Abortion
a-bor'shen n. 1. Induced termination of a pregnancy. 2. A fatally premature expulsion of a fetus from the womb.
Statistics
Methods
History (USA)
Side effects
Statistics
Surgical Abortions in the U.S. (1965 - 2002)
Some 1,878,990 abortions were committed before abortion was decriminalized nationwide by Roe v. Wade in 1973. From 1973 - 2002 more that 42 million abortions occurred. (Reading: Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States, Guttmacher Institute)
Chemical Abortions in the U.S. (1965-1996)
Because most contraceptive measures are abortifacients (drugs that induce or cause abortions), it is important not to overlook the number of children killed by chemical abortions. Since 1965, an average of 10.8 million women have used abortifacient methods of birth control in the US at any given time. Without throwing the equations at you, about 14 million chemical abortions are committed in the US each year, giving us a total of 450 million chemical abortions between 1965 and 1996.
Total abortion in the US (1965-1996)
If you add up the number of surgical and chemical abortions, over 486 million abortions have been committed in the US from 1965 to 1996! Keep in mind that it is now 1999, three years after the US government and Planned Parenthood stopped tracking the number of abortions committed. If you add on another 1.6 million surgical abortions per year (4.8 million) and another 14 million chemical abortions per year (42 million), the numbers jump to over 530 million babies killed in the US alone!
Who has abortions
52% younger than 25
33% ages 20-24
19% teenagers
Black women 4.8 times as likely as non-Hispanic White women
Hispanic 2.7 times as likely
43% Protestant
27% Catholic
2/3rds never-married
60%+ mothers with one or more children
Poor women (below poverty line) four times as likely as women living 300% above poverty line
Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States, Guttmacher Institute (Jan. 2008)
Top four reasons mothers cite for choosing abortion
1) Concern or responsibility to others
2) Cannot afford their child
3) Interfere with work, school, etc.
4) Do not want to be single parent and/or having problems with their spous and/or partner
Contraceptive use
44% used a contraceptive method the month they became pregnant
46% did not use a contraceptive method the month they became pregnant
Information used for Who has abortions, Top four reasons mothers cite for choosing abortion and Contraceptive use was gathered from Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States, Guttmacher Institute.
Methods
1. Suction Aspiration: This is the procedure most often used in the first trimester of pregnancy (the first three months). The abortionist inserts a suction tube (similar to a vacuum hose with an extremely sharp end) into the mother's womb. The suction and cutting edge dismember the baby while the hose sucks the body parts into a collection bottle.
Medical illustration of a Suction and Curettage Abortion of a 9 week old human fetus
2. Dilation and Curettage (D & C): In this procedure, the abortionist uses a loop shaped knife to cut the baby into pieces and scrape the uterine wall. The baby's body parts are then removed and checked to make sure that no pieces were left in the mother's womb.
3. Dilation and Evacuation (D & E): This form of abortion is used to kill babies in the second trimester (24+ weeks). The abortionist uses a forceps to grab parts of the baby (arms and legs) and then tears the baby apart. The baby's head must be crushed in order to remove it because the skull bone has hardened by this stage in the baby's growth.
Medical illustration of D & E performed at 14 weeks gestation
Medical illustration of D & E performed on a 23 week old human fetus
4. Dilation and Extraction (also known as D & X or Partial-Birth Abortion): Used to kill babies well into the third trimester (as late as 32 weeks old), the abortionist reaches into the mother's womb, grabs the baby's feet with a forceps and pulls the baby out of the mother, except for the head. The abortionist then jams a pair of scissors into the back of the baby's head and spreads the scissors apart to make a hole in the baby's skull. The abortionist removes the scissors and sticks a suction tube into the skull to suck the baby's brain out. The forceps are then used to crush the baby's head and the abortionist pulls the baby's body out the rest of the way.
5. Salt Poisoning: This technique is used in the second and third trimester. The abortionist sticks a long needle into the mother's womb. The needle contains salt which is then injected into the amniotic fluid surrounding the baby. The baby breathes in, swallows the salt and dies from salt poisoning, dehydration, brain hemorrhage and convulsions. Taking nearly an hour to die, the baby's skin is completely burned, turns red and deteriorates. The baby is in pain the entire time. The mother goes into labor 24 - 48 hours later and delivers a dead baby.
6. Prostaglandins: Used during the second and third trimester, prostaglandin abortions involve the injection of naturally produced hormones into the amniotic sac, causing violent premature labor. During these convulsions the baby is often crushed to death or is born too early to have any chance of surviving.
7. Hysterotomy: Performed in the third trimester, this is basically an abortive Cesarean section (C-section). The abortionist makes in an incision in the mother's abdomen and removes the baby. The baby is then either placed to the side to die or is killed by the abortionist or nurse.
8. Chemical abortion:
a. RU-486: RU-486 blocks the hormone that helps develop the lining of the uterus during pregnancy (progesterone). This lining is the source of nutrition and protection for the developing baby. The tiny boy or girl is starved to death and then a second drug, misoprostol, causes contractions so that the dead baby is expelled from the womb.
b. Methotrexate: Highly toxic, this chemical directly attacks and breaks down the baby's fast-growing cells. It also attacks the life-support systems the baby needs to survive. When the systems fail, the baby dies. Misoprostol is then used to cause contractions and push the dead baby out of the womb.
c. Abortifacient birth control (the Pill, Depo-Provera, Norplant, the IUD, Emergency Contraception). These abortion-causing chemicals and devices can act to kill preborn children in the earliest days of life. It is well known that abortifacient methods of birth control may act to inhibit ovulation and prevent conception. However, most women don't know they also act to alter the lining of the womb so that the implantation of a newly conceived child cannot occur. If the child cannot implant in the lining of the womb to receive nourishment, he or she dies.
To see a video on how the birth control pill works click here
History (USA)
1859 — The American Medical Association (AMA) condemns abortion except as necessary to preserve the life of either the mother or child
1875 — Every state in the United States has adopted laws banning abortion.
1917 — Margaret Sanger forms the Birth Control League (now Planned Parenthood) to promote contraception and abortion.
1959 — The American Law Institute proposes the "Model Penal Code" urging that abortion be performed in licensed hospitals when necessary to preserve the mental or physical health of the mother or in cases of rape or incest.
1967 — Colorado becomes the first state to allow abortion for cases of rape, incest or threat to the mother's life.
1970 — Fourteen states were allowing abortion in certain circumstances.
1973 — Roe v. Wade. Stating that a constitutional "right to privacy" exists that protects a woman's decision to have an abortion, the U.S. Supreme Court legalizes abortion on demand. The Court permits states to outlaw abortions from viability until birth (third trimester) except when necessary to preserve the mother's life or health.
1973 — Doe v. Bolton. The Supreme Court defines "health" (of the mother) to include all factors - physical, emotional, psychological, familial and the woman's age. This basically allows a woman to have an abortion at any time during her pregnancy and for any reason.
1976 — Planned Parenthood Association of Central Missouri v. Danforth. A Missouri abortion law, requiring the consent of parents in the case of minors, and husbands in the case of a married woman, is ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
1993 — President Bill Clinton signs five executive orders into effect, allowing fetal tissue research and harvesting, RU486 research, abortion counseling in federally funded family planning clinics and abortion services in U.S. military hospitals.
1994 — President Clinton signs into law the Freedom of Access to Clinics Entrance Act (FACE) virtually eliminating the First Amendment rights of pro-lifers to peacefully protest, demonstrate and provide sidewalk counseling at abortion clinics.
2000 — Stenberg v. Carhart. On a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court declared that Nebraska's partial birth abortion law unconstitutionally placed an undue burden on a woman's so-called right to a late term abortion.
Side Effects
Breast Cancer
Abortion "may be associated with increased breast cancer risk." [American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts & Figures -- 1996, at 12 (1996)]
Women have the right to know that 28 out of 37 worldwide studies have independently linked induced abortion with breast cancer. Thirteen out of fifteen studies conducted on American women report increased risk.
According to the American Cancer Society. in 1962 there were 63,000 breast cancer cases. In 1972, 90,000. In 1982, 120,000. In 1992, 180,000. Today there are more than 200,000 cases per year. Abortion was decriminalized in 1973.
A comprehensive meta-analysis examined 61 published studies and subjected them to critical comparative analysis. Its conclusion was: "The results support the inclusion of induced abortion among significant independent risk factors for breast cancer, regardless of parity or timing of abortion relative to the first term pregnancy. Although the increase in risk was relatively low, the high incidence of both breast cancer and induced abortion suggest a substantial impact of thousands of excess cases per year currently, and a potentially much greater impact in the next century, as the first cohort of women exposed to legal induced abortion continues to age." J. Brind et al., "Induced abortion as an independent risk factor for breast
cancer: a comprehensive review and meta-analysis," Hershey Med. Center, J. Epidemol. Community Health, 1996
What researchers know for certain is that breast cancer is linked significantly to hormone levels in women's bodies. Abortion and contraception disturbs that delicate balance.
Also see The Breast Cancer Connection
MISCARRIAGE: Researcher Noreen Maconochie of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has authored a study that found a 60 percent increased risk of miscarriage associated with previous abortion.
(Reading: "Miscarriage linked to out of wedlock pregnancies, abortion, artificial procreation," Life Site News, 12/5/06, http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/dec/06120506.html)
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