Pro-Choice author Christina Zampas writes about countries where abortion is illegal:
“Governments often hide behind the veil of low maternal mortality and morbidity rates to continue to justify restrictive [abortion] laws, even in the face of concrete cases that reflect the severe impact of such laws.”
Christina Zampas “Legal and Political Discourses on Women’s Right to Abortion” in Sylvia De Zordo, Joanna Mishtal and Lorena Anton, eds. A Fragmented Landscape: Abortion Governance and Protest Logics in Europe (New York: Berghahn, 2017) 33
She tacitly admits that some countries where abortion is legal have low maternal mortality and morbidity rates, meaning few women are killed or injured by illegal abortions in these nations.
“… Abortion still carries tremendous social shame in addition to its personal psychological burden.
Activists for reproductive rights have a hard time convincing women and families who have terminated to be part of a movement that protects the right to terminate. Many understandably prefer not to be publicly associated with the stigma and potential violence that comes with standing up for choice.”
Melissa Harris-Perry “Countering Antichoice Terrorism” The Nation June 2, 2009
I don’t think there are many pro-lifers who think being pro-choice brings with it a stigma.
Former Surgeon General of the United States, Dr C Everett Koop:
“The life of the mother argument surfaces in every debate concerning abortion. The fact of the matter is that abortion as a necessity to save the life of the mother is so rare as to be nonexistent.”
Human Life International “Does Legal Abortion Save Lives?” Pro-Life Talking Points October 21, 2011
Pro-life researcher Keven Sherlock told the story of Sandra Lynn Chmiel, who died from a legal abortion:
“Sandra Lynn Chmiel, a 35-year-old suburban Chicago mother of four, bled to death from a punctured uterus June 3, 1975, hours after she underwent an abortion at Biogenetics.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, testimony at a coroner’s inquest indicated a Biogenetics doctor performed Sandra’s abortion even though she was more than 12 weeks pregnant. (At the time, it was illegal in Illinois for a doctor to perform an abortion on a woman more than 12 weeks pregnant unless he performed it in a hospital.)
Biogenetics operatives had the gall to claim the doctor merely tried to repair Sandra’s female organs after she tried to abort her child herself. However, the Sun-Times article said, Biogenetics settled the case for $75,000 in 1978.”
Source: Chicago Sun-Times 11/19/78
Kevin Sherlock The Scarlet Survey (Akron, Ohio, Brennyman Books, 1997)
From an Australian social worker identified as Penny:
“I have seen women make this decision dozens of times. I had even seen some of them suffer afterwards, but I always firmly believed it was because of their religious conflict or some radical pro-life guilt trip.
I never in a million years believed that their grief or sorrow was real, or that their beliefs that they felt pressured were genuine.”
“… Crisis pregnancy centers, also called CPC’s, or pregnancy resource centers, of which there are approximately 2752 in the United States, according to Pregnancy Help News.
These centers are supported by almost 82,000 volunteers. Most often they provide counseling, adoption referrals, child-rearing resources, job counseling, parenting classes, clothing, diapers, legal support, emergency and long-term housing, financial assistance, medical services, STD screenings, etc. 60% of these centers offer free ultrasounds.
While 11 states offer very limited financial support to these centers, none of them receive federal funds, unlike Planned Parenthood, which receives hundreds of millions of federal tax dollars every year.
At least 90% of CPC funding comes via donations from local communities and nearly 91% of clients report the highest level of satisfaction with the services they received.”
Rick Garrett The Duping of America (Maitland, Florida: Liberty Hill Press, 2021) 59 – 60
Former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino on abortions by pill:
“24 – 48 hours after taking RU-486, the woman takes misoprostol, also called cytotec, that is administered either orally or vaginally. RU-486 and misoprostol together cause severe cramping, contractions, and often heavy bleeding, to force the dead baby out of the woman’s uterus.
The process can be very intense and painful, and the bleeding and contractions could last from a few hours to several days. While she could lose her baby at any time and anywhere during this process, the woman will often sit on a toilet as she prepares to expel the child, which she will then flush.
She may even see her dead baby within the pregnancy sac. At nine weeks for example, the baby will be almost an inch long, and if she looks carefully, she might be able to count the fingers and toes. After she has disposed of her baby, the woman may have bleeding and spotting for several weeks.
Bleeding lasts on average, nine to 16 days. 8% of women bleed more than 30 days, and 1% require hospitalization because of heavy bleeding.…
the failure rate increases as the pregnancy progresses. At seven weeks, it is a 5% failure rate, at eight weeks an 8% failure rate, and at nine weeks a 10% failure rate. If failure occurs, she will usually be offered a surgical abortion.
For the mother, medical abortion often causes abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, and heavy bleeding. Maternal deaths have occurred, most frequently due to infection and undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy.”
The number of women having “selective abortions” (i.e., abortions because the baby is disabled or sick) has increased in England.
According to British pro-life author S. Nye:
“In 2011, there were 72 selective terminations in England and Wales. By 2019, that yearly total had risen to 126. This is a 75% increase in nine years. These abortions are carried out under statutory grounds E (substantial risk the child would be born seriously handicapped).”
BD Colen argues for withholding medical treatment from disabled babies and letting them die. He writes:
“Perhaps decisions involving the care of hopelessly ill and defective newborns should be left to those traditional processes, to parents and physicians who do the best they can under difficult circumstances.
Until such time as society is willing to pay the bill for truly humane institutions or 24-hour home care for all such infants, to offer families alternatives other than death or living death, shouldn’t these decisions be left to those who will have to live with them?”
Disabled people aren’t “defective” and our family’s lives aren’t “living death.” ALL human beings deserve basic medical care, regardless of level of ability.
“The total number of abortions performed to date in the US alone is more than the combined populations of Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Sweden, Greece, New Zealand, and Norway.”
