Health Risks of Abortion

Doctors slam ‘abortion safer than childbirth’

studyby Kathleen GilbertTue Jan 24, 2012 15:18 ESTComments (15)Tags: abortion, planned parenthood, pregnancy WASHINGTON, D.C., January 24, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) -


A study by family planning advocates concluding that abortion is safer for women than carrying a child to term has been sharply criticized by doctors who say the years-old claim has been debunked by data on the long-term effects of abortion.Dr. Elizabeth Raymond from Gynuity Health Projects in New York City and Dr. David Grimes of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, published the study in the February 2012 issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, examining estimated mortality rates associated with live births and induced abortions in the United States between 1998–2005. The data, taken from the Center for Disease Control and the Planned Parenthood-funded Guttmacher Institute, found 8.8 deaths per 100,000 live births, versus 0.6 deaths per 100,000 abortions.Raymond and Grimes are associated with Family Health International, a leading pro-abortion international family planning group, and both have lobbied for distribution of the abortifacient Plan B pill without a prescription in America.A Reuters article on the study linked by the Drudge Report this week quoted an OB-GYN student at Columbia University Medical Center in New York defending the study against outlandish criticisms.Is giving birth to your child more dangerous than aborting him? That's the claim that one new study makes. “We wouldn’t tell people, ‘Don’t have a baby because it’s safer to have an abortion’—that’s ridiculous,” Dr. Anne Davis told Reuters Health. “We’re trying to help women who are having all reproductive experiences know what to expect." But several pro-life doctors say that, because it fails to include the long-term adverse effects of abortions, the years-old claim that abortion’s mortality rate is lower misrepresents the overall effects of abortion on women versus bringing a child to term.“[Abortion] is not safe when you look into the long term,” Dr. Mary Davenport, president of the American Association of Pro-Life OB/GYNs, told LifeSiteNews.com. “They were only talking about immediate death. If you do the math, there is a much higher rate of risk-taking behaviors,” including suicide attempts and substance abuse, said Davenport. Microbiologist and bioethics commentator Gerard Nadal told LSN that such data fails to account for the physical damage often sustained by women during abortions, including damage to reproductive organs that has been strongly linked to subsequent pregnancy complications or even sterility. Meanwhile, he said, abortion’s link to increased risk of breast cancer, and childbirth’s protective effect against cancer, is ignored.Another OB/GYN, Dr. Matt Phillips of CEC For Life, agreed, saying the study’s claim is “at least 20 years old” and based on skewed information. “You can make the numbers look any way you want to make them,” he said. Patrick Carr of Family & Life of Ireland noted that countries where abortion is illegal, such as Ireland, routinely have the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world, while areas with liberal abortion laws such as South Africa top the maternal mortality charts.Those who minister to post-abortive women also say that the study fails to reflect the real-life consequences of abortion.Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, which oversees the Rachel’s Vineyard Ministry and the Silent No More Campaign, called the study’s conclusion an “outdated myth.”“The dangerous effects of abortion have yet to be fully measured,” Pavone told LifeSiteNews.com. Experience with post-abortive women, he said, “shows that it is often only years or decades later that the harm abortion causes a woman becomes evident, or that the link of that harm with abortion becomes known.”

February Pro Life Events in the Country

Pro-Life Rally
Date: Sunday, February 5, 2012
Time: 3:00 PM
Venue: St. Joseph Church, Odessa, TX
>> Knights of Columbus
Council 10404 has scheduled a Pro-Life Rally at 3 p.m. Feb. 5 at St. Joseph’s
Catholic Church Hall, 907 S. Dixie Blvd. Speaker will be the Rev. Victor
Salomon, worldwide director of Hispanic outreach for priests for life. The rally
will be bilingual. Call 337-2213.
Category: Community
Venue details
St. Joseph Church
View
upcoming events
Address: 907 S. Dixie Blvd.,Odessa,TX,
79761
Map: Directions
Nearby: Bars · Restaurants · Parking

I'll keep posting as I find them!!

Common Questions

Common Pro-life QuestionsGuest Author - Rebecca Franklin
Here are some of the most commonly asked questions at Bella Online Pro-Life.

When does the baby's heart start beating?
Eighteen days after conception is when the baby's heart starts beating. Most mothers don't yet know they are pregnant at this early stage

When do the lungs develop?
The lungs begin to develop at six weeks. They are fully functional at 12 weeks, meaning the baby is "breathing" amniotic fluid in a fully developed breathing pattern. (The baby will continue to get oxygen provided by his umbilical cord until his birth, when he or she takes his first breath of air in the outside world.)

Many detractors claim that a baby isn't a living human being until he or she has been born. When does the baby have everything we (adults) have, and only needs to grow before being born?

Great question! At 10 or 11 weeks gestation all the major life functions are in place and functioning to some degree. Keep in mind, though, that these processes have to undergo major maturation before the baby can survive outside of the womb.

What is the earliest that a premature baby can survive outside of the womb?

Twenty weeks is the earliest premature birth that has survived. Survivals before 23 weeks are extremely rare. With medical technology constantly changing and improving, these numbers will hopefully become obsolete in the future.

Food For Thought

A worried woman went to her gynecologist and said:'Doctor, I have a
serious problem and desperately need your help! My baby is not
even 1 year old and I'm pregnant again. I don't want kids so close
together.'So the doctor said: 'Ok and what do you want me to
do?'She said: 'I want you to end my pregnancy, and I'm counting on your
help with this.'The doctor thought for a little, and after some silence
he said to the lady: 'I think I have a better solution for your problem. It's
less dangerous for you too.'She smiled, thinking that the doctor was
going to accept her request.Then he continued: 'You see, in order for
you not to have to take care of 2 babies at the same time, let's kill the one in
your arms. This way, you could rest some before the other one is born. If we're
going to kill one of them, it doesn't matter which one it is. There would be no
risk for your body if you chose the one in your arms.'The lady was
horrified and said: 'No doctor! How terrible! It's a crime to kill a
child!''I agree', the doctor replied. 'But you seemed to be OK with it,
so I thought maybe that was the best solution.'The doctor smiled,
realizing that he had made his point.He convinced the mom that there is
no difference in killing a child that's already been born and one that's still
in the womb. The crime is the same!If you agree, please

SHARE.Together we can help save precious lives!Love says, 'I
sacrifice myself for the good of the other person.' Abortion says, 'I sacrifice
the other person for the good of myself.



THANK YOU TO MY SISTERS FOR PROVIDING THESE INSPIRING STORIES!!!

Inspiring Stories

In a recent email, I read about a woman named Pam, who knows the pain of
considering abortion. More than 24 years ago, she and her husband Bob were
serving as missionaries to the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. Pam
contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite
found in contaminated food or drink. She went into a coma and was treated with
strong antibiotics before they discovered she was pregnant. Doctors
urged her to abort the baby for her own safety and told her that the medicines
had caused irreversible damage to her baby. She refused the abortion and cited
her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born
without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. Pam said the doctors
didn't think of it as a life, they thought of it as a mass of fetal
tissue.While pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times but refused
to consider abortion. She recalled making a pledge to God with her husband: If
you will give us a son, we'll name him Timothy and we'll make him a
preacher.Pam ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in
bed and eventually gave birth to a healthy baby boy August 14, 1987. Pam's
youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, makes hospital
visits, and serves with his father's ministry in the Philippines . He also plays
football. Pam's son is Tim Tebow.The University of Florida 's star
quarterback became the first sophomore in history to win college football's
highest award, the Heisman Trophy. His current role as quarterback of the Denver
Broncos has provided an incredible platform for Christian witness. As a result,
he is being called The Mile-High Messiah.Tim's notoriety and the
family's inspiring story have given Pam numerous opportunities to speak on
behalf of women's centers across the country. Pam Tebow believes that every
little baby you save matters. I pray her tribe will increase!May the
peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always!

The DesOrmeaux Foundation

The DesOrmeaux Foundation is a local (Lafayette, LA) foundation that has 3 different programs...The Women's Center of Lafayette- a pregnancy resourse center, St. Marguerite D'Youville Home- a place for expecting mothers to stay and receive free care and Baby and Me Boutique- a non-profit boutique store. This foundation has helped 9,500 women choose life since 1999. It is a great foundation and I plan on being a big part of it. On February 24, 2012 they are having a Celebrate Life banquet and silent auction with a guest renowned national speaker, Michael Voris. It will be held at 6:30 PM at the Lafayette Crowne Plaza Hotel on Pinhook Rd. For ticket information you can call 337-289-9366 or visit desormeauxfoundation.com. I'd like to include this foundations 2011 statistics:

Clients requesting services- 1,032
Abortion bound clients- 566
Babies saved- 466 (YAY!)
Residents in the home- 7

Please do what you can for this foundation, even if it's just spreading the word!
Thank you everyone for following and keep tuned becuase I will be posting all kinds of events and foundations around the country that may be useful to you!

My Story

On July 25, 2008 I delivered my 8.5 ounce, 18 week gestation son into this world. Noah James may not have been alive, but he was still my son and I had great love for him. I learned approximately 2 weeks before that I did not have any amniotic fluid and that his chances of survival were slim. At that time, I was given the option of abortion, and to my suprise and upset, I actually considered it. Then, God spoke to me and made me realize what I was actually considering. What right did I, or any medical professional have to predict a definite future? Sure, statistics are what they are, but I believe in miracles and God's will. I dedided to continue with the pregnancy when 2 weeks later we discovered that we no longer had a heartbeat. I prepared myself for a long and hard journey, and with God's grace we got through it. From that point on I kept telling myself that everything happens for a reason and I knew that this had something good to come out of it. In the course of the 3 years since I had him I have helped others in similar situations cope with their loss through my own experiences and life lessons. Recently, I have felt compelled to do more, and that's when things started to fall into place and God started to give his signs. As I was cleaning one day, I came across Noah's pictures and memorabilia and I felt a deep desire to use him as an example. The next week I was sitting in church and my priest was giving a homily about Pro Life and abortion, as it was that time of year. That got me wanting to volunteer and do more. A few days later, I received a flier in the mail about doing more and getting involved and that's when I knew that 3 signs were enough, it was just something I had to do. If you scroll down this blog you will see pictures of Noah at 18 weeks gestation. This is a legal abortion age in the United States- I know, I had the option to do it! Boy, am I ever glad I didn't! Please, if you or anyone you know is contemplating abortion, look at these pictures and then see if you can honestly tell yourself that you are not killing a life. Had I aborted Noah, those arms would have been totally separated from that body to be stuffed into a jar. I just can't imagine my baby being severed and stuffed into a jar, can you? There are other options out there and every child deserves a chance at life. Just imagine if your parents decided to abort you and all of the great things in life you would have missed out on. Please pass this site on to any of your friends and family you know that may need this information. It is very near and dear to my heart and my full intentions are to help those in need- mothers and unborn children. Thank you.