Honest Information

Honest Information

I'm outraged by erroneous, reckless and manipulated conclusions based upon faulty research. I've just finished reading an article that describes such blatant disregard for science.

The article dissects a recent conclusion reached by a study entitled The comparative safety of legal induced abortion and childbirth in the United States, by Elizabeth G. Raymond, MD, MPH and David A. Grimes, MD. Their conclusion:

"Legal induced abortion is markedly safer than childbirth."

However, the study appears riddled with errors.

The study was based upon data reported by abortion clinics to state health departments and compiled by the Centers for Disease Control. This data is far from adequate for such a sweeping generalization or conclusion.

Abortion reporting is not required by federal law

Many states do not report abortion-related deaths to the CDC

Deaths due to medical and surgical treatments are not reported as "due to treatment". The deaths are reported as "due to a complication" of the procedure. Thus, if infection results from the abortion, the death would be reported as "due to infection", rather than due to the abortion.

Most women leave abortion clinics within hours of the procedure. They go to hospital emergency rooms if there are complications, and the abortion clinic is given no opportunity to report the outcome of the complication.

Suicide deaths are rarely, if ever, linked back to abortion for reporting to the state

Physical and/or psychological complications can lead to death years after an abortion, yet these indirect abortion-related deaths are not reported.

Consider California, our most populous state. California has no reporting requirements for abortion.

NO requirements.

Only 27 states require any type of abortion complication reporting.

Three of the four most populous states do not require reporting.

This study is not an example of "the best medical evidence." This is a very incomplete record of abortion-associated deaths, compared to a much more complete record of non-aborted deaths.

Researchers in Finland contradicts this faulty study, concluding that women are four times more likely to die in the year following abortion than women who give birth.

Pregnant women deserve accurate information about comparative risks.

Read the original article: www.atcmag.com.

Image provided by truthout, www.truthout.org, Creative Commons License.

Comments

  1. #1NanaMay 31, 2012 at 10:00 PM

    Milt, I think you and I are probably on opposite sides of the abortion debate. That said, I have to agree that manipulating data in an effort to sway opinion is unethical. Unfortunately, I think both sides have been guilty of this practice. I'm not one who believes that there is a big conspiracy to encourage women to have abortions. I think most women make that decision carefully and reluctently. I wish it were a decision that no woman had to make. I'd rather see all the energy that has gone toward debating abortion be directed at preventing unwanted pregnancies. Why can't both sides work toward that goal...it's one area where we seem to agree.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Milt ReynoldsJune 1, 2012 at 6:48 PM

    I respect what you're saying, #1Nana, and I actually did enter a response to your comment...a constructive response, on the whole, I think. But, it just doesn't seem that this is a good platform on which to debate, and you're right...rather than debate, the issue needs people willing simply to help others in need. I have great admiration for our local pregnancy care center. I know from firsthand, direct relationships with those involved that the people at our local center care greatly for the woman, and the man, that are facing an unexpected, often unwanted, pregnancy, as well as caring for the unborn, yet fully human child, that is at the center of the situation. Whatever solutions are offered must be solutions that value the life of the mother, the father, and the baby. To devalue one human life is to devalue all human life.

    Thanks for the comments, and for your encouragement toward a goal that is good for all involved.

    ReplyDelete

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