One of the most under-reported aspects of abortion is how bad it is for women. We as a
society have failed women.
Video Talk: The Trauma of Abortion for Women
Presented on April 28th, 2016 and recorded as part of St. Matthew Knights of Columbus Respect Life Series. You can view the video below. Click here for this video and other Respect Life sessions.
Discussion
Let us start with the overarching view what was stated on the home page -- and after some thought should be obvious to all.
Dr. Daniel Martin, MD: Induced abortion is always bad for the woman. It is a premature, willful and violent penetration of a closed and safeguarded system, in which nearly every cell, tissue, and organ of a woman’s reproductive system has been activated to carry out the function of sustaining and nourishing the developing child. Violation of that integrity can lead to serious complications, physically and emotionally. The impact of abortion on the body of a woman who chooses abortion is great and always negative…[there is] no beneficial effect of a social abortion on a body.
For completeness, abortion techniques are listed, but see any medical reference for details. 1st Trimester: (1) Suction Aspiration(surgical); (2)Dilitation & Curetage (Surgical); (3)Ru-486(Chemical); (4)Methotrexate (chemical). 2nd Trimester: (5)Dilatation & Evacuation (Surgical). 2nd & 3rd Trimester: (6)Salt Poisoning, Urea,Prostaglandin (Chemical); (7) Partial Birth (Also D & X)(Surgical); (8)Hysterotomy (like C-Section (Surgical).
Books, periodicals, news articles, reports, personal testimonies abound to document abortion is bad for women, is only grudgingly accepted, and means we, as a society, have failed women.
There are documented cases with legal affidavits where women have experienced mutilation of internal organs, incomplete abortions which causes more pain and infection, hemorrhage, rape & sexual assault by abortionists. Further there is increased risk of losing the next baby, low birth weight, and many women have died.
Despite the use of local anesthesia, a full 97% of women having abortions reported experiencing pain during the procedure, which more than a third described as “intense,” “severe,” or “very severe". Compared to other pains, researchers have rated the pain from abortion as more painful than a bone fracture, about the same as cancer pain, though not as painful as an amputation. Younger women tend to find abortion more painful than do older adults, and patients typically found abortion more painful than their doctors or counselors expected. The use of more powerful general anesthetics can reduce the pain, but significantly increases the risk of cervical injury or uterine perforation.
Even more harmful long term physical complications from abortion may surface later. For example, overzealous curettage can damage the lining of the uterus and lead to permanent infertility. Overall, women who have abortions face increased risk of ectopic (tubal) pregnancy, and a more than double risk of future sterility, and these generally increase with each subsequent abortion.
Personal Testimony
See the paper The Legal, Medical, Religious & Emotional Aspects of Abortion for references. This paper is also linked in the Education Programs section of this site.
“Abortion destroys a woman inside out. It affects her emotionally, physically, psychologically, and spiritually.” [McGrath, Columbia]
There is a national information campaign called Silent No More, with National spokesperson Jennifer O'Neill, actress, and participation by such folks as Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They talk about their regret and post-abortion depression. Some symptoms are that women can no longer run a vacuum since it reminds them of their vacuum abortion. They can’t hold a pear in their hand because it’s about the size of the baby they killed (Abortions are not usually done before about 6 -8 weeks, when it already looks like a tiny doll).
They never forget the abortion anniversary and due date so about 5 years later, they see other children going to school, or playing in the playground, and it’s devastating. Many women report feelings of suicide, inability to have a positive relationship with their partner, marriages sometimes crumble. Then when they lose a 2nd baby, which they now wanted, it is devastating because they know they were the cause.
Finally, “Why Aren’t Women Being Told?” is one catch phrase of the educational activity telling people about the link between abortion and breast cancer. the “ABC Link”. Going back several decades, there have been 13 of 16 studies in the US and 29 of 40 international studies showing there is a link. In a 1994 study [Daling] of 2000 women, overall, women having abortions increased risk of getting breast cancer, before the age of 45 by 50%.
For women under 18 with no previous pregnancies, having an abortion after the 8th week increased the risk of breast cancer 800%. Women with a family history of breast cancer fared even worse. All 12 women participating in the study who had abortions before 18 and had a family history of breast cancer, themselves got breast cancer before age 45.
In 2003 the National Cancer Institute (NCI) declared all these studies null and void, and said there is no risk increase. Yet as recently as April 2009, another study [Ertest], not under their purview, shows there is. The report reconfirms the connection, and reports an overall 66% increase risk of contracting breast cancer as a result of abortion. Also in April 2009, the main NCI activist denying the “ABC Link” Louise A. Brinton, coauthored a report admitting the link, as well as the link of breast cancer and oral contraceptives. Abortion is listed as one of the strongest predictors of breast cancer. The “ABC” Link should not be hidden from women.