The deadly truth of abortion

In honor of World Suicide Prevention Day, Live Action News published a piece on the abortion-suicide link.

Sadly, but perhaps not surprisingly, pro-abortion forces deny such a link. By doing so, they not only hide the truth, but shame the memory of women who have tragically turned to suicide after abortion.

The psychological risks associated with abortion are not only limited to suicide.

Abortion is the Unchoice has an entire page with several links devoted to psychological effects of abortion. Such effects on their fact sheet include “Depression,” “Trauma,” “Eating disorders & substance abuse,” “Coercion, guilt, repressed grief,” “Divorce and chronic relationship problems” and “Unresolved trauma and child abuse.”

Abortion supporters also claim that abortion is medically safer than childbirth (as if such a myth, even if it were truth, could convince us that the death of the unborn child is acceptable).

Months ago, Rolling Stone published a piece by Lauren Rankin entitled “The Seven Most Common Lies About Abortion.” The article had a plethora of misinformation, and was met with much criticism.

Rankin’s last point addressed the claim that abortion is safer than childbirth.  She claims abortion has a risk of death 10 times lower than giving birth, and that a first-term abortion is one of the safest medical procedures.

To cite such links just barely scratches at the surface of the safety of abortion.

A study from early 2012 claiming that abortion carried fewer risks than childbirth was sharply criticized because it looked only at immediate, rather than long-term effects.

The idea of advocating for abortion based on the lie that it is safer than childbirth is nothing new. It even affected the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion on demand in all 50 states, as stated by AUL.

Despite what the abortion movement claims, studies have shown that abortion is not safer than childbirth.

In responding to Rankin’s last claim, Kristi Burton Brown for Live Action News links to this Live Action News piece about a study showing that abortion is not safer than childbirth after all. This is especially true in studies that examine long-term effects.

A study published in late 2012 conducted by David C. Reardon and Priscilla Coleman based on abortions versus childbirth in Denmark showed that abortion is actually more dangerous.

An earlier study from Finland also found that women who had an abortion were about four times more likely to die in the following year than those who had given birth. Those who had an abortion the year prior were more likely to die of natural causes, suicide, accident-related injuries and homicide.

An abortion, no matter the trimester, is an invasive and unnatural procedure on a woman’s body, and thus carries physical risks as well. From AUL:

Potential complications for first trimester abortions include, among others, bleeding, hemorrhage, infection, uterine perforation, blood clots, cervical tears, incomplete abortion (retained tissue), failure to actually terminate the pregnancy, free fluid in the abdomen, acute abdomen, missed ectopic pregnancies, cardiac arrest, sepsis, respiratory arrest, reactions to anesthesia, fertility problems, emotional problems, and even death.

Immediate complications affect approximately 10 percent of women undergoing abortions and approximately one in five of these complications are life-threatening.[6]

There is a further flaw with studies claiming abortion is safer than childbirth. The study published in February 2012 in Obstetrics & Gynecology by Dr. Elizabeth Raymond and Dr. David Grimes uses data from sources which include the Center for Disease Control (CDC). The CDC admits that states are not required to report abortion statistics. Thus, data cannot be fully complete.

In addition, instances of abortion-related injuries are underreported due to the hesitance on the part of the abortion clinic and staffers. Abortion Facts points out that the safety of abortion has to do with  shady medical practices by abortion workers. Also, unfortunately, a woman who has had an abortion may be putting herself at risk if she does not want to be open with more legitimate health care providers.

Abortion Facts points out an even more telling point about how misleading it is to claim abortion is safer than childbirth in regard to subsequent pregnancies:

But while deaths from childbirth are accurately reported, many deaths by legal abortion are not. This completely skews the statistics. Furthermore, “abortion actually increases the chance of maternal death in later pregnancies.” [2] This means that some maternal deaths in full-term pregnancies are actually caused by earlier abortions, which creates a double inaccuracy.

Abortion cannot be regarded as a safe procedure when its direct intent is to kill an unborn child. Abortion is not as safe for the mother as advocates claim it to be. Since long-term effects of abortion paint a very different picture than the safety of the procedure, it is not surprising that abortion advocates will downplay or even deny that such risks occur.