Induced termination of pregnancy before and after Roe v Wade: trends in the mortality and morbidity of women

Article Abstract:

The number of legal abortions performed and the safety of the procedure have steadily increased since the 1973 Roe V. Wade ruling legalizing abortion. The risk associated with abortion dropped from 3.3 deaths per 100,000 procedures to 0.4 per 100,000, due largely to improved medical care and earlier intervention. While it is difficult to estimate the number of illegal abortions, that is abortions that are self-induced or not performed by a licensed physician, there were 47 illegal-abortion-related deaths reported between 1973 and 1985. Prior to 1973, deaths from illegal abortions declined markedly, from a conservative report of 1,407 in 1940 to 160 in 1966. This decrease has been attributed to antibiotics, used to treat infections, and to improvements in birth control. The earlier in a pregnancy an abortion is performed, the safer it is. Legal restrictions such as mandatory waiting periods, consent and notification laws, and the reduced availability of skilled physicians and adequate facilities all increase the likelihood of abortion-related complications and death.

Patient outcomes, Mortality, Pregnant women

---

Abortion surveillance: preliminary analysis - United States, 1986 and 1987

Article Abstract:

A statistical evaluation of all legal abortions performed within the United States during 1986 and 1987 was made. The number of abortions performed in 1986 was 1,328,112, a drop of approximately one percent from the previous year. However, the rate of 1,353,671 abortions performed in 1987 was 1.9 percent greater than the prior year. The abortion rate was 354.2 abortions per 1,000 in 1986 and 356.1 per 1,000 in 1987. Ninety-two percent of the women involved had abortions within their state of residence. The average person receiving an abortion was unmarried, white, under 25 years of age, and had not previously been pregnant. A comprehensive chart accompanies the article and gives further demographic breakdown of this study group.

Demographic aspects, Pregnancy, Unwanted, Unwanted pregnancy, column

---

The impact of Mississippi's mandatory delay law on abortions and births

Article Abstract:

A Mississippi law requiring a mandatory waiting period before a pregnant woman can get an abortion has led many women to seek abortions in other states. This was one conclusion of a study of abortion rates in Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina before and after the Mississippi law was passed. The abortion rate in Mississippi dropped after passage of the law, and it dropped more than the rate in Georgia and South Carolina. The rate of abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy increased and the increase was greater than the increase in Georgia and South Carolina.

Laws, regulations and rules, Mississippi

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Chlamydia trachomatis infection in pregnancy and effect of treatment on outcome. Treatment of Chlamydial infections of the cervix during pregnancy
• Abstracts: Interaction of niacin and zinc metabolism in patients with alcoholic pellagra. Long-term nutritional status of an enterally nourished institutionalized population
• Abstracts: A positive association between maternal serum zinc concentration and birth weight. Vitamin E status of northern Canadian newborns: relation of vitamin E to blood lipids
• Abstracts: Ethnic and genetic differences in bone mass: a review with a hereditary vs environmental perspective. Hydrostatic weighing without head submersion in morbidly obese females
• Abstracts: Recent approaches to the treatment of sickle cell anemia. Life-threatening sepsis associated with adjuvant doxorubicin plus docetaxel for intermediate-risk breast cancer

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.