Having an abortion increases the risk of giving birth prematurely or to children with a low birth-weight in subsequent pregnancies, according to a study published yesterday.
The study, conducted in Canada and funded by Canadian Institute of Health Research, found that women who had an abortion in the first or second trimester had a 35% increased risk of a low birth weight baby and a 36% raised risk of a pre-term baby in later pregnancies.
Having more than one termination further increased these risks (72% increased risk of low birth-weight baby and 93% increased risk of premature birth).
Dr Prakesh Shah, a professor at the Department of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto who directed the study, published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said that there could be several reasons for the findings – the most likely of which is physical damage to the cervix caused by older methods of abortion.
‘When a woman comes for induced termination of pregnancy, she should be counselled about that risk. At least she will be able to make an informed choice,' he said.
Dr Shah and his team looked at 37 studies around the world carried out between 1965 and 2001 to determine whether previous abortion may be one of the factors.
Josephine Quintavalle, the founder of Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE) and Pro-Life Alliance said: ‘Women having counselling over difficult or unplanned pregnancies should be made aware of all the consequences.’
Anthony Ozimic, of Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) commented:
‘The more evidence which emerges about the harm abortion causes, the more the supporters of abortion insist that abortion not be restricted. We will be exposing the contradictions in their responses to the study's findings.’
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists insisted to ‘underline the importance of support for women’s choices, and the need for sensitivity in counselling women about termination of pregnancy in line with current research evidence.’ It said that abortion remains an ‘essential part’ of women’s healthcare services. Multiple media sources also rushed to deny the seriousness of evidence of damaging effects of termination to future babies.
The study is the latest in a long string of studies confirming the link between abortion and premature birth.
It follows the research of a European researcher Dr Robbert van Oppenraaij who presented his findings before the collegiums of scientists at the annual European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam and said that abortion increases the risk of having a premature birth in a subsequent pregnancy.
In 2008, Dr. Manfred Voigt from Germany also published his findings in the medical magazine Z Geburtshilfe Neonatol showing that women who have one prior abortion increase their risk for a very premature birth in a future pregnancy by 30%. Those women, the research showed, who have had more than one prior abortion increase their risk of a very premature birth by 90% – making it a virtual guarantee that future pregnancies will be problematic.
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In England, GP surgeries in Wolverhampton and Newcastle have contributed to almost 400 abortions under nine weeks being carried out in the past year, new figures have shown.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) caused outrage among campaigners when they started to run clinics for early medical abortions (EMAs) at surgeries in these cities. The Department of Health allows BPAS to run its services out of surgeries after the practice was first introduced just over a year ago. The Care Quality Commission is currently considering a further application to host an abortion service at a practice in Basingstoke.
(See the Scotsman report)
BPAS is a charity, which acts as an independent provider performing abortions for NHS patients under a contract with the local primary care trust (PCT). GP abortion services are being considered by several other PCTs, and a Department of Health consultation on their provision is ongoing.
Ann Furedi, chief executive of BPAS, said:
‘Women's take up of BPAS early medical abortion service provided within a local GP surgery has been encouraging. Women tell us they really appreciate being able to access services close to home.
‘It’s important to remember that providing this early abortion service is not simply a question of offering women medication, but requires a whole framework of round-the-clock expert support and care. With that in mind, we agree that it remains to be seen how many GPs will wish to provide this service, should that become an option for them in future,’ she added.
(See the Daily Mail report)
A spokesman for Alive and Kicking, an alliance of groups defending human rights at the beginning of life, said:
‘This is an extraordinary response to what should be seen as a huge problem – that we have the highest rates of abortion in Western Europe. This is going to make it easier for women to have an abortion without counselling. More and more women will have abortions in haste, wake up and then regret it.’
In 2004, The Daily Telegraph presented video evidence to the Government (Health Secretary Dr John Reid and Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Liam Donaldson) showing BPAS counsellors referring women whose pregnancies were too advanced for legal abortions (past 24 weeks) to a clinic, Ginemedex, in Barcelona, Spain, which was itself operating outside Spanish law by providing late-term abortions for 'social reasons' (a non-legal term used to describe medically unnecessary abortions).
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