—United States, 1970-1989. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Centers for Disease Control Surveillance Summary 1993 December; 42((SS-6)):73-85.* Council on Scientific Affairs AMA. Induced termination of pregnancy before and after Roe v Wade. Trends in the mortality and morbidity of women. Journal of the American Medical Association 1992 December 9;268(22):3231-9.* Council of Scientific Affairs AMA. Induced termination of pregnancy before and after Roe v Wade. Trends in the mortality and morbidity of women. Journal of the American Medical Association 1992 December 9;268(22):3231-9.
3. This is based on a complication rate of 11% and assuming the yearly abortion rate is 1.3 million US women a year. Most abortion advocates claim the complication rate is only 1%, but this is inaccurate when the data is analyzed. According to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in the UK, the immediate physical complication rate from abortions is at least 11%, primarily infections that can lead to a host of other problems including pain and infertility. The UK statistics have been recently published in January of 2001. See: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (UK). The care of women requesting induced abortion: 4. Information for women. 2000. You can quickly find the data at: www.rcog.org.uk/guidelines.asp?PageID=108&GuidelinesID=31. On the web page click on Induced Abortion—Care of Women. This number is probaby greater because complications are underreported, but due to the magnitude of abortions in the US many women suffer.
4. La Vecchia C, Negri E, Franceschi S, Parazzini F. Long-term impact of reproductive factors on cancer risk, International Journal of Cancer 1993 January 21;53(2):215-9, p. 217. Albrektsen G, Heuch I, Tretli S, Kvale G. Is the risk of cancer of the corpus uteri reduced by a recent pregnancy? A prospective study of 765,756 Norwegian women. International Journal of Cancer 1995 May 16;61(4):485-90, p.485. Kvale G, Heuch I. Is the incidence of colorectal cancer related to reproduction? A prospective study of 63,000 women. International Journal of Cancer 1991 February 1;47(3):390-5, p. 392.
5. Barrett JM, Boehm FH, Killam AP. Induced abortion: a risk factor for placenta previa. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 1981 December 1;141(7):769-72. Rose GL, Chapman MG. Aetiological factors in placenta praevia—a case controlled study. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 1986 June;93(6):586-8. Taylor VM, Kramer MD, Vaughan TL, Peacock S. Placenta previa in relation to induced and spontaneous abortion: a population-based study. Obstetrics and Gynecology 1993 July;82(10:88-91; p. 91. Michalas S, Minaretzis D, Tsionou C, Maos G, Kioses E, Aravantinos D. Pelvic surgery, reproductive factors and risk of ectopic pregnancy: A case controlled study. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 1992 June;38(2):101-5, pp.101, 103. Luke B. Every Pregnant Woman’s Guide to Preventing Premature Birth. 1995 [foreword by Emile Papiernik], New York: Times Books; p.32.
6. Centers for Disease Control Website, 2006 Abortion Surveillance --- United States, 2003, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5511a1.htm
7. About: Pregnancy & Childbirth Website, Article: Domestic Violence in Pregnancy, http://pregnancy.about.com/cs/domesticviolence/a/domesticviol.htm
8. Article "The Reality of Abortion – Reflections of My Journey" by Georgette Forney, President Anglicans for Life, March 2006. Available on-line at http://www.anglicansforlife.org/publications/realityofabortion.asp page 2This brochure was written by Georgette Forney, a woman with personal abortion experience.