PREVIOUS ABORTIONS LINKED WITH PRE-TERM BIRTH AND CEREBRAL PALSY

31.5% of children born with very low birth weight due due to prior induced abortions

An article appearing in the October 2007 edition of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine concludes that nearly 32 per cent of "very-preterm" U.S. births, that is, before 32 weeks gestation, are due to the mother having had a prior abortion. This information, combined with previous research on the relation between low birth weight children and cerebral palsy (CP), results in an estimated 1,096 children suffering from CP because of their mother's prior abortion. The 2002 data examines 4,021,726 births, 486,629 preterm babies and 72,751 very-preterm babies.

The study's authors are Dr. Byron Calhoun, professor, obstetrics & gynaecology, Western Virginia University, Dr. Elizabeth Shadigian, professor, obstetrics & gynaecology, University of Michigan and Brent Rooney, research director, Reduce Preterm Risk Coalition, Vancouver, Canada. They concluded that prior induced abortion is a significant risk factor in very pre-term births and cerebral palsy.

The research backs up previous findings published in 2006 by Dr. Richard E. Behrman of Stanford University's Institute of Medicine, that named "prior first trimester induced abortion" as an "immutable medical risk factor associated with preterm birth". (Preterm Birth: Causes, Consequences, and Prevention)

Very pre-term babies have much higher than normal risks of suffering medical problems including cerebral palsy, mental retardation, autism, epilepsy, blindness, deafness, lung impairment and serious infections.

In 2002 there were 58,717 U.S. newborn with a birth weight under 1,500 grams (3 lbs. 5 oz) according to a Center for Disease Control (CDC) article by Dr. Joyce Martin. Most of these under 1,500 gram babies were delivered very prematurely. Dr. Calhoun cited a 1991 comprehensive study by Dr. G. Escobar et al. that found that newborns under 1,500 grams have a 7.7% chance of having cerebral palsy. Using this 7.7% figure, combined with the excess number of babies under 1,500 grams caused by mothers’ prior abortions, enabled Dr. Calhoun et al. to compute 1,096 excess cases of CP caused by prior induced abortions.

The article further estimated a direct cost to the health care system of abortion-related pre-term babies at US $1.2 billion in 2002. This estimate did not include long-term costs for ongoing, often life-long medical expenses and lost income such children will suffer.

The article is listed in the Journal index as: “Cost Consequences of Induced Abortion as an Attributable Risk for Preterm Birth and Impact on Informed Consent”: B. C. Calhoun, E. Shadigian and B. Rooney: “Induced abortion contributes to significantly increased initial neonatal health costs, >$1.2 billion, and 1,096 excess cerebral palsy cases per year in the United States”.

In April 2004 Justice Michael Grove of the NSW Supreme Court ruled that a Sydney girl, Kristy Bruce, was born with brain damage as a result of her mother's uterine rupture -- an apparent complication from a previous abortion. As a result, the girl's family lost their bid to sue the mother's obstetrician for negligence. Kristy, then 15, has cerebral palsy, is confined to a wheel chair and cannot walk or talk, but has a beautiful smile. Kristy was not premature, but she was deprived of oxygen when her mother's uterus ruptured during labour.

In 2005 a study from France confirmed that abortion increases a woman’s risk of delivering future children prematurely; the risk of very preterm delivery (less than 33 weeks) increases even more dramatically.

After studying data on 1,943 very preterm births, 276 moderately preterm babies and 618 full-term controls, Dr. Caroline Moreau of Hopital de Bicetre and colleagues concluded that women with a history of abortion were 1.5 times more likely to give birth very prematurely (under 33 weeks gestation), and 1.7 times more likely to have a baby born extremely (under 28 weeks gestation) preterm. Their findings were reported in the April issue of the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, a peer-reviewed journal.

Previous research, also conducted in Paris, revealed that the odds of a woman delivering prematurely increase with the number of abortions in her history, with the likelihood doubled in women who have had two or more abortions. Other research corroborated these findings, reporting that “the risk of preterm birth increased with the number of abortions,” according to a 2004 study.

Dr. Moreau’s group revealed that the preterm delivery risk resulted from a tendency for mothers to develop premature rupture of the membranes, pre-term hemorrhaging, and spontaneous preterm labour of unknown cause.

Most women having abortions are not warned of the risk of premature birth and damage to babies in subsequent pregnancies. An exception is the Texas Department of Health's Women's Right to Know booklet provided to women considering abortion.