Permissive Abortion Laws May Be Hazardous To Mothers' Health, Per New Report

[TitanTiger 20,708]

Permissive Abortion Laws May Be Hazardous To Mothers' Health, Per New Report

By Samantha Singson

(NEW YORK – C-FAM) A new report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows that countries with restrictive abortion laws are often the leaders in reducing maternal mortality, and those with permissive laws often lag. According to the report, the pro-life nation of Ireland has topped the global rankings once again with the best maternal health performance.

Abortion advocates have attempted to push an international "right to abortion," claiming that restrictive laws force women to seek unsafe abortion, which in turn leads to high maternal mortality. In October, the Guttmacher Institute released a report on global abortion calling on states to "expand access to legal abortion and ensure that safe, legal abortion services are available to women in need." Sharon Camp, president of the Guttmacher Institute, asserted that "in much of the developing world, abortion remains highly restricted, and unsafe abortion is common and continues to damage women's health and threaten their survival."

An examination and comparison of several countries included in the WEF survey show that legal abortion does not mean lower maternal mortality rates. 


Both Ireland and Poland, favorite targets of the abortion lobby for their strong restrictions on abortion, have better maternal mortality ratios than the United States. Ireland ranks first in the survey with 1 death for every 100,000 live births. In recent years Poland has tightened its abortion law and ranks number 27 on the list with 8 deaths per 100,000. In the United States where there are virtually no restrictions on abortion, the maternal mortality ratio is 17 out of 100,000 live births.

Other regions of the world show similar trends. The African nation with the lowest maternal mortality rate is Mauritius, a country with some of the continent's most protective laws for the unborn. On the other end of the spectrum is Ethiopia, which has decriminalized abortion in recent years in response to global abortion lobby pressure. Ethiopia's maternal death rate is 48 times higher than in Mauritius. South Africa has the continent's most liberal abortion laws and also a high maternal mortality ratio of 400 deaths per 100,000.

Chile, with constitutional protection for the unborn, outranks all other South American countries as the safest place for women to bear children. The country with the highest maternal mortality is Guyana, with a rate 30 times higher than in Chile. Guyana has allowed abortion without almost any restriction since in 1995. Ironically, one of two main justifications used for liberalizing Guyana’s law was to enhance the "attainment of safe motherhood" by eliminating deaths and complications associated with unsafe abortion. 


Similarly in Asia, Nepal, where there is no restriction on the procedure, has one of the world's highest maternal mortality rates. The lowest in the region is Sri Lanka, with a rate fourteen times lower than that of Nepal. According to the pro-abortion public interest law firm Center for Reproductive Rights, Sri Lanka has among the most restrictive abortion laws in the world. 


Pro-lifers emphasize that the WEF report reinforces their contention that skilled birth attendants and access to emergency obstetric care should be the focus of maternal mortality reduction efforts, rather than increasing access to legal abortion.

http://www.c-fam.org/publications/id.1533/pub_detail.asp

Granted, this is being reported by a pro-life advocacy group, but they are merely reporting the maternal mortality rates that a non-partisan (at least on the abortion issue) group gathered and showing how those correlate with each country's abortion laws. The facts completely contradict the assertions from Sharon Camp of the Guttmacher Institute that more restrictive abortion laws "damage women's health and threatens their survival." Quite the opposite actually.

Perhaps in the interest of women's health and well-being we should push for more countries to adopt stricter control on abortion.

[Tiger Al 0]

Permissive Abortion Laws May Be Hazardous To Mothers' Health, Per New Report

By Samantha Singson

(NEW YORK – C-FAM) A new report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows that countries with restrictive abortion laws are often the leaders in reducing maternal mortality, and those with permissive laws often lag. According to the report, the pro-life nation of Ireland has topped the global rankings once again with the best maternal health performance.

Abortion advocates have attempted to push an international "right to abortion," claiming that restrictive laws force women to seek unsafe abortion, which in turn leads to high maternal mortality. In October, the Guttmacher Institute released a report on global abortion calling on states to "expand access to legal abortion and ensure that safe, legal abortion services are available to women in need." Sharon Camp, president of the Guttmacher Institute, asserted that "in much of the developing world, abortion remains highly restricted, and unsafe abortion is common and continues to damage women's health and threaten their survival."

An examination and comparison of several countries included in the WEF survey show that legal abortion does not mean lower maternal mortality rates. 


Both Ireland and Poland, favorite targets of the abortion lobby for their strong restrictions on abortion, have better maternal mortality ratios than the United States. Ireland ranks first in the survey with 1 death for every 100,000 live births. In recent years Poland has tightened its abortion law and ranks number 27 on the list with 8 deaths per 100,000. In the United States where there are virtually no restrictions on abortion, the maternal mortality ratio is 17 out of 100,000 live births.

Other regions of the world show similar trends. The African nation with the lowest maternal mortality rate is Mauritius, a country with some of the continent's most protective laws for the unborn. On the other end of the spectrum is Ethiopia, which has decriminalized abortion in recent years in response to global abortion lobby pressure. Ethiopia's maternal death rate is 48 times higher than in Mauritius. South Africa has the continent's most liberal abortion laws and also a high maternal mortality ratio of 400 deaths per 100,000.

Chile, with constitutional protection for the unborn, outranks all other South American countries as the safest place for women to bear children. The country with the highest maternal mortality is Guyana, with a rate 30 times higher than in Chile. Guyana has allowed abortion without almost any restriction since in 1995. Ironically, one of two main justifications used for liberalizing Guyana’s law was to enhance the "attainment of safe motherhood" by eliminating deaths and complications associated with unsafe abortion. 


Similarly in Asia, Nepal, where there is no restriction on the procedure, has one of the world's highest maternal mortality rates. The lowest in the region is Sri Lanka, with a rate fourteen times lower than that of Nepal. According to the pro-abortion public interest law firm Center for Reproductive Rights, Sri Lanka has among the most restrictive abortion laws in the world. 


Pro-lifers emphasize that the WEF report reinforces their contention that skilled birth attendants and access to emergency obstetric care should be the focus of maternal mortality reduction efforts, rather than increasing access to legal abortion.

http://www.c-fam.org.../pub_detail.asp

Granted, this is being reported by a pro-life advocacy group, but they are merely reporting the maternal mortality rates that a non-partisan (at least on the abortion issue) group gathered and showing how those correlate with each country's abortion laws. The facts completely contradict the assertions from Sharon Camp of the Guttmacher Institute that more restrictive abortion laws "damage women's health and threatens their survival." Quite the opposite actually.

Perhaps in the interest of women's health and well-being we should push for more countries to adopt stricter control on abortion.

After looking at the report and the healthcare systems and economic footing of the countries mentioned in your article, I'd have to say that the correlation between maternal mortality and abortion laws is strained at best.

[TitanTiger 20,708]

Correct. The data shows that Guttmacher's notion that restrictive abortion laws bring on higher maternal mortality rates (and that conversely, permissive abortion laws will bring lower ones) is bunk. I made the reverse assertion mostly in a snarky manner (though for other reasons I think we should pursue such laws). I believe the last line in the article is the key:

Pro-lifers emphasize that the WEF report reinforces their contention that skilled birth attendants and access to emergency obstetric care should be the focus of maternal mortality reduction efforts, rather than increasing access to legal abortion.

[Tiger Al 0]

Correct. The data shows that Guttmacher's notion that restrictive abortion laws bring on higher maternal mortality rates (and that conversely, permissive abortion laws will bring lower ones) is bunk. I made the reverse assertion mostly in a snarky manner (though for other reasons I think we should pursue such laws).

But you are conveniently editing what Camp said to support your argument as it relates to the study in the article. Two key components of what she said were "developing countries" and "unsafe abortions." Here is the entirety of what she said;

"The progress made during the past decade in increasing contraceptive use and reducing the need for abortion is fundamentally good news—theworld is moving in the right direction," says Sharon Camp,president and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute. "And yet, we still havetwo widely disparate realities. In almost all developed countries,abortion is safe and legal. But in much of the developing world,abortion remains highly restricted, and unsafe abortion is common andcontinues to damage women's health and threaten their survival."

It's worth noting that Camp was making these comments in regards to a Guttmacher Institute study entitled, "Abortion Worldwide: A Decade of Uneven Progress" This study actually looked at abortion and surrounding issues whereas the one from your article only mentions abortion once and, interestingly, supports part of what Camp said. From the study your article cites, "The five major direct causes of maternal death in developing countries are severe bleeding, infection, hypertension, complications from unsafe abortion and prolonged/ obstructed labour." This study, however, makes no attempt to establish a correlation between abortion laws and maternal mortality.

In fact, in order to make the correlation your article makes, one has to ignore several other factors. The article chooses two countries, Ireland and Poland, to pit against the abbreviated quote of Dr. Camp. Neither of those countries are considered "developing." Both of them offer their citizens significant public healthcare (There's a nice correlation). Aside from Ireland, the rest of the top ten have little to no restriction on abortion and somehow manage to have the least maternal mortality in the world.

The article then touts Africa's Mauritius as having some of the continent's most protective laws for the unborn as the reason for decreased maternal mortality. Yet, Angola, Malawi, Senegal and Mali have abortion laws as restrictive, or even moreso, and are among the world's worst in terms of maternal mortality. South Africa, according to your article, has the most permissive abortion laws but does far better than them. What gives? I thought more restrictive abortion laws was a direct factor in decreasing maternal mortality?

Chile, according to Wikipedia, is one of South America's most stable and prosperous nations. 68% of Chileans have healthcare that is covered by public funds. Guyana, on the other hand, is among the poorest and leads the continent in many negative health indicators, not just maternal mortality.

I believe the last line in the article is the key:

Pro-lifers emphasize that the WEF report reinforces their contention that skilled birth attendants and access to emergency obstetric care should be the focus of maternal mortality reduction efforts, rather than increasing access to legal abortion.

Again, the quote from Dr. Camp wasn't made as a response to the WEF report. That report, as I said before, actually supports part of what Camp said.

[TitanTiger 20,708]

Ok, my mistake. I thought she was trying to make a correlation between more access to abortion and better maternal health and I just wasn't seeing such a relationship at all. But it does appear that the way to improve maternal health in the end has little or nothing to do with making abortion legal or more permissive laws on it, but rather improving the overall health care system in a country, particularly in the realm of obstetric care.

[Tiger Al 0]

Ok, my mistake. I thought she was trying to make a correlation between more access to abortion and better maternal health and I just wasn't seeing such a relationship at all. But it does appear that the way to improve maternal health in the end has little or nothing to do with making abortion legal or more permissive laws on it, but rather improving the overall health care system in a country, particularly in the realm of obstetric care.

Well, it's not surprising that's what you thought since that correlation was what your article was suggesting. The writers further added to the straw man by including a partial quote from her that wasn't even addressing the issue in the article.

And I agree with you that the way to improve not only maternal health but all health is to improve the overall health care system and access to it. I don't agree that outlawing abortion decreases maternal mortality rates as your article suggests. That's counter-intuitive, in my opinion.