My Thoughts on the Contraception Controversy

So I know I’m in the middle of a series, but I have a few things to post before I go back to my series (I’ve been working on these, which is why I haven’t been posting as much). Because I need to make some things clear.

Mainly because I’m sick of people saying they speak for the women of America. I am a woman of America and I disagree with what they are saying when they say they speak for me, but that’s okay apparently, to make broad blanket statements about speaking for the women of America. They don’t speak for me, so I’m going to speak for me.

I’m not going to talk about the compromise right now, because it’s not really a compromise. Use your brains people – if insurance companies have to pay for it but not the employers, then how do you think the insurance companies are going to pay for it? They’re going to increase premiums for the employers. You can’t just pretend that there isn’t going to be a hidden cost and that we aren’t all going to end up paying for it.

And I’m not even going to talk about how I don’t agree with most things that are considered contraception, like the pill and the IUD.

I guess my problem is the definition of preventative care and defining contraception as preventative care. Because what does it prevent? Pregnancy – and pregnancy is not a disease. It’s a natural, normal part of life. In the great majority of cases, it is not life threatening and even when it is, there are really awesome OB/GYN’s to help you through it. Preventative care should prevent a disease and pregnancy is simply just not a disease. I’m a pregnant woman and I do not have a disease. I do realize that there is a very small percentage of women who are on birth control pills for health conditions that are not fault of their own. BUT, I do think that if we were to stop thinking that a birth control pill is an answer for these health problems, that we might be able to find real answers to them (for example, endometriosis, which is often managed with the birth control pill – there is currently no cure for this condition). Because to be honest, a birth control pill doesn’t really cure these diseases, it just manages the symptoms, at least from my understanding.  It is easy to prescribe a birth control pill and it’s easy to take a birth control pill, but it’s harder to search for a cure.

Examples of real preventative care include screening for diabetes, immunizations, screening for cancers, etc.

Now I want to talk about something that is real preventative care – that is prenatal care. And maybe I know all this because I’m currently pregnant, but it’s something that needs to be talked about.

Here are the benefits of prenatal care and why I consider it preventative. Proper prenatal care reduces maternal deaths, miscarriages, birth defects, low birth rates (3 times more likely without prenatal care), delivery complications (like preeclampsia and placenta previa), infant deaths (of which is near and dear to my heart since Milwaukee has high infant mortality rates – this is 5 times more likely without prenatal care), and premature birth.

Now the new law does cover some services associated with pregnancy. These include:

• Anemia screening
• Infection screening  (for certain infections)
• Breastfeeding related support and in some cases, supplies
• Folic acid supplements
• Gestational diabetes screening
• Rh incompatibility
• Tobacco counseling

Now, while this seems like a lot, there is so much that is being left out. Regular visits are important, early ultrasounds to rule out ectopic pregnancy (which is life-threatening), anatomy scan (which is not necessary, but helps to discover birth defects, some of which we can now treat in utero and identify conditions like placenta previa which needs to be treated), iron supplements – I could go on.

I’m not looking for a handout, don’t mistake that. Yes, it can get expensive, but I love my child and so we find a way to make it work one way or another. I’m just saying, wouldn’t it make more sense, instead of fighting over contraception, which doesn’t prevent anything, we work on covering more services for pregnant women which has huge preventative effects. Remember how I mentioned one of the downsides to not receiving proper prenatal care was low birth weight? Well, besides the immediate risk to the infant which are very serious, I want to copy and paste something from the March of Dimes website about potential long term risks.

Some studies suggest that individuals who were born with low birthweight may be at increased risk for certain chronic conditions in adulthood. These conditions include high blood pressure, type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes and heart disease. When these conditions occur together, they are called metabolic syndrome. One study found that men who weighed less than 6 1/2 pounds at birth were 10 times more likely to have metabolic syndrome than the men who weighed more than 9 1/2 pounds at birth (10, 11).

It is not yet known how low birthweight contributes to these adult conditions. However, it is possible that growth restriction before birth may cause lasting changes in certain insulin-sensitive organs like the liver, skeletal muscles and pancreas. Before birth, these changes may help the malnourished fetus use all available nutrients. However, after birth these changes may contribute to health problems.

So why are we focusing on contraception which will not make us a healthier society as a whole, when we could focus on making sure every pregnant woman gets proper prenatal care and make society healthier overall? That’s true preventative care.

Just my two cents, because no, those people tv don’t speak for me. I speak for me.

Here are my sources by the way:

• Wikipedia
• Womenshealth.gov
• List of preventative services covered under new law
• Plus things I have just learned since being pregnant

Forced Abortions

I wish I could say that sex selection abortions didn’t happen. I really wish I could. Because most of the time, when an abortion is the choice to be made, it’s because the baby is a girl. It happens in places like India and China. Especially  China, where population police control the number of children you are allowed to have. Why is the rest of the world so slow to say something about it? It is girls that are being effected, more than anything, because of the high cultural preference for a boy.

I can not imagine what these mothers go through, how terrified they must be, knowing that if they get pregnant again or even if they get pregnant the first time and it’s a girl, someone might force them to have an abortion or pay an amount of money they can’t afford just to keep the child.

This is a truly sad situation that needs to be stopped. Girls are dying merely because they are girls. Watch this video about one mother in China and her daughters.

Women in History: Fannie Lou Hamer

She

• lived from 1917-1977.
• was the youngest of 20.
• was a Christian.
• was pro-life! She considered abortion to be “legal murder.”
• was a voting and civil rights activist.
• played a huge role in organizing Mississippi Freedom Summer.
• was Vice-Chair for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
• went to the National Democratic Convention to challenge the delegation from Mississippi.
• was married.
• was forcibly sterilized because she was a black woman. She was never told and never asked.
• adopted two children with her husband.
• after hearing Rev. James Bevel’s appeal that they should register to vote, she volunteered first despite knowing that a black woman registering to vote in the South could have horrible consequences.
• was known for singing Christian hymns to the group of people she was with in order to keep morale high.
• was sought out by Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) because of her reputation.
• was arrested for not complying with a whites only restaurant policy.
• was beaten so badly in jail she almost died and she became permanently disabled.
• lost her job as a sharecropper for her activism.
• had death threats all the time.
• was shot at.
• continued despite these hardships.
• ran for Congress twice.
• criticized the Vietnam war.
• has had compositions about her and in her honor composed.
• was eventually able to register to vote and then helped others learn to pass the test that was an obstacle for voting.
• sued the county for school desegregation.
• helped start a Head Start program in her community.
• helped to found the National Women’s Political Caucus.
• worked as the SNCC Field Secretary.
• helped form the Freedom Farms.
• helped start a Pig Bank, a way of providing poor families with piglets.
• testified in court on behalf of black, single mothers and helped them win rights to employment.

Others have said

• “None of us would be where we are now had she not been there then.” – Andrew Young

“Mrs. Hamer always spoke from the heart. When she spoke at Atlantic City in front of the national TV, she spoke the same way, what you felt when she spoke and when she sang was someone who was opening up her soul and really telling you what she felt.  I think one of the most beautiful things about the movement in Mississippi was that it enabled a person like Mrs. Hamer to emerge.” – Bob Moses

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fannie_Lou_Hamer

She said

• “I guess if I’d had any sense, I’d have been a little scared – but what was the point of being scared? The only thing they [white people] could do was kill me, and it seemed they’d been trying to do that a little bit at a time since I could remember.”
• “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
• “We didn’t come all the way up here to compromise for no more than we’d gotten here. We didn’t come all this way for no two seats, ’cause all of us is tired.”
• “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.”
• ”Sometimes it seem like to tell the truth today is to run the risk of being killed.  But if I fall, I’ll fall five feet four inches forward in the fight for freedom.  I’m not backing off.”
• “A white mother is no different from a black mother. The only thing is they haven’t had as many problems. But we cry the same tears.”
• “With the people, for the people, by the people. I crack up when I hear it; I say, with the handful, for the handful, by the handful ’cause that’s what really happens.”
• “Christ was a revolutionary person. That’s what God is all about, and that’s where I get my strength.”
• “Christianity is being concerned about your fellow man, not building a million-dollar church while people are starving right around the corner.”
• “We have to make it work. Ain’t nothing going to be handed to you on a silver platter, nothing. That’s not just black people, that’s people in general, masses. See, I’m with the masses…. You’ve got to fight. Every step of the way, you’ve got to fight.”
• “I’m not going to try that thing. I got a black husband, six-feet-three, 240 pounds, with a 14 shoe, that I don’t want to be liberated from. But we are here to work side by side with this black man in trying to bring liberation to all people.”
• “We still love these children. And after these babies are born we are not going to disband these children from our families … . I think these children have a right to live. And I think that these mothers have a right to support them in a decent way … . We are dealing with human beings.”
• “No. What would I look like fighting for equality with the white man?  I don’t want to go down that low.  I want the true democracy that’ll raise me and that white man up… raise America up.”
• “There is one thing you have got to learn about our movement. Three people are better than no people.”

“All of this is on account we want to register [sic], to become first-class citizens, and if the Freedom Democratic Party is not seated now, I question America. Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave where we have to sleep with our telephones off the hooks because our lives be threatened daily because we want to live as decent human beings – in America?”

“Do you mean to tell me that your position is more important than four hundred thousand black people’s lives? Senator Humphrey, I know lots of people in Mississippi who have lost their jobs trying to register to vote. I had to leave the plantation where I worked in Sunflower County, Mississippi. Now if you lose this job of Vice-President because you do what is right, because you help the MFDP, everything will be all right. God will take care of you. But if you take [the nomination] this way, why, you will never be able to do any good for civil rights, for poor people, for peace, or any of those things you talk about. Senator Humphrey, I’m going to pray to Jesus for you.”

“We have to realize just how grave the problem is in the United States today, and I think the sixth chapter of Ephesians, the eleventh and twelfth verses help us to know…what it is we are up against. It says, ‘Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.’ This is what I think about when I think of my own work in the fight for freedom.”

From http://abagond.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/fannie-lou-hamer/

Books about her (Note, I haven’t read any of these, these are just some of the books I’ve found):

• Fannie Lou Hamer
• The Speeches of Fannie Lou Hamer To Tell It Like It Is

There is also the Fannie Lou Hamer National Institute on Citizenship and Democracy. (Note, I found two websites for it, so I’m not sure which is the real one/which is the most current.)

There is also a Fannie Lou Hamer Political Action Committee.

There is also a Fannie Lou Hamer Cancer Foundation, as Fannie did die of Breast Cancer.

Also, the Fannie Lou Hamer Statue Drive exists to try and get a full size statue of her in her hometown.

Sources:

• Fannie Lou Hamer – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Fannie Lou Hamer
• Fannie Lou Hamer
• Fannie Lou Hamer
• Fannie Lou Hamer
• Fannie Lou Hamer Biography
• Fannie Lou Hamer: Civil Rights Activist: Mississippi History Now
• Voice of the Day: Fannie Lou Hamer – God’s Politics Editor – God’s Politics Blog
• Fannie Lou Hamer – Prophet of Freedom, a Gift Person essay by Robert Ellsberg
• ZCommunications: Fannie Lou Hamer and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party by Alice Leuchtag: ZMagazine Article
• Feminists for Life of America
• Fannie Lou Hamer
• Fannie Lou Hamer Quotes – BrainyQuote

The Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Agenda

About a week ago this time, I was in New York City. It was my first time ever in the Big Apple. And what was I doing? Living my dream of being at the United Nations (UN). Not only being there, but participating as a youth representative for National Right to Life for the UN High Level Meeting (HLM) on Youth. And while I loved being there and the experience was really great, at the same time, I came away feeling frustrated and discouraged. Why, you ask? Mainly because of organizations like International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and their extreme Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (hereafter referred to as SRHR as their own abbreviation) agenda.

If you had asked me, I’d have to be honest. I have probably always known that IPPF and other organizations don’t just allow abortion, they encourage it. But, I had no idea it was so bad, to tell you the truth. I almost titled this post – Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights: The Bad and the Ugly, but I changed my mind at the last minute. But to me, it was truly sad and disheartening to witness how taken in by this idea (and in my opinion, lie) that some people are.

These are some of the things that I heard and that some people said and my comments in parantheses.

• “Abstinence leads to greater infections of HIV and AIDS.” (This is one I really don’t understand. Back in the day, people could get it from blood transfusions, but now that we can and do test for it, one of the main ways to get it is to have unprotected sex or to share needles for drugs. And I don’t think there’s any correlation like ‘People who abstain are more likely to do drugs.’ Abstinence is the best way to prevent HIV.)
• After having stated that the purpose of Y-PEER (an arm of IPPF) is to “empower youth to make their own health choices” I asked “Isn’t it our responsibility to protect youth sometimes? I mean, we don’t let them smoke, we discourage them from doing drugs, we don’t let them drink alcohol. Isn’t it our responsibility to protect youth from certain health choices?” To which the answer was (one sentence) “As a progressive education organization, we don’t believe in telling youth what to do and what not to do.” (This to me is really scary – it sounds like they would let young people do anything as long as young people were educated to me. Say I had a ten year old and my ten year old wanted to do drugs and he had been educated about what they did and how they work. By their own reasoning, my ten year old should be allowed to do drugs. That kind of reasoning is such a slippery slope.)
• “Abstinence is impossible!” (To which I say false. I know for a fact that I am not the only person who was abstinent until marriage. And if I did it, clearly it’s not impossible. I am far from superhuman, trust me.)
• “When the sexual and reproductive health rights of youth are upheld, they have greater access to education.” (This seems all backwards to me. How does knowing how to have safe sex teach you how to read? Someone explain please.)
• “There is a huge problem in my country that people think children are a blessing from God so they keep having more of them.”  (First of all, children ARE a blessing from God. Second of all, if you are all about choices, how can you tell people that they are having too many children?)
• One speaker implied that women who marry young are uneducated. (This really upset me because I married at 20 and I am almost finished with my Bachelor’s degree – early at that – and considering getting my Master’s. Even if I don’t get my Master’s, it would be because I have never felt strongly about getting a Master’s degree and I have other goals and dreams, not because I got married.)
• After hearing a man talk about how it was time to listen to the young people all evening long, afterwards I approached him and the following exchange took place (I think it speaks for itself).
  “You keep saying you want to listen to the young people, but the truth is, you don’t want to listen to the young people who disagree with you.”
  “Well when all the choices are available, if you disagree, you don’t have to make that choice.”
  “But we know some things are bad for people, that’s why we try not to let people make those choices, like we make some drugs illegal.”
  “It’s just that our society was founded on the basis of freedom.”
  “But we restrict some freedoms for the protection of other people, like if I wanted to murder you, I couldn’t do that, because there are laws limiting my freedom for your protection.”
  “That may be so.”

We also saw blatant attempts to censor us. In their earlier events, they took questions from the audience. After getting many, many pro-life questions that they fumbled through the answers on, in their last event, they only took written questions so they could pick and choose which ones to ask. There were many questions we submitted that were never asked or answered.

They are trying to put all of this in under Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 which is on improving maternal health. However, when you listen to them and see their publications, it’s pretty clear that they don’t want to improve maternal health, they just want guaranteed access to contraception and abortion for everyone.

But abortion and contraception are not the answer to solving maternal health. Contraception doesn’t fix maternal health because it allows people to have more sex, thus increasing their risk of becoming pregnant, since no contraception works 100 percent. The reasons for that are two fold. First because abortions  actually hurt maternal health and second because it doesn’t address some of the real causes of maternal mortality.

There is a LOT of evidence to support these two points (By the way, don’t feel like you need to read them all – just a sampling will give you an idea of what is out there. I include them in case you are like ” I can’t get enough of this” as I sometime am) .

• This article shows that not only is the likelihood of death is higher after abortion, but that the likelihood of dying from suicide is also higher after abortion and more women are treated for mental health problems after abortion. It also shows that women who experience pregnancy loss, especially abortion, have worse health overall.  Abortion is Four Times Deadlier Than Childbirth from After Abortion
• This article shows some of the statistics showing that maternal mortality can and IS reduced, even where abortion is illegal. Jeanne Head, a wonderful lady I worked with, who was a Labor and Delivery RN for many, many years, is also quoted in this piece. WHA Told Maternal Mortality Not Improved by Legalizing Abortion from LifeNews.com
• This article is very similar to the one directly above it, but is slightly different. New Analysis of Maternal Mortality Confirms Health Care, Not Abortion, Key Factors in Saving Lives
• A little look at Chile, where abortion is illegal and then have low rates of maternal mortality. Chile: Legalizing Abortion Does Not Reduce Maternal Mortality : Catholic News Agency
• A look at Ireland, number 1 lowest maternal mortality in the world, where abortion is illegal and some potential complications of abortions that can lead to higher maternal mortality rates. Maternal Death Rate Lowest in Abortion Free Ireland
• This is a look at the studies that have been done with maternal mortality and induced abortion, straight from OB/GYNs themselves. Pro-life OB/GYNs – AAPLOG – American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists – Introduction to induced abortion and maternal mortality 
• This graph and other material from the WHO shows that the majority of the women who die from pregnancy related causes do not die from unsafe abortion and are completely preventable. And, if we created a culture of life, where women didn’t feel the need to seek abortions, we could get that figure down to 0 percent, in my opinion. However, this website also lists contraception and access to abortion as the first thing that needs to be done. To be honest, this makes very little sense to me. More than 75 percent of women do not die from unsafe abortion (by their own statistics) – how is “safe” abortion supposed to help them? The simple fixes are listed as secondary ways to help, not first ways to help, even though they effect the majority of the women. WHO on Maternal Mortality
• This is a chapter from a book called Women’s Health After Abortion: The Medical and Psychological Evidence and goes through how deaths from abortion in the United States are probably much higher than reported and well as some of the medical consequences. Maternal Mortality
• This is the material we used at the UN about how abortion does not do anything to help maternal mortality. Why Legalized Abortion is Not Good for Women’s Health
• This contains the common myths surrounding abortion and maternal mortality and why they are untrue. Confronting the Myths About Maternal Mortality and Abortion
• Here’s a look at Sri Lanka and Malaysia and their maternal mortality and abortion facts. Abortion and Maternal Mortality
• This is a look at the bad state of maternal mortality in Ghana and how legalized abortion there has not helped it at all. Maternal Mortality a National Emergency as Promotion of Abortion Continues 
• This is another list of links on the connection between maternal mortality and abortion. C-FAM: Additional Research: Maternal Mortality
• This is a report that shows maternal mortality decreasing with no uptake in the legalization of abortion. UN: Maternal Mortality Declines by One-Third Despite No Abortion Legalization
• Here is more information on it, comparing various countries around the world. Life Issues Connector – June 2010: Abortion and Maternal Mortality 
• This is another article on a study done in Chile. Abortion Man Does Not Mean More Maternal Deaths, Chilean Study Finds
• From my last post on this subject, abortion leads to a greater chance of Placenta Previa and ectopic pregnancy in later pregnancies and Pelvic Inflammatory Disease.
• These graphs here show even lower numbers of women dying from abortion complications, so then how can providing “safe” abortion be held up as lowering maternal mortality? Childinfo.org

There are other ways to end the problem of maternal mortality. More hospitals, that are sterile and clean. Educating women about proper prenatal care. Having more trained doctors and midwives. Having the supplies and drugs on hand that are needed. Basically, providing women with the adequate care. Because women are dying from things we know how to treat and prevent. So we should channel our energy and funds into treating and preventing, not into abortion.

It’s my hope that after reading this, you’ve learned a little bit about why increasing access to abortion does nothing to reduce maternal mortality. I think the agenda they’re pushing – sex for anyone, with anyone, any time you want and if an oops happens then you should get an abortion, is healthy, normal, or good for society.

Further more, here are some links to read by others who were there or who reported on it. I’ll star the ones that talk about one or more events that I witnessed or pamphlets that I have seen and in some cases have in my possession and will be going over with a fine tooth comb to blog about when I get a chance that I can back up and say, yes, that really did happen.

• Young Voices Speak the Truth About Human Life to the United Nations
•  *UN Youth Conference Pays Lip Service to Youth Concerns
• *Opposing Views on the MDGs: The Truth Will Certainly Prevail
• *The Contraceptive and Abortive Mentalities
• *Holy See’s Statement on Youth @ UN’s HLM on Youth
• *See Our Statement Read at the UN High-Level Meeting on Youth
• *Too Young to Understand?
• *Comprehensive Sexual Education Propaganda Pervades UN World Youth Conference Events (Special note, I am the youth who asked that question – see above)
• *Youth Coalition Presents Family-Oriented Message at UN Summit
• *Youth Coalition Presents Alternate Message At UN
• *57,000 Youths Push Back Against Massive UN ‘Sexual Rights’ Agenda
• *Sex Rights are Human Rights?
• *Bringing Rational Dialogue to IPPF’s Social Media Showdown

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Abortion as a Coverup

I think this one is hard for me to write, because I’d like to believe it doesn’t happen. I’d like to think that no one takes advantage of little girls. I’d like to think that childhood is still considered special. I’d like to think that someday if I have kids and happen to have little girls, that I could trust people around me to remember that they are little girls and not women.

But the abortion industry is not someone to be trusted about it. They have a history of covering up statutory rape, which is where someone 18 or older has sex with someone 17 or younger. An undercover sting found that about 91 percent of abortion clinics will try and cover this up, even though in every state, they’re considered mandatory reporters and have to report even suspected abuse.

I wish that the pro-choice side would admit that they are not looking out for women. Because helping the abusers of women (little girls) get away with it, is not pro-woman. It’s harmful. Clearly, most people feel that statutory rape is wrong or states wouldn’t have these laws on the books. The scenario they posited was a 13 year old with a 22 year old. That’s almost a 10 year age difference and most people at 13 are still in 8th grade. If someone would like to challenge me and say that there’s a good reason that they shouldn’t be reporting that to the authorities, let me know, because I can’t think of a single one. It’s wrong. The abortion clinics through this are allowing young girls to be victimized.

I’m going to link to another blog post on this one because it has two videos that I want you to watch. To me, the first one is the most important to watch, though they are both important to watch. The first one shows news coverage on it, where they both play parts of these tapes and also try and get answers from the clinics in them as well as play them for lawmakers (pro-life and pro-choice) who are appalled that this sort of practices goes on. I know these are a bit old, but recent news has shown us that this is still going on.

Abortion Clinics Willing to Cover Up Child Rape

Original post I wrote on the matter: Abortion is bad for women.

Abortion: One Woman’s Story

I think that in accordance with what I posted previously, about how abortion is not a woman’s right, I want to share the stories of some of those women who it has hurt. So from time to time, I’ll be posting stories to share with you, probably usually from other blogs.

Here’s the first one for you, from the blog Stand for Life.

The Muriel Ramos Story: God’s Grace Brought Me Back From the Pits of Hell

I hope you learn something from it.

Abortion: A Woman’s Right?

I want to write this post and first off, I want to say that I know people who have had abortions and I know what tough situations people have been in. I have nothing but mercy and love and compassion and a desire to help women. That’s why I also think that abortion is wrong. I refuse to be called anti-woman and I refuse to be a person who says, “I’m personally opposed, but it’s their choice.” I am a feminist and I hope after reading this blog article you will understand why. I believe that being a feminist is not about making women equal with men because equal would mean that we had no differences, but celebrating what makes women unique and never turning down a woman because she is a woman. Equality is not always the best way because it doesn’t recognize that there are genuine differences between men and women.

And I think that abortion is not a woman’s right. On top of what it does to the baby, there is a lot of evidence that abortion is harmful to women. I’m going to lay out some of the facts, just know that this won’t be the last time I blog about this issue and know that I will bring it up again periodically with new information.

Here is my proof that shows that abortion is bad for women – in easy to read bullet format.

1) Among women with unintended pregnancies, those who abort versus those who carry their pregnancy to term, 30 percent of these women (who abort) have all the symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, according to the Journal of Anxiety Disorders.(Source)

2) According to the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, when they study the California health care system, women who aborted who made mental health claims was 17 percent higher than those who carried their children to term. (Source)

3) Another two articles from the British Medical Journal and the Southern Medical Journal, the death by suicide risk is 2-6 times higher for women who chose to abort versus those who have given birth. (Source

4)Abortion, according to the Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey increases the risk of Placenta Previa by 50 percent in future pregnancies. What’s Placenta Previa, you ask? It is a condition where the placenta attaches to your cervix, covering it either in part or in whole. It is a risk to both baby AND mother, since it can cause uncontrollable, heavy bleeding. (Source 1 2)

5)The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 1 in 100,000 women dies as a result of abortion. Now this, overall seems low. Except for the fact that Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey found that they were largely underreported because reporting to the CDC is not mandatory. (Source 1 2)

6) The number of women who have abortions for health reasons? 2 percent. (Source)

7) A study done by the Journal of Social Issues reported 81 percent of women felt victimized by their abortions, along with the fact that they felt coerced or that they felt not informed about alternatives and/or the procedure. (Source)

8.) Another way it harms women is that it gives men more power over them. One study found that 40 percent of women reported their boyfriends/husbands/partners pressured them into the abortions. Another has found as high as 80 percent of women felt pressure from people in their lives (parents included). (Source Source 2 Source 3)

9) Early feminists knew that abortion would oppress women – and fought hard against it! (Source)

10) The rate of ectopic pregnancies has risen dramatically since abortion was made legal and that the risk is twice as high in women who have had an abortion and increases with more abortions. 12 percent of all maternal related pregnancy deaths are because of ectopic pregnancies. (Source)

11) A woman has a 30 percent chance of developing Pelvic Inflammatory Disease after an abortion. This can lead to fever and infertility among other things (Source)

12) Abortion increases a woman’s risk of cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, and liver cancer. (Source)

13) Above and beyond that, abortion increases the risk of breast cancer. (Source 1 Source 2)

14) “Dozens of studies tie abortion to a rise in sexual dysfunction, aversion to sex, loss of intimacy, unexpected guilt, extramarital affairs, traumatic stress syndrome, personality fragmentation, grief responses, child abuse and neglect, and increase in alcohol and drug abuse. An Elliot Institute study indicates that women who abort are five times more likely to abuse drugs.” (Source)

15) “Post-abortion specialist David Reardon writes, “In a study of post-abortion patients only 8 weeks after their abortion, researchers found that 44% complained of nervous disorders, 36% had experienced sleep disturbances, 31% had regrets about their decision, and 11% had been prescribed psychotropic medicine by their family doctor.” (Source)

16) Mortality is 2.95 higher in abortions than in full term pregnancies (Source)

17) 154 percent higher risk of death by suicide after abortion (Source)

18) According to a New Zealand Study, “women who have abortions were twice as likely to drink alcohol at dangerous levels and three times as likely to be addicted to illegal drugs” after an abortion. (Source)

19) 4 Words: Post Abortion Stress Syndrome. Find out more here and here and here and here and here.

One notable person who is speaking out about abortion is Abby Johnson.

Canada is defunding Planned Parenthood.

I want to sum up with a quote from one of the sources that I listed. “If a nation as rich as ours were truly committed to women’s well-being and equality, we would look for real solutions to the underlying causes of abortion – including the serious challenge women face of balancing work or school and family, the disrespect for motherhood, the feminization of poverty, and society’s eugenic distaste for the imperfection and vulnerability of the disabled.” (Source)

Lastly, if you have had an abortion and you are suffering the negative consequences of it, there is hope and help. Check it out.

After Abortion
Victims of Abortion Speak Out
Silent No More
Victims of Choice
Project Rachel