Published reports from scientific studies all come from university medical centers. Surgery in them is done by highly qualified surgeons. Further, they have immediate access to topnotch care if a mishap occurs. But less than 10% of U.S. abortions are done in such elite institutions. Consequently their reports of safety or hazards do not in any way reflect the actual situation "out there" where over 90% of abortions are done in free-standing, for-profit abortion facilities or in doctors’ offices.

The typical abortion mill will rarely report any complications. If the problem is acute, the injured woman is taken by van (never an ambulance-that’s bad publicity) to the nearest emergency room and left there.

More commonly, she’ll be sent home. If she bleeds, gets septic, etc., she must seek help elsewhere, as the abortion mills rarely give any follow-up care.

There are reporting regulations in most states, but these are largely voluntary, and most private clinics simply don’t report complications. Many don’t even report the abortions done, e.g., in some states abortion reporting was highly inaccurate. A glaring example of this was Ohio, 1988. This was the last year of Gov. Richard Celeste’s term. Celeste was pro-abortion and had apparently not adequately funded the health department reporting mechanism. In that year, the total number of induced abortions reported from Hamilton County (Greater Cincinnati) was 3,218. In an entirely separate report, Planned Parenthood, which runs one of the four busy abortion mills in Cincinnati, in its national reporting stated that its abortion mill alone had done 3,144. Subtracting the two, left only 74 abortions done in the other three busy abortion mills in the city of Cincinnati. Obviously, this is absurd. Just as obviously, those three abortion facilities were simply not reporting.

The next governor (George Voinovich) was pro-life, and when this was called to his attention, a major change occurred, and it is felt that abortion reporting now is probably accurate. This lack of supervision in the field of reporting is very typical of the entire issue of abortion when reporting complications, deaths, etc. Abortion reporting is different. It stands by itself. It cannot be compared to any other medical procedure.

Be advised, if these places do not even report how many they perform, guess how many surgical complications they voluntarily report.

Correct -and for two reasons. One is that few abortion complications are reported to them. The other is that this official government Bureau has been shown to be consistently under-reporting the abortion complications sent to it while over-exaggerating complications of pregnancy and delivery.

A landmark expose’ has peeled back some of the curtain of silence here. It is must reading for anyone who wants the true picture of the abortion industry in the U.S., e.g.:

• It gives brief documented case histories of several hundred women badly injured or killed by abortion, only a percentage of whom were reported.

• It details for the first time sordid details of sexual abuse and assault in these clinics.

"During our research for this book, our observation was that a woman probably is less likely to be injured, raped or killed at a Planned Parenthood facility than at a non-Planned Parenthood one." But . . . "the difference is insignificant. About the best they could claim to be is the cream of a rotten crop."

• It devotes 50 pages to detailing the psychic problems, nightmares and breakdowns of those whose business is doing abortions, another chapter to the total silence of the industry of the breast cancer connection, and finally details the extreme difficulty of getting legal redress for her injuries.

Accordingly, we present mostly older, classical studies, e.g.:

A study of 11,057 pregnancies in Jerusalem, of whom 752 had had previous abortions, showed that those with abortions were more likely to report bleeding in the first 3 months of this pregnancy, less able to have a normal delivery, and more needed manual removal of the placenta or other intervention in the third stage of labor. There was a significant increase in low birth weight, a 3 to 4 times increase in neonatal deaths, and an increase in fetal malformations.

Sterility is the most feared long-term complication of induced abortion. This can result from scarring due to infection caused by the abortion. It can also result from the surgical procedure itself. If the suction curette scrapes and cuts too deeply across the tube opening, these can scar shut, and she is sterile.

"The relative risk of secondary infertility among women with at least one induced abortion and no spontaneous miscarriages was 3-4 times that among non-aborted women."

In 1974 Dr. Bohumil Stipal, Czechoslovakia’s deputy minister of health, stated: "Roughly 25% of the women who interrupt their first pregnancy have remained permanently childless."

A Boston study by a group who have aggressively done abortions denied any increase after one abortion, but, after two or more abortions, they did find a "two-to three-fold increase in risk of first trimester spontaneous abortions [miscarriages]," as well as "losses up to 28 weeks gestation."

Levin et al., "Association of Induced Abortion with Subsequent Pregnancy
Loss," JAMA, vol. 243, no. 24, June 27, 1980, pp. 2495-2499

Of a group of 52 women who had induced abortions 10-15 years previously and who were followed very closely during that length of time, it was found that one-half (27) had no problem with subsequent pregnancies. There was one ectopic pregnancy, eight subsequent — but long-delayed — conceptions, and three women with permanently blocked tubes. Of the remaining 11 women, there were 33 pregnancies with 14 early and 3 midtrimester losses, 6 premature deliveries, and only 10 full-term births.

Hilgers et al., "Fertility Problems Following an Aborted First
Pregnancy." In New Perspectives on Human Abortion, edited by
S. Lembrych. University Publications of America, 1981, pp. 128-134

A high incidence of cervical incompetence resultant from abortion has raised the incidence of spontaneous abortions to 30-40%.

A. Kodasek, "Artificial Termination of Pregnancy in
Czechoslovakia," Internat’l Jour. of GYN & OB,
vol. 9, no. 3, 1971

Women who had one induced abortion had a 17.5% miscarriage rate in subsequent pregnancies, as compared to a 7.5% rate in a non-aborted group.

Richardson & Dickson, "Effects of Legal Termination on
Subsequent Pregnancy," British Med. Jour., vol. 1, 1976, pp. 1303-4

Koller & Eikham, "Late Sequelae of Induced
Abortion in Primagravida" Acta OB-GYN Scand,
56 (1977) p. 311.

There was a doubled incidence of midtrimester spontaneous losses.

"In a series of 520 patients who had previously been aborted, 8.1% suffered a mid-trimester loss (compared to 2.4% controls)."

G. Ratter et al., "Effect of Abortion on Maturity of Subsequent
Pregnancy," Med. Jour. of Australia, June 1979, pp. 479-480

"There was a tenfold increase in the number of second trimester miscarriages in pregnancies which followed a vaginal abortion."

Wright et al., "Second Trimester Abortion after
Vaginal Termination of Pregnancy," The Lancet, June 10, 1972

"It is concluded that a relationship, presumably of a cause-effect relationship, exists between an induced abortion and a second trimester abortion in a subsequent pregnancy." There also was a four fold increase in prematurity.

Puyenbeck and Stolte, Relationship Between Spontaneous and Induced
Abortion, and Second Trimester Abortion Subsequently, Europ. J. OB-GYN,
Reprod. Biol. 14, 1983, 299-309.

This condition occurs during labor in almost 1% of cases when women have had earlier first trimester abortions.

Six percent of women who become pregnant after hysterotomy abortions suffered rupture of their uterus. Substantial risk of rupture was demonstrated in 26% of these cases. Babies who were born subsequently were small for their due date.

Clow & Crompton, "The Wounded Uterus: Pregnancy after
Hysterotomy," British Med. Jour., Feb. 10, 1973, p. 321

Uterine rupture (1%) is also one of the feared and sometimes fatal complications from prostaglandin abortions.

Duenhalter & Gant, "Complications Following Prostaglandin
Mid-Trimester Abortion," OB & GYN, vol. 46, no. 3,
Sept. 1975, pp. 247-250

The major study here showed twice the amount of urinary incontinence, 23.7%, after induced abortion as the incidence seen, 12.6%, after term pregnancy.

Slunsky, "Urinary Incontinence in Pregnancy,"
Z. Geburt, Perinatology 165:329-35, 1966.

"Women with prior abortions consistently reported an excess of symptoms in all age groups."

L. Roth et al., "Increased Menstrual Symptoms Among Women
Who Used Induced Abortion," Amer. Jour. OB/GYN,
vol. 127, Feb. 15, 1977, p. 356

"The frequency of uterine adhesions [synechia] is especially high among patients who have had two or more curettages. . . . Dr. J. G. Asherman, for whom the syndrome is named, has reported intrauterine adhesions in 44 of 65 women who had two or more curettages."

This can develop along the needle or catheter tract from the midtrimester puncture.

Ferrare et al., "Abdominal Wall Endometriosis Following Saline
Abortion," JAMA, vol. 238, no. 1, July 4, 1977, pp. 56-57

"Even in very early suction abortions done prior to eight weeks, fetal-maternal hemorrhage can occur, thereby sensitizing Rh-negative women."

This means that in later pregnancies, babies of these mothers will have Rh problems, need transfusions, and occasionally be born dead or die after birth. This can be tested for prior to the abortion and largely prevented by giving the mother a very expensive medication called RhoGAM. If not done, the number who become sensitized varies from "3% to 17%." Unfortunately, many abortion chambers do not take this expensive precaution.

Placenta previa is when the afterbirth (placenta) covers part or all of the cervix, the womb’s opening into the birth canal. It can be very serious and usually requires a Cesarean section, sometimes with loss of the baby.

Barrett et al., "Induced Abortion, A Risk Factor for
Placenta Previa," Amer. Jour. OB/GYN,
Dec. 1981, pp. 769-772

Women who report one or more spontaneous or induced abortions are 30% more likely to have a subsequent pregnancy complicated by placenta previa than those without such a history.

V. Taylor et al., Placenta Previa Related
to Abortion; OB&GYN, 1993; 82:88-91

"We cannot exclude the possibility that the large number of induced abortions plays a role in the remarkable increase in cases of placenta previa."

Z. Bognar, "Mortality and Morbidity Associated with
Legal Abortions in Hungary, 1961-1973"
Amer. Jour. Public Health, 1976, pp. 568-575

"We rather often observe complications such as rigidity of the cervical os, placenta adherens, placenta accreta, and atony of the uterus."

There has been a 600% increase in ectopic (or tubal) pregnancies in the U.S. since abortion was legalized. In 1970 the incidence was 4.8 per 1,000 live births. By 1980 it was 14.5 per 1,000 births. By 1992 it was 19.7 for a total of 108,800, and 28 women died.

Center for Disease Cont: AP/NY Times, Jan. 27, ’95

The thin-walled tube cannot support this life, and it soon ruptures, causing internal bleeding and requiring emergency surgery.

Rubin et al., "Fatal Ectopic Pregnancy After
Attempted Induced Abortion," JAMA,
vol. 244, no. 15, Oct. 10, 1980

H. Atrash et al., "Ectopic Preg. Concurrent With
Induced Abortion"; Am. J. OB-GYN, Mar. ’90, p. 726

Among women who had aborted their first pregnancy, there was a 500% increase in subsequent ectopic pregnancies.

Chung et al., "Effects of Induced Abortion
Complications on Subsequent Reproductive
Function," U. of Hawaii, Honolulu, 1981

In Athens, half of ectopic pregnancies may be attributed to previous abortions — a ten fold relative risk.

Panayotou et al., "Induced Abortion
& Ectopic Preg." Am J. OB-GYN,
1972 114:507

Tubal pregnancy increased 30% after one abortion and 160% after two or more abortions.

"Especially striking is an increased incidence in ectopic pregnancies."

A. Kodasek, "Artificial Termination of Pregnancy in
Czechoslovakia," Internat’l Jour. of GYN & OB,
vol. 9, no. 3, 1971

"The increased incidence of PID — especially Chlamydia — and induced abortion appear to play leading roles in the dramatic rise in ectopic pregnancies."

Women with chlamydia have more than twice as many ectopic pregnancies.

If the abortionist’s curette scrapes or cuts too deeply across the opening of the tubes, there is scar formation. When partial blockage is a result of this procedure, the microscopic sperm can still travel through the tube to fertilize the ovum as it breaks out of the ovary. After fertilization, this new human life, many hundred times larger than the sperm, may not be able to get back through the tube if it has been partly scarred closed. Then the tiny baby nests in the tube, and the mother has an ectopic pregnancy.