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Abortion
Senator Rick Santorum, in his book "It Takes a Family", summed it up in this way:
- Either I believe that an unborn child is human, and therefore entitled to all the protection of their "Unalienable Rights" of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Thus, no desire of the mother to avoid social embarassment, pain, or even to preserve the mother's health, justifies the violation of these rights.
- Or I believe that it is just a "thing" that is owned by the mother, in much the same way as the Negro Slaves were owned, and therefore, supposedly not entitled to the protection of life as described in the Declaration of Independence.
Is Abortion Safe?
By Jane M. Orient, M.D.
The slogan that we need to “Keep Abortion Safe and Legal” begs the question of how safe abortion really is. And the clamor that any restrictions on abortion must have a “health” exemption, as well as a “life of the woman [mother]” exemption suggest that abortion is somehow good for your health, compared to childbirth, or at least not harmful.
Women still die from legal abortions, but the immediate death toll is only a fraction of the problem. In fact, abortion is bad for “reproductive health” and health in general.
Surgical complications include infections that can leave a woman infertile; uterine perforation sometimes necessitating a hysterectomy; and an incompetent cervix. The last is a reason why abortion is a risk factor for later premature births. Babies born very early are at much higher risk for serious problems, especially cerebral palsy. Thus, abortion affects not only the mother but also her later children—both directly and indirectly.
Since the 1950s, evidence has accumulated that women who have an abortion have an increased risk of breast cancer, especially if they abort their first pregnancy. A woman with a strong family history of breast cancer who aborts her first baby when she is a teenager, especially at a late stage, has an extremely high risk of cancer. Worse, this may occur at an early age, so that young children are left motherless.
Unquestionably, abortion at the very least deprives women of the protective effect of a full-term pregnancy: having a baby provides some insurance against breast cancer.
Because breast cancer is usually hormone-sensitive, this makes a lot of sense. We worry about estrogens given to relieve symptoms of menopause, and even about chemicals with a very weak estrogenic effect. But these effects are tiny compared with the stimulation of the milk glands by the hormones of pregnancy.
When a pregnancy comes to term, the hormones of late pregnancy cause the milk glands to mature and become less sensitive to carcinogens. But an artificially terminated pregnancy before the first birth leaves the cells immature and more vulnerable. A spontaneous abortion or miscarriage usually does not have this effect, probably because of the lower hormone levels that are seen in pregnancies doomed to failure.
Although major medical journals and government agencies deny the abortion breast cancer link, lawsuits have been brought because patients were not informed of the potential risk. States are now considering laws requiring that patients receive this information.
The evidence is growing stronger. While the rates of many different types of cancer are falling, breast cancer rates are increasing—among women in the post-Roe generation. And it’s becoming a disease of young women, rather than of older women only. Rates are lower in nations (such as Ireland and Poland) that prohibit abortion.
The effects of abortion are not over when a woman leaves the recovery room or when the bleeding stops. It’s a life-changing event whose long-term impact on women, children, and society is only beginning to be recognized.
Jane M. Orient, M.D., F.A.C.P., is an internist practicing in Tucson, AZ. She is Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.
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