National Right To Life Responds To Latest Guttmacher Report

3.67 (3 votes)

Today, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of 50 state right-to-life affiliates, disputed claims that restrictions on abortion "disproportionately affect" poor women. The assertion was made in, "Changes in Abortion Rates Between 2000 and 2008 and Lifetime Incidence of Abortion, published online yesterday in the June 2011 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology by researchers from the Guttmacher Institute (originally founded as a special research affiliate of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America).

"Data showing an eight percent drop in abortion rates across the board from 2000 to 2008 are encouraging," said Randall K. O'Bannon, Ph.D., National Right to Life director of education and research.

"Guttmacher suggests that higher abortion rates among poorer woman and abortion restrictions are somehow connected, yet it's a thesis that goes undefended," O'Bannon further noted. "How common sense regulations like right-to-know laws, which tell women about abortion's risks and alternatives which are better for both them and their unborn children, and similar protective measures, are supposed to hurt poor women is hard to fathom."

The overall downward trend seems to indicate that such laws, along with the assistance provided by pregnancy care centers, which provide lifesaving alternatives to abortion, are enabling more women to choose life for their unborn child. However, several states - California, New York and at least a dozen others - publicly fund abortion for poor women. "While the abortion industry saw declines among most demographic groups, it just happened to see growth among women for whom states were covering abortion costs," observed O'Bannon.

The fact is, when tax dollars pay for abortion, you get more abortion," O'Bannon observed.

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), according to their own 2008-2009 annual report, showed over $1 billion in revenues, including $363.3 million in "Government Grants & Contracts" (an increase from $165 million in 1998). At a time when the overall number of abortions has decreased, PPFA reports performing 332,278 abortions for the period covered in the 2009 report - accounting for more than 27% of all abortions performed annually in the United States.

O'Bannon noted: "The abortion industry likes to argue that high abortion rates are due to insufficient government funding for 'family planning,' but the record seems at odds with that assertion. As abortion industry giant Planned Parenthood has received hundreds of millions of tax dollars each year, abortions at their facilities have steadily increased at rates that very nearly match their increases in government funding."

"Ultimately, the report says less about pro-life laws and more about the aggressiveness of the abortion industry that, funded by tax dollars in many states, exploited poorer women during the recession and profited from their misery. If more women choose life for their unborn children as a result of pro-life legislative initiatives, the abortion industry knows that it will adversely impact their financial bottom line," O'Bannon concluded.

Source:
National Right to Life Committee (NRLC)

Marie Stopes International's Response To The 2010 Abortion Statistics In England And Wales

5 (1 votes)

Official figures released today by the Department of Health show that the number of women having abortions in England and Wales has risen for the first time in three years. In total 189,574 abortions were performed in 2010, representing a 0.3% increase from 2009.

Marie Stopes International, the leading provider of independent sexual and reproductive health services was disappointed not to see a further reduction in numbers as we have seen in previous years. With improvements in contraception rates last year, these figures come as a particular surprise. We were pleased, however, to see that the under-18 abortion rate has reduced from 17.6 per 1,000 women in 2009 to 16.5 per 1,000 women in 2010.

Dr Paula Franklin, Director of Clinical Development at Marie Stopes International the leading independent provider of sexual and reproductive healthcare services, comments: "Although the numbers are similar to those of 2009, we are surprised not to see a further decrease in the number of abortions across England and Wales.

"Improved access to counselling and advice, through services like Marie Stopes International's OneCall, is allowing women to access a full range of information early. In 2010, 91% of abortions were carried out at under 13 weeks gestation, requiring a simpler procedure with fewer chances for complication and can reduce the stress and anxiety experienced by a woman in making what can be a difficult decision.

"At Marie Stopes International we are committed to providing women with the information, advice and services they need to make informed contraceptive choices. Unplanned pregnancies do of course still happen, and whilst we will always support a woman's access to safe abortion services, we want to be sure enough is being done to help avoid unplanned pregnancies in the first place. Taking a look at today's figures more closely, you can see that the number of under-18 abortions in England and Wales has fallen which we believe correlates with the increased uptake of contraception. From our own experience, as uptake of long acting forms of contraception has increased, we have seen a corresponding reduction in the number of repeat abortions with under 20 year olds.

"Although the rise is small, these abortion figures send a warning for the government's family planning strategy. There are three key areas that need to be focused on: education, access and choice. Education is absolutely vital for effective family planning. Through education, people are able to make informed choices and take control of their sexual and reproductive health. Marie Stopes International believes that comprehensive and standardised sex and relationship education should be delivered in all schools. Importantly though, we can all play a part in this: parents, teachers and trusted health providers like Marie Stopes International and the NHS. If we are to really help young people make informed decisions we have to encourage an open and non-judgemental attitude to talking about sex and relationships

Overall Abortion Rate Drops 8% In Eight Years, Rises 18% Among Poor Women In USA

Editor's Choice
Academic Journal
Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 24 May 2011 - 15:00 PDT

Following Abortion, Immediate Use Of An IUD Is More Likely To Prevent Unintended Pregnancies

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 09 Jun 2011 - 3:00 PDT

The Social Stigma Surrounding Abortion

5 (1 votes)

Article opinions: 3 posts
An international team of researchers says abortion stigma is under researched, under theorized and over emphasized in one category: women who've had abortions. As a result, they're launching a new direction into research that explores .

Their invited paper, "Abortion Stigma: A Reconceptualization of Constituents, Causes, and Consequences," is published in the current journal, Women's Health Issues (Vol. 21, issue 3, supplement). The team of researchers is represented by The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health; the University of Cincinnati Department of Sociology; the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Psychiatry; the Guttmacher Institute in New York; Goldsmiths College, University of London; and Center for the Study of Women, University of California, Los Angeles.

"There is very little research on abortion stigma, and what does exist has focused on women who have had abortions and on those experiences. We're looking at stigma in a broader context," explains research team member Danielle Bessett, assistant professor of sociology, University of Cincinnati.

The authors cite previous research on abortion stigma including that abortion violates "feminine ideals," that abortion is stigmatized because of legal restrictions, and that it is viewed as "dirty or unhealthy."

Bessett explains that each researcher on the project is exploring a specific group that could be affected by stigma, such as health care providers that perform abortions, supporters of women who have had abortions, the male partner of the woman who had an abortion, women's experience in pregnancy after previously having an abortion and women's self stigma after suffering miscarriage.

"This is new territory into research around the social issues surrounding abortion," says Bessett, who adds the research will be conducted in both national and international settings, including the United States, Zambia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Mexico, Brazil and countries in Europe.

"Understanding abortion stigma will inform strategies to reduce it, which has direct implications for improving access to care and better health for those whom stigma affects," state the authors in the paper.

Research funding for the paper was supported by the Charlotte Ellerston Social Service Postdoctoral Fellowship in Abortion and Reproductive Health. The research project is led by Alison Norris, MD, Department of Population Family and Reproductive Health, The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Health; Danielle Bessett, University of Cincinnati Department of Sociology; Julia R. Steinberg, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco; Megan L. Kavanaugh, Guttmacher Institute; Silvia De Zordo, Department of Anthropology,Goldsmiths College, University of London; and Davida Becker, Center for the Study of Women, University of California, Los Angeles.

Source:
Dawn Fuller
University of Cincinnati

More Docs Refusing Abortions; Religion And Location Named Factors

Article opinions: 1 posts
More and more doctors are unwilling to perform abortions, according to a recent survey, lowering the original percentage of those that were willing according to an alternate survey, 22%, down to 14% or one in seven. Although it is a legal medical practice in most locales, why is there the push back by medical practitioners? However, female specialists were about 2.5 times more likely than males to provide abortions, as were younger practitioners, ages 35 and under.

In the U.S., the demand for abortion is high, they said, given that half of pregnancies are unintended, and half of those end in abortion. More than 1 out of 3 women in the U.S. have an abortion by the time they are 45 years old. There are two kinds of abortion in the U.S.; in-clinic abortion and the abortion pill.

Religious objections may play a role, as may a reduction in training for the procedure in residency programs from the late 1970s through 1996. After that time, abortion training was required for residency.

From a strictly religious viewpoint, the study found that practitioners who identify as being Jewish were more likely to perform abortion, while Catholics and Evangelical Protestants, on the other hand, as well as physicians with high religious motivation, were less likely to offer the service.

Key variables that the researchers asked about included whether respondents had ever encountered patients seeking abortions in their practices, and whether they provided abortion services. Overall, 97% said they had encountered patients seeking abortions, but only 14.4% said they performed the service. However, those aged 56 to 65 were the next most likely group to provide abortions; those ages 35 to 45 were the least likely.

With more insight, the study states geography is a factor as well:

"Access to abortion remains limited by the willingness of physicians to provide abortion services, particularly in rural communities in the South and Midwest."

In the Northeast or West, and in highly urban postal codes, were more likely to do the procedure than those in the South and Midwest or more rural areas, the researchers found. Many doctors choose to avoid being a target of antiabortion activists.

One caveat was that the recent study didn't assess whether specialists who do not perform abortions refer their patients out to colleagues who do. The study was also limited by self report, and by the lack of anonymity involved in reporting and returning the survey.

It's a growing trend among the United States for anti-abortion "protesters" to use intimidation tactics, or now even outright threats, to try to stop doctors from providing legal abortions to women. The intent is that if doctors can be scared out of providing abortions, more women will have to carry to term simply because they have no other safe options.

Abortion in the United States has been legal in every state since the United States Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, on January 22, 1973. Prior to "Roe", there were exceptions to the abortion ban in at least 10 states; "Roe" established that a woman has a right to self-determination (often referred to as a "right to privacy") covering the decision whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term, but that this right must be balanced against a state's interest in preserving fetal life.

Written by Sy Kraft
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Global Abortion Rates Remain Steady

New figures from the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization (WHO) show that after a long period of decline, the global abortion rates have steadied. From 1995 to 2003, rates dropped from 35 per 1000 women of childbearing age to 29 per 1000, whereas the new study shows the 2008 rate is stable at 28 per 1000.

The United Nations says the slow down coincides with a plateau in the uptake of contraceptive use in developing countries, where there has been a big contraceptive drive in the last couple of decades, partly because of HIV and partly because of over population issues.

Sadly though, the report also makes a note of the fact that nearly half of all abortions in the developing world are unsafe and almost all unsafe abortions occur in developing countries around the world. The abortion rate is lower in the developed world, excluding Eastern Europe and comes in for 2008 at 17 per 1000 women of child bearing age, dropping slightly from 20 per 1000 in 1995.

Gilda Sedgh , lead author of the study and a senior researcher at the Guttmacher Institute says :

"The declining abortion trend we had seen globally has stalled, and we are also seeing a growing proportion of abortions occurring in developing countries, where the procedure is often clandestine and unsafe. This is cause for concern ... This plateau coincides with a slowdown in contraceptive uptake. Without greater investment in quality family planning services, we can expect this trend to persist."

Alarmingly, WHO figures state that 13% of all maternal deaths worldwide are caused by unsafe abortions, a tragedy considering the procedure is relatively simply and safely performed if the doctor and nurses are trained, have the correct facilities, cleanliness and medicines available to them. Unsafe abortion accounted for 220 deaths per 100,000 procedures in 2008, 350 times the rate associated with legal induced abortions in the United States (0.6 per 100,000). Unsafe abortion is also a significant cause of ill-health: Each year approximately 8.5 million women in developing countries experience abortion complications serious enough to require medical attention, and three million of them do not receive the needed care.

Iqbal H. Shah, of the WHO and a coauthor of the study said :

"Deaths and disability related to unsafe abortion are entirely preventable, and some progress has been made in developing regions. Africa is the exception, accounting for 17% of the developing world's population of women of childbearing age but half of all unsafe abortion related deaths ... Within developing countries, risks are greatest for the poorest women. They have the least access to family planning services and are the most likely to suffer the negative consequences of an unsafe procedure. Poor women also have the least access to post abortion care, when they need treatment for complications."

The figures show conclusively that stricter abortion laws have no bearing upon number of abortions and in fact simply cause women to go through back street channels with unlicensed or unscrupulous practitioners. Whether you are for or against abortion or feel indifferent, it's impossible to argue against the numbers that demonstrate how too much regulation or prohibition simply creates an unsafe and over priced black market, much as prohibition of alcohol and drugs does. For example, the 2008 abortion rate was 29 per 1,000 women of childbearing age in Africa and 32 per 1,000 in Latin America, regions where abortion is highly restricted in almost all countries. In contrast, in Western Europe, where abortion is generally permitted on broad grounds, the rate is 12.

In contrast, the South African abortion laws are far more relaxed and the figures come in at only 15 per 1000, very close to European figures. Eastern Europe has a different scenario, with very high abortion rates coming in at 90 per 1000 in 1995 and falling to 44 per 1000 in 2003. There hasn't been much change in the rate since 2003, and it seems alarmingly high. Researchers put this down to low uptake of contraceptive methods such as the pill and IUD, while the population is generally more sexually liberated and less religious than in Africa and Latin America. Eastern Europe is also stereotyped for providing many prostitutes to West Europe, and this attitude towards sex may also increase the number of unwanted pregnancies.

Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet says :

"These latest figures are deeply disturbing. The progress made in the 1990s is now in reverse. Promoting and implementing policies to reduce the number of abortions is now an urgent priority for all countries and for global health agencies, such as WHO ... Condemning, stigmatizing, and criminalizing abortion are cruel and failed strategies. It's time for a public health approach that emphasizes reducing harm - and that means more liberal abortion laws."

Written By Rupert Shepherd
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today