We’ve all heard the argument: “Outlaw
abortion and abortion won’t stop; women will just do it illegally and women
will die!” Oh really? The fact is: The opposite was found to be
true.
Legal
restriction of abortion has a negative connotation since the idea of women
resorting to illegal abortion – risking their own lives – is strongly rooted in
worldwide public opinion. However, a
series of independently peer-reviewed articles, challenge this notion in some countries.
The latest data in this subject have
been discussed by the Chilean epidemiologist Elard Koch, Director of Research
of the MELISA Institute, in the current issue of the official journal of the
Chilean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The research shows that not only
abortion-related mortality continued its decreasing trend in Chile after its
prohibition by law in 1989, but also hospital discharges due to abortion have
significantly decreased during the last decade.
The number of maternal deaths
decreased from 41.3 to 12.7 per 100,000 women (69.2% reduction). That puts Chile in 2nd-place for the lowest
maternal mortality rate in the Americas (even better than the United States). According to the research from the MELISA Institute,
since Chile’s ban on abortion, not only has maternal health improved, but the
number of women seeking illegal abortion has plummeted!
The
Chilean experience represents a paradox in our times: even under less
permissive abortion legislation, maternal health indicators can be
significantly improved by other factors, including a noteworthy reduction in
mortality and morbidity associated to abortion.
In countries with higher abortion
restrictions, fewer women have to seek treatment for “unsafe abortion” than in
countries where abortion is “safe and legal.”
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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