New Study Finds Abortion Risks Higher Subscribe   
  From:  David (DavidABrown)    4/24/2002 5:19 pm  
To:  ALL   (1 of 2)  
 
  377.1  
 
New Study Finds Abortion Risks Higher Than Expected

Toronto, CA -- Abortion complications are seriously underreported, leaving
women who undergo abortion largely unaware of the range of physical and
psychological risks they face, according to a new study by a Canadian
bioethics institute.

Breast cancer, pelvic infection, infertility, life-threatening ectopic
pregnancy, and subsequent premature births - with higher rates of children
born with cerebral palsy - were found to be associated with abortion in a
comprehensive review of the world medical literature. Abortion
complications were not limited to physical health. While abortion is often
regarded as a cure for the depression and stress of a crisis pregnancy,
the study found that women are more likely to commit suicide after
abortion than after giving birth to a child.

Current abortion rates of 114,000 in Canada and 1.4 million in the U.S.
underscore the magnitude of this potential public health issue.

" In the absence of this knowledge, how can a woman give her informed
consent to an abortion?" asks Ian Gentles, history professor at York
University in Toronto, and one of the authors of the study entitled
Women's Health after Abortion: The Medical and Psychological Evidence,
published by the deVeber Institute, a nonprofit bioethics and social
research group based in Toronto.  Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Emory University
professor of humanities and women's studies, calls the findings
"compelling", and says the study "makes overwhelmingly clear [that] women
who seek abortions in the United States and Canada are not even told of
the risks they are running."

The study calls for a more accountable system of risk assessment where
research data accurately reflect the true risks of abortion to their
future health and fertility.


Key abortion risks

An extensive review of the world medical literature reveals abortion is
associated with:

   * Suicide risk

A woman's risk of suicide is up to 6 times higher after abortion than
after giving birth to a child, according to three large worldwide studies.

Gissler M et al.  Suicides after pregnancy in Finland 1987-94: register
linkage study.  British Medical Journal 1996 Dec. 7;313(7070):1431-4.


   * Breast cancer

27 worldwide studies, including 13 U.S. studies, show the risk caused by
the unprotected internal estrogen exposure a woman receives after an
abortion.  A young woman who aborts her first pregnancy nearly doubles her
lifetime risk of developing breast cancer.

Daling JR et al. Risk of breast cancer among young women: relationship to
induced abortion. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 1994
Nov(2);86(21):1584-92.


   * Immediate complications

Pain, bleeding, infection, perforated uterus, and occasional death occur
at rates higher than usually reported. True rates are often underestimated
by inadequate hospital diagnostic coding.

Heisterberg L, Kringelbach M. Early complications after induced
first-trimester abortion. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica
Scandanavica,1987;66(3):201-4.


   * Infertility, prematurity, cerebral palsy

Subsequent infertility, life-threatening ectopic pregnancy, and premature
delivery of subsequent children - which increases the risk of cerebral
palsy 38 times in the earliest premature babies.

Escobar GJ et al. Outcome among surviving very low birthweight infants: a
meta-analysis. Archives of Disease in Childhood 1991;66:204-211.

To order the study from the deVeber Institute visit the website:
http://deveber.org/publications2.html#launch

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David A. Brown
Basic Christian: Forum
 
  
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   From:  David (DavidABrown)    6/20/2002 9:41 am  
To:  ALL   (2 of 2)  
 
  377.2 in reply to 377.1  
 
From:  The Pro-Life Infonet www.prolifeinfo.org
Reply-To:  Steven Ertelt infonet@prolifeinfo.org
Source:   Associated Press; June 13, 2002

Abortion Practitioner Convicted of Doing Unlicensed Abortions

Richmond, VA -- A Virginia abortion practitioner was convicted of four
felonies for performing 22 abortions after the Virginia Board of Medicine
suspended his license to practice medicine.

Henrico County Circuit Judge L.A. Harris Jr. convicted Rodger A. Fraser on
Wednesday of four counts of practicing medicine without a license. Each
count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Fraser is free
pending sentencing on August 27.

 The board suspended Fraser's license without a hearing on February 8
because he mishandled an abortion on Novmber 20 at the Commonwealth
Women's Clinic in Falls Church, Virginia.

The Virginia Department of Health Professions said the summary suspension
was necessary to protect the public because Fraser perforated the woman's
uterus and damaged her bowel. She had emergency treatment at a hospital to
remove her uterus.

The department said Fraser did not explain to the patient, who did not
speak English, why he sent her to the hospital. He did not send
documentation to explain her condition and failed to communicate with
physicians after hospital staff tried to reach him, the department said.

Pamela Twombly, an investigative supervisor for the department, said
Wednesday that she gave him the board's order in person and told him he
could no longer practice medicine.

He performed the abortions the next afternoon at Capital Women's Health
Clinic in Henrico County without saying anything about the order to staff
members who assisted him. Before he left, he said he would not be at the
clinic on Monday and never returned, staff members testified.

Prosecutor Michael V. Gerrard said, "We picked the statute that fit
precisely what transpired here."

Fraser did not testify during the trial.

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David A. Brown
Basic Christian: Forum
 
  
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