Interesting study about abortion & maternal deaths
By eden32
@eden32 (3973)
United States
October 12, 2007 1:04pm CST
Here's the link to the article so you can read it for yourself. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071012/hl_nm/women_dc
As my friends here probably know, I am very much pro-choice and believe that all women should have the right to decide what happens in their body. I also try to be respectful of opinions that differ from my own. There are some very interesting points in this article that I'd suggest PL-ers should consider.
"The number of abortions fell most in developed countries where it is legal compared to poorer countries where it is largely banned and considered unsafe..." I find this VERY interesting. Many PLers believe that if terminations were to become illegal in the US again, then the #s preformed would go down considerably. This statement suggests that isn't true. In countries where women are risking their lives & health having illegal terminations are on the rise. Here's another quote that supports that, "The report said an estimated 20 million unsafe abortions occurred in 2003, 97 percent of them in developing regions and places where the procedure is banned."
This was another important statistic for me, "Western Europe had the lowest abortion rate in the world in 2003 at 12 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, the study said citing broad use of birth control methods as a reason. The rate was 17 for Northern Europe and 21 for North America." Considering birth control failure rates range from about 1-18 per 100 (depending on method) these numbers of 12-21 out of 1000 suggest that most women seeking terminations were using birth control. If it was that most were not, the numbers would be much higher.
This is an alarming statistic; "Each year, about 70,000 women die due to unsafe abortion and an additional five million suffer permanent or temporary disability," Again, this is during ILLEGAL abortions. These 70,000 dead women, and FIVE MILLION INJURED are actual women, mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives- not embryos who's "life" is non-viable, and who do not possess characteristic of life.
And finally to compare the relatively low risk involved in early, legal terminations with carrying pregnancies to term: "... more than 535,000 pregnancy-related deaths in 2005, nearly all in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia." And "The figures in individual countries varied from a low of one maternal death per 100,000 live births in Ireland to a high of 2,100 deaths per 100,000 births in Sierra Leone..."
Even for those who honestly believe life starts at conception, how can you deny these numbers? How can you value the "life" of an embryo over that of an actual, living, thinking, feeling woman? How does making terminations illegal, and allowing more women to die support your values of life?
2 people like this
4 responses
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
23 Oct 07
Simple . They regard the mother as secondary to the baby. In other words as soon as you become a mother , you don't matter, the baby does.This study confirms what I have always thought. If you want abortions to increase, just outlaw it. Doesn't anyone study U.S. history? There were more drinkers during prohibition than the yuears after it was abolished.it seems so sad that more women have to die because of abortions being banned.But I think these policies will come back to backfire.it will take some v.i.p's daughter, wife, sister to die and then these laws will be overturned.
1 person likes this
@freak369 (5113)
• United States
13 Oct 07
I've seen first hand what illegal abortions can do - girls would go to Mexico to have them because they were scared to tell their parents or go to a clinic and have someone take a picture of her entering or exiting the facility. I'm not talking about someone that decides to use it as birth control, I am talking about the 15 year old that made a mistake. Adoption is something that is always suggested but how can a 15 year old cope with that? Not knowing if that child is safe and being loved ...
Abortion is never a subject that is approached with calm and ease; it always erupts into a verbal war. Is it better to have a procedure that is safe and in a sterile environment or something done on a wooden table with instruments that have been used on ten other people?
I agree with your statements here and hope that others respect your opinion and view on the subject.
1 person likes this
@sures77 (44)
• India
15 Oct 07
DEAR EDEN
Iam sorry to note that you consider the embryo as bunch of 'dividing cells'. The life given by GOD should not be considered so caually. All of us have been created from those dividing cells-how would you like if some of us have been prevented from comming into this world because of foolish actions of so called 'thinking girls' who cannot control themselves. Their very casual aproach to this issue is regrettable. They want to hide their mistakes by JUSTIFYING THEIR ACTIONS ANY HOW
@sures77 (44)
• India
12 Oct 07
YOU seem to be more concerned about women -who are as per you 'thinking & feeling'. If they are really thinking & feeling they will be do something foolish & careless not to use a contraceptive.
They are responsible for bringing to life that embryo & hence women should bear the responsibility to bear the child & not make another mistake of going for abortion.
Abortion is like killing a person in cold blood-that too in a very helpless condition.