http://www.cwfa.org/articles/4321/BLI/dotcommentary/index.htm
Results of a Thirty Year Experiment on Women
By Kathryn Hooks
Abortion has Failed Women
After a three-decade experiment initiated by Roe v. Wade, the results
clearly show that abortion harms women.
America has polarized the abortion debate between the unborn child and the
woman, but in reality abortion does not offer the best choice for either. A
survey by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, research arm for Planned
Parenthood, showed women primarily choose abortion because of lack of
financial resources and lack of emotional support. Abortion appears to these
women to be the only choice available. The false notion that abortion
provides the best and easiest solution to an unwanted pregnancy deceptively
misleads women.
The "Women Deserve Better" campaign supported by Feminists for Life among
others claims that abortion has failed to meet the needs of women, and women
deserve better than a "quick-fix" that ironically -- and sadly -- leaves
women in a more harmful "fix" than previously experienced. Abortion changes
a woman's perceived social inconvenience into a health detriment.
In fact, America should be concerned about abortion as a women's health
issue.
According the a 1994 report by the Guttmacher Institute 43 percent of women
will have an abortion by age 45; therefore the often unreported consequences
of abortion affect almost half of the female population. Abortion has failed
to offer a physically safe choice for women, and they deserve to know the
facts.
The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health stated, "Since 1957,
evidence linking induced abortion to the later development of breast cancer
has been observed in 27 of 33 studies world-wide." The International Journal
of Cancer reported a higher risk of developing cervical and ovarian cancer
after abortion.
The L.A. Daily News quoted pro-choice Dr. Janet Daling stating, "I have
three sisters with breast cancer, and I resent people messing around with
scientific data to further their own agenda, be they pro-choice or pro-life.
I would have loved to have found no association between breast cancer and
abortion, but our research is rock solid, and our data is accurate. It's not
a matter of believing. It's a matter of what is."
Research by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons reported 6 percent
of women who have abortions are left sterile. If a woman has an STD during
an abortion, her risk for infertility increases. A study by the Journal of
Infectious Diseases found 87 percent of women carrying one or more STDs
showed no symptoms.
Southern Medical Journal reported that two years after an abortion women
have a death rate twice as high as women who continue their pregnancy.
Hospital codes only report a present cause of death such as hemorrhage,
infection, or ectopic pregnancy not the underlying reason -- abortion -- so
many deaths due to abortion go unreported.
The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology found abortion can lead
to future pregnancy complications such as premature birth, placenta previa,
and ectopic pregnancy.
Author Ann Saltenberger quotes medical researchers Margaret and Arthur Wynn,
who support abortion-on-demand, acknowledging that "any patient who has had
a previous history of abortion should be regarded as a high-risk patient."
Women frequently suffer psychological effects from abortion, which also link
to more physical side affects. According to the Department of Education and
the Alan Guttmacher Institute, as many as 91 percent of all abortions cause
severe psychological problems, both immediate and long-term.
Yet, incredibly, abortion doctors fail to warn and prepare women for the
psychological damage of post-abortion syndrome (PAS). PAS creates a
psychological dysfunction from the traumatic experience of abortion
resulting in intense fear, the feeling of helplessness or being trapped, and
loss of control.
The British Medical Journal reported that a woman who experiences an
abortion has a suicide risk six times higher than a woman who gives birth to
a child. Suicide attempts fall most heavily among teenagers.
A 1994 survey published by the Elliott Institute found that for women who
sought counseling after an abortion, the range of problems included:
increased drug and alcohol abuse to deaden pain, reoccurring insomnia and
nightmares, and eating disorders.
The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology reported that women with a
prior history of abortion are twice as likely to use alcohol, five times
more likely to use illicit drugs and ten times more likely to use marijuana
during the first pregnancy they carry to term compared to women delivering
their first pregnancy.
According to Social Science and Medicine, 30 to 50 percent of women who
undergo abortion experience sexual dysfunction that could include increased
pain, aversion to sex, or development of a promiscuous life-style.
Journals, including Family Planning Perspectives and Social Science and
Medicine, have reported links to post-abortion couples and the increased
likelihood of divorce or separation. The difficulty for many post-abortion
women to form lasting bonds can develop from a lowered self-esteem, greater
distrust of males, sexual dysfunction, substance abuse, and greater levels
of depression, anxiety, and anger.
Since Roe v. Wade, the feminist movement has been so consumed with the
abortion issue that many women have made the assumption that to be a
feminist and for women's rights, one must be pro-choice, i.e. pro-abortion.
Yet, the original leaders of the woman's movement, women like Susan B.
Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, strongly opposed abortion.
Today, some former pro-abortion women are rejoining the early feminists.
Michaelene Jenkins, executive director for Life Resource Network, changed
from pro-abortion to pro-life after the horror of her own abortion. Both her
boyfriend and her boss advised abortion as the best solution to save her
relationship and her career as a dancer. Still unsure of her decision
minutes before the procedure, she requested a few more moments to think
about it as the doctor entered the room. Immediately the doctor said, "Shut
her up" and turned on the loud machine. After the abortion, she ended up
leaving her boyfriend and job to escape depression and to break free of the
destructive cycle of personal behavior that followed her abortion.
Today Jenkins shares her story to educate women on the true nature of
abortion. A national campaign called "Silent No More" has brought thousands
of women together to tell their stories about post-abortion suffering. These
women defy the public paradigm that women's rights equal abortion as a
positive choice for women.
Abortion propaganda tells women they need abortion so that there are no
consequences to their behavior and choices. The propaganda tells them that
abortion is necessary so that they can remain on an equal level with men.
Abortion sends the message that fighting discrimination is more important
than a woman's health. Yet, equality gained at the cost of a woman's
physical and psychological well being diminishes all women and further
blinds them to their own self-destructive behavior and choices. Women
deserve better than being told that their career is more important than
their child. Women deserve better than being told, "A baby will ruin your
life." Women deserve better than the lie that a risky and dangerous surgery
offers a solution to their situation.
--
"The Declaration of Independence... [is the] declaratory charter of our
rights, and the rights of man."
-- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), 3rd President of the United States
(1801-1809)
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