My soul clings to you,Your right hand upholds me.
A sound bite for the abortion industry is that many women will die if abortion is eliminated. This simply is not true.
They will say that women will die because they will not be able to get an abortion when their life is in danger. It is true that in some cases because of a medical incident if the baby is not aborted the mother will die, for example an ectopic pregnancy. This is a real danger and should not be ignored by pro-life proponents. Another example might be if the woman has cancer and if not treated before the end of the pregnancy she will die, but if treated the baby will die. Sometimes in medicine, you have to make a decision of one life or another and you don’t have a choice to abstain. I believe in these instances the decision ought to be up to the patient and doctor and family. In some of these situations the mother has chosen to give her life for the baby, in others the mother or her family has chosen to save the mother’s life. In both someone dies because of that decision. It is what it is. It is a part of the complicated world due to sin. When the women’s life is at risk, I don’t think it should be illegal in this situation. Will some take advantage of this? Probably. But in real cases, this is an unwinnable decision, and we shouldn’t punish them for those who will take advantage of it. Fortunately, in all the laws restricting abortion there is an exception when the mother’s life is at risk. Therefore, there is no danger of women dying due to this situation.
Another argument is that a large number of women will die if they go to illegal practitioners for an abortion. Does the evidence support that? If we are going to argue that making abortion illegal will cause the death of women because they will still seek abortions and go to clinics that are unregulated, we need to base this on facts. Let’s take a look at what the statistics were before Roe and what pro-abortion leaders were saying about illegal abortions. Here is a quote from a Guttmacher article.
“One stark indication of the prevalence of illegal abortion was the death toll. In 1930, abortion was listed as the official cause of death for almost 2,700 women—nearly one-fifth (18%) of maternal deaths recorded in that year. The death toll had declined to just under 1,700 by 1940, and to just over 300 by 1950 (most likely because of the introduction of antibiotics in the 1940s, which permitted more effective treatment of the infections that frequently developed after illegal abortion). By 1965, the number of deaths due to illegal abortion had fallen to just under 200, but illegal abortion still accounted for 17% of all deaths attributed to pregnancy and childbirth that year. And these are just the number that were officially reported; the actual number was likely much higher.” Lessons from Before Roe: Will Past be Prologue? | Guttmacher Institute
Before Roe the number of deaths due to abortion though still arguably high at 200 in 1965 were going down due to antibiotics and advances in medicine and they were continuing to go down after 1965. In 1959 in her article written to defend legal abortions, Mary S Calderone,
“Fact No. 3-Abortion is no longer a dangerous procedure. This applies not just to therapeutic abortions as performed in hospitals but also to so-called illegal abortions as done by physicians. In 1957 there were only 260 deaths in the whole country attributed to abortions of any kind. In New York City in 1921 there were 144 abortion deaths, in 1951 there were only 15; and, while the abortion death rate was going down so strikingly in that 30-year period, we know what happened to the population and the birth rate. Two corollary factors must be mentioned here: first, chemotherapy and antibiotics have come in, benefiting all surgical procedures as well as abortion. Second, and even more important, the conference estimated that 90 per cent of all illegal abortions are presently being done by physicians. Call them what you will, abortionists or anything else, they are still physicians, trained as such; and many of them are in good standing in their communities. They must do a pretty good job if the death rate is as low as it is. Whatever trouble arises usually comes after self-induced abortions, which comprise approximately 8 per cent, or with the very small percentage that go to some kind of nonmedical abortionist.” amjphnation00308-0022.pdf (nih.gov)
Dr. Alan Guttmacher wrote in 1960, “The technique of the well–accredited criminal abortionist is usually good. They have to be good to stay in business, since otherwise they would be extremely vulnerable to police action.” (Babies by Choice or Chance)
In article Guttmacher above it says, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in 1972 alone, 130,000 women obtained illegal or self-induced procedures, 39 of whom died.” That same year the CDC reported 24 deaths due to legal procedures. In 1973, the number of women who died due to legal abortions were 25, while those who died of illegal abortions were 19. (Abortion Surveillance — United States, 1992 (cdc.gov) ) The rates of death were similar between legal and illegal abortions. And abortion advocates argued that illegal abortions were generally safe. As abortion became legal more abortions were done and of course there were less illegal abortions so the numbers do change between legal and illegal abortions, just because illegal abortions were no longer being done. But the evidence shows that there was not too much disparities between illegal and legal abortions as time went on and techniques allowed for safer abortions. Also, as a consequence of a large number of abortions now being performed after Roe, techniques were refined and improved at a quicker pace, lowering the number of deaths. The deaths were not lowered due to the legalization but due to more experience.
It has been 50 years since Roe, there has been quite a bit of medical advancement since them. Equipment is smaller and cheaper to obtain. The procedure has been improved. In 2018, the number of abortion-related deaths for the woman was 2 (• Deaths from abortions U.S. 1973-2018 | Statista). Like in the past it is likely that illegal abortions will range around what the legal stats are, because the doctors who are willing to perform illegal abortion will probably be those who like in the past care about the women’s right to have an abortion safely, and they need to be safe if they do not want to be caught, there is serious consequences if they are not safe. Even if the number of women who die, though unlikely, does increase it is still likely to be low, large numbers of women will not die.
Because of the advances in medicine and multiple variables, the reality is we don’t know what the exact numbers would be. History seems to indicate the numbers would be close to the same and possibly less. So, we are looking at a probable few deaths, which may or may not change, but if it does probably not by much to a certain 800,000 deaths per year. You may not agree that abortion is a death, but for those that do, these are the numbers that they are looking at. Do we choose the 800,000 lives are the few? Here are some other stats: if the abortion numbers were included in the stats of yearly deaths, they would be around 25% of the deaths each year in the U.S, worldwide it is about 50%, and this consistently year by year. Not everyone agrees that they should be included in the stats, and I am not expecting that, or for anyone to agree, but just take time to listen, what if you did believe these were deaths, even murders, how would you feel. For those who do believe this is deeply emotional. Nowhere in history has anyone seen stats like this. If you understand this, then you get a glimpse into why people are heartbroken over this issue. If you disagree, fine but don’t belittle this. Learning to communicate with people starts by understanding their motivation. I am not asking you to agree with making abortion illegal, but to try to understand why this matters to someone who thinks abortion should be illegal.
Even though I believe the deaths of women obtaining an illegal abortion would be low, I do think they matter. I do think we need to think long and hard on how we can make whatever the number would be lower. I don’t think we should say, “Hey, we’ve saved 800,000 lives, these women’s deaths are few, they don’t matter.” I do think we need to dialogue on how to reduce those numbers whatever they might be. It does matter, which is why people bring it up. And I don’t fault anyone for caring about it.
My guess and I don’t want to make assumptions about what people are thinking, is that maybe the central aspect of the argument for those who defend abortion centers around the rights of a woman verses the right of the unborn baby. For the pro-life defender it centers around that they believe that both have equal rights and trying to make the decision that saves the most lives. If this is the case, I think it is important to understand if we are going to dialogue over these issues.
Even though many women will most likely not die due to anti-abortion laws, many women will be affected significantly. This is absolutely true, and these concerns should not be ignored, for they are real. I’ve seen enough life to know that life is messed up and not fair. Without abortion, women feel like they have lost a right that many have known all their reproductive life, a right that significantly affects their life and freedom. Abortion was a protection against the tyranny of men who had more sexual freedom then they had. It is a real fact that women have historically taken advantage of men in the area of sex. Women have had to take on most of the burden. It is unconscionable that, even though male contraceptives have less health risks than contraceptives for women, women have had to take on most of the responsibility. They are also the ones who have to get the abortion if the contraceptives fail. Men also don’t have to carry the baby, go through the changes of pregnancy, or our stuck with the decision of what to do. Men will often walk away when a woman is pregnant and if she can’t get an abortion, she is stuck alone with the responsibility for both carrying the baby and either giving it up for adoption or raising the kid. Men get to go off scott free. And this is not all the issues. Having a fear of what they are going to have to go through now that this decision has been made is normal and I am with you. I am afraid, too. If people are not willing to address these issues, there will be devastating consequences. Part of the reason I feel “heavy” is because I am not naïve. I don’t believe the Supreme Court fixes the abortion issue. I don’t believe if abortion was outlawed in the whole U.S. that the abortion issue would be fixed. The issues we have as a society and how women have been treated goes much deeper. I also am not niave in thinking we will all agree on many issues, we won’t, but maybe I am niave enough in thinking dialogue is possible, something that is sorely lacking in our culture. Dialogue will be necessary as we work on these issues.
One example, and of course more should be done, is that there should be laws in place that keep the man accountable to fully provide for the costs of the pregnancy, after all she is doing all the work and taking all the risks. He should also be made to provide for her and her child after the pregnancy and to provide for her education. If she didn’t want to have anything to do with the man, she would have that option as well. If you are pro-life, you should be fight for laws that protect the women from being taken advantage of by men. And there is much more to be done. We cannot ignore the reality of the struggles women will go through and need to step up to meet those challenges.
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