Legalized Abortion and the Public Health Report of a Study (1975) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
4. Abortion and the Risk of Death
4. Abortion and the Risk of Death
Pages 72-87
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 72... ...
Very few deaths are associated with legal abortion in the United States: 20 in 1972 and 22 in 1973.•! / The total number of legal abortions reported to the Center for Disease Control during these two years was approximately 1,202,600, which yields a mortality ratio (the number of deaths per 100,000 abortions)
|
From page 73... ...
As shown in Table 12 the risk of death associated with abortion increases dramatically with the duration of pregnancy, from 0.5 per 100,000 abortions obtained at eight weeks or less, to 16 deaths per 100,000 abortions obtained at 16 weeks or later. When examined by method of termination, the combined mortality ratio for suction and D&C during 1972-1973 was 1.6 deaths per 100,000 legal abortions, and for saline, 15.4 deaths per 100,000 abortions.3/ The former ratio is substantially lower than, and the latter about equal to, the maternal mortality ratio from complications of pregnancy and childbirth (excluding abortion)
|
From page 74... ...
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Center for Disease Control. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 24, January 24, 1975.
|
From page 75... ...
The Supreme Court's decision in January, 1973, was guided, in part, by the low number of abortion-related deaths from legal abortion reported from New York after the enactment of its nonrestrictive laws. In New York state (including New York City)
|
From page 76... ...
and 19 deaths followed abortions performed in the second trimester (21.1 deaths per 100,000 abortions) .5/ International Data A comparison of recent abortion mortality ratios from selected foreign countries with the 1972-1973 abortion mortality ratios of the United States provides further evidence of the differential between first- and secondtrimester mortality ratios.
|
From page 77... ...
When non-restrictive laws were passed, allowing more first-trimester abortions to be performed, the proportion of low-risk to high-risk abortions increased and the maternal mortality ratios declined. The JPSA study on early medical complications of legal abortion suggest that increased experience on the physician's part in performing abortions also contributed to the decline.
|
From page 78... ...
45-46, and U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Center for Disease Control.
|
From page 79... ...
was 441; the mortality ratio per 100,000 live births was 14.1.11/ Table 14 compares the mortality risks of legal abortion with those of eight other commonly performed operations in the United States. A firsttrimester legal abortion carries about the same risks as a tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy, both of which are less risky than the other surgical procedures listed.
|
From page 80... ...
Illegal Abortion It is difficult to find credible estimates of the number of deaths associated with illegal abortion. One estimate, which has been frequently quoted, is between 5,000 and 10,000 deaths per year.12/ That is hardly plausible, considering that the total number of deaths of women aged 15-44 from all causes in the United States is approximately 50,000 annually, and the total number of deaths due to abortion reported by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
|
From page 81... ...
a reduction of 37 percent over a 15-year period.14y Another factor could be a reduction in the number of unwanted pregnancies in the United States because of more effective use of contraception.! ^/ A national decline in deaths due to "other" abortions accelerated as women began to shift to legal abortions after the changes in abortion laws and practices which occurred around 1970.
|
From page 82... ...
Vital Statistics of the United States, Mortality, Part A.; 1972 and 1973 data are from U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Center for Disease Control.
|
From page 83... ...
The number of abortion-related deaths in Romania during 1971 was greater than the 324 abortion deaths reported in the United States during 1961, notwithstanding that the U.S. population in 1961 was nine times greater than the Romanian population of 20,000,000 in 1971.
|
From page 84... ...
Rates were not computed for deaths associated with legal abortion because the absolute number of deaths was so small. TABLE 17 Abortion Mortality Rates Associated with Other-than-Legal Abortions, by Race, United States, 1968-1973 -(Deaths per 100,000 women aged 15-44)
|
From page 85... ...
Although data limitations preclude a direct comparison of the mortality ratios associated with legal and illegal abortion, available statistics from the United States indicate that the number of reported deaths from other-than-legal abortions declined steadily as less restrictive abortion legislation was passed and implemented throughout the country. The major factors that affect legal abortion mortality ratios are the trimester in which the abortion is performed and the method of abortion.
|
From page 86... ...
Vital Statistics of the United States. Annuals for the years 1968-1972.
|
From page 87... ...
"Wanted and Unwanted Fertility in the United States: 1965 and 1970," Charles F Westoff and Robert Parke, Jr., eds.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.