New Study Shows Abortion Hurts Women's Physical Health

Chicago, IL -- Abortion increases risks of premature delivery, maternal depression and suicide, and other serious health consequences, reports a new study by prominent medical researchers. The authors further conclude that more research is required, and that women need to be informed of these and other major long-term health risks of abortion.

The study, published in the January 2003 issue of the Obstetric &Gynecological Survey (OGS), assesses the long-term physical and psychological health consequences of abortion. The researchers, professors of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Michigan, reviewed and analyzed 30 years of medical studies on the long-term medical risks of abortion.

Their research reveals a critical need for "a detailed study of the health effects of this common procedure."  Acknowledging that current data is sparse, and that current studies are flawed, the researchers recommend further studies to meet "the clear need for women to have accurate information" about the risks and potential complications of abortion.

Denise Burke, staff counsel for Americans United for Life (AUL), notes, "The current lack of comprehensive and trustworthy studies revealing the long-term effects of abortion is reminiscent of the lack of information we had about the dangers of smoking 30 years ago. Women deserve to know how abortion will affect their lives and health."

The study notes that 26 of every 100 known pregnancies end in abortion. Dorinda Bordlee, AUL staff counsel, says, "Twenty-eight states currently require some level of informed consent for abortion. Given the prevalence of this procedure, we are hopeful that this new study will encourage the remaining states to enact laws that give women considering abortion complete and accurate medical information."

Bordlee continues, "Women have been at the center of a 30-year social and medical experiment, and we should unapologetically insist on mandatory reporting of abortion complications for the sake of women's health, and in the interest of preventing a public health crisis."

The abstract and study are published in Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey 2003; 58(1):67-79 and may be found at http://www.obgynsurvey.com.

The study's authors are:
John M. Thorp, Jr., M.D.
Mcallister Distinguished
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Department of Epidemiology
School of Public Health, and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
School of Medicine
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Katherine E. Hartmann, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Epidemiology
School of Public Health
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
School of Medicine
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Elizabeth Shadigian, M.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
School of Medicine
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Thorp and Hartmann are Co-Directors of the Women's Health Research Project at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Obstetric &Gynecological Survey reprint requests of this article may be directed to: John M. Thorp, Jr., M.D., Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599. E-mail: jmt@med.unc.edu.

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