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msrosie

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No Decrease In Abortions When Illegal - Study Posted: 10-13-07 15:42pm


No decrease in abortions when illegal - study Bellinda Kontominas Medical Reporter October 13, 2007 ALMOST half of all abortions worldwide are carried out by people lacking the necessary skill to perform them, or in conditions which are deemed unsafe, research shows. Figures from international hospital data, surveys and published studies were compiled to calculate the incidence of safe and unsafe abortions - surgical and medical - across the world. That abortion occurred at almost the same rate in countries where it was legal as it did in countries where it was legally restricted provided strong support for the procedure to be legalised across the globe, said researchers from the US and the World Health Organisation in Switzerland. The study, published in the Lancet, found that 48 per cent of abortions were unsafe in 2003 and more than 97 per cent of unsafe abortions were in developing countries. The lead author, Gilda Sedgh, from the Guttmacher Institute in New York, said whether an abortion was safe or unsafe was determined largely by whether it was legal or not, with a higher incidence of unsafe abortions in countries where the procedure was restricted. She also wrote: "The findings presented here indicate that unrestrictive abortion laws do not predict a high level of abortion, and by the same token highly restrictive abortion laws are not associated with low abortion incidence." In an accompanying commentary, Beth Frederick, from the International Women's Health Coalition in New York, said there was no doubt ensuring abortions were legal and safe saved lives. The study also found that 20 per cent of pregnancies worldwide ended in abortion. However, the number of abortions had fallen, from 46 million in 1995 to 42 million in 2003. It found, on average, that 90 per cent of women would have one abortion in their reproductive lifetime. Abortion rates were highest in Africa and Asia, which recorded 29 abortions per 1000 women, and lowest in Oceania, with 17 abortions per 1000 women. This did not include data from Australia or New Zealand. Leslie Cannold, a medical ethicist at Monash University's Centre for Gender and Medicine, said women would still have abortions whether it became legal across the world or not. "We can't stop people and we shouldn't try to stop people as it only leads to unsafe abortions." Dr Cannold, who is president of Reproductive Choice Australia, said it was "absolutely cruel and inhuman punishment" to deny women access safe abortions. A spokeswoman for Coalition Against Decriminalisation of Abortion, Kirsten Jack, said she did not want to see any woman die or be seriously harmed by going through an unsafe abortion. However, she said they should still be illegal. "The woman is making a conscious decision … the foetus doesn't get a choice." http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/no-decr ease-in-abortions-when-illegal--study/2007 /10/12/1191696173917.html

Jincks013

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Posted: 10-13-07 21:02pm


I read this on another site. It proves what I've said all along.. making it illegal will not stop it.

Georgia59

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Posted: 10-13-07 22:48pm

Verizon-y

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Posted: 10-16-07 19:14pm


Here is another take on the same study: Here is the most interesting part: " In fact, Sedgh said, "what is counterintuitive is that [abortion] rates are lowest where it is legal."" October 12, 2007 Abortion Numbers Fall Worldwide FRIDAY, Oct. 12 (HealthDay News) -- The number of induced abortions fell worldwide from almost 46 million in 1995 to less than 42 million 2003, a new survey finds. About one in every five pregnancies ends in abortion, the global survey found, and the number of unsafe procedures has not declined. The report, by researchers at the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization, also found that abortion rates were unaffected by whether or not the procedure was legal or not in a particular country. "Abortion levels where it is illegal are just as high as where it is legal," said study co-author Gilda Sedgh, a senior researcher at the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit group focused on reproductive issues, based in New York City. In fact, Sedgh said, "what is counterintuitive is that [abortion] rates are lowest where it is legal." The survey results are published in the Oct. 13 issue of the journal The Lancet. This is the second such survey ever done. The first, also a cooperative effort of the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization, was done in 1994-1995. Data was gathered from government figures in areas where abortion is legal and by a variety of means, including private interviews with women, in areas where it is not legal, Sedgh said. Overall, the survey estimated 41.6 million abortions a year are carried out globally, with only about 6.6 million of them performed in developed nations such as the United States. Some 92 percent of abortions were done by safe methods in developed countries, but just 45 percent performed in developing nations were deemed safe. Globally, there were 31 abortions for every 100 live births in 2003, but those statistics varied widely from region to region. For example, there were 105 abortions for every 100 live births in eastern Europe, but in east Asia that rate declined to 51 abortions for every 100 live births. The abortion rate in eastern Europe is dropping rapidly, however, as better contraception becomes available, the researchers said. The high rate of the procedure in eastern Europe means that nearly a third of all pregnancies in that continent end in abortion. By contrast, only 12 percent of pregnancies in Africa end in abortion. Worldwide, the rate of abortion is one in every five pregnancies. China accounts for about a fifth of all abortions worldwide, the survey found. The rate in China dropped 20 percent between 1995 and 2003, as a growing middle class learned more effective use of contraception, Sedgh said. The survey has both good and bad news, said Beth Fredrick, executive vice president of the International Women's Health Group. "What is good is that the overall number of abortions are going down, primarily because of improved contraceptive use," said Fredrick, who was also the author of an accompanying journal commentary on the findings. "But behind the statistics, we see that the majority of abortions are going to be unsafe, particularly for the impoverished. This is an atrocity in terms of how we recognize human rights." Legal changes are occurring but differ among countries, Fredrick said. "Portugal, Columbia and Mexico City have liberalized," she said. "Nicaragua has completely outlawed abortion, and there are early indications that this is having a bad impact on the women of Nicaragua, their partners and families." The abortion survey is included in a special "Women Deliver" issue of The Lancet. It includes articles on the need to improve maternal mortality rates in regions such as southern Africa; the drive for more resources to fight severe childbirth complications; and the uneven progress being made to improve maternal health, country by country. http://www.w omenshealth.gov/news/english/609085.htm

Tylanas

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Posted: 10-16-07 19:19pm


I think it makes quite a bit of sense that where abortion is legal the rates are lower. Why? Because contraception is probably widely available too, as is sex-education.

Verizon-y

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Posted: 10-17-07 11:35am


That's what I think, too.

daffodil67

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Posted: 11-05-07 22:55pm


HEY...70,000 women die each year around the world NOW from BAD, unsafe (obviously) pregnancy terminations.... We NEED safe, legal, affordable ACCESS

Verizon-y

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Posted: 11-05-07 23:44pm


Amen.

daffodil67

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Posted: 11-06-07 03:27am


Praise god... (It jsut feels so good to state a simple OBVIOUSNESS and get a delightful, "Amen.") And it's true that birth control and termination access go together. Here, anyway, the zealots hae already effectively reduced access to birth control. We CANNOT let that slide, either, as it's essentially the other side of the same coin, as far as women having and rights? lives? power? and for fewer unwanted children to be born.

Tylanas

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Posted: 11-06-07 10:32am


Less than a year left guys, and then Reich Bush will be gone!

Verizon-y

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Posted: 11-06-07 13:44pm


Thank GOD!!!!

Jincks013

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Posted: 11-07-07 17:28pm

Eiri wrote:

Less than a year left guys, and then Reich Bush will be gone!

and counting down..

Verizon-y

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Posted: 11-07-07 20:41pm


I wonder how long it will be before all of the damage is undone?

milletics

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Posted: 11-07-07 20:53pm

daffodil67 wrote:

HEY...70,000 women die each year around the world NOW from BAD, unsafe (obviously) pregnancy terminations....

We NEED safe, legal, affordable ACCESS

HEY...millions and millions of babies die each year from abortions. Whats your point.

Verizon-y

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Posted: 11-07-07 20:57pm


Babies cannot by definition die from an abortion.

Rodge

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Posted: 11-07-07 21:03pm

milletics wrote:

daffodil67 wrote:

HEY...70,000 women die each year around the world NOW from BAD, unsafe (obviously) pregnancy terminations....

We NEED safe, legal, affordable ACCESS

HEY...millions and millions of babies die each year from abortions. Whats your point.

All you newbies, asking where we get our 'Pro-Life = Pro-Foetus' assumption... That, right there.

Verizon-y

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Posted: 11-07-07 21:35pm


Excellent point, Rodge!!!

Birch

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Posted: 11-07-07 23:26pm

milletics wrote:

daffodil67 wrote:

HEY...70,000 women die each year around the world NOW from BAD, unsafe (obviously) pregnancy terminations....

We NEED safe, legal, affordable ACCESS

HEY...millions and millions of babies die each year from abortions. Whats your point.

I didn't know babies could get abortions? Maybe they need to adjust the anesthesia?

Verizon-y

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Posted: 11-08-07 00:11am


lol!

Jincks013

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Posted: 11-08-07 09:23am


I havent read about a single baby dying of abortion. Do you have proof of this?

No Decrease In Abortions When Illegal - Study