Monday, June 25, 2012

Making Abortion Illegal Does NOT Increase Maternal Mortality

Abortion advocates argue that legalization of abortion reduces maternal abortion.  NOT!  We've known this is not true for years.  Education, good medicine and quality health care reduce maternal mortality, not abortion.  In many nations that have legalized abortion, there are higher maternal mortality rates and there are lower maternal mortality rates in many nations with restrictive abortion laws.  A 2010 Lancet study found lower worldwide mortality rates, but they did not mention abortion, despite pressure from abortion advocates to do so.

Life News reporter Andrew Bair cites a powerful Chilean study confirming that restricting abortion does not increase maternal mortality.  

"A new study conducted on behalf of the Chilean Maternal Mortality Research Initiative (CMMRI) reaffirms that legalized abortion does not reduce the rate of maternal mortality. To the contrary, since Chile enacted a law protecting unborn children in 1989, the maternal mortality rate has dropped significantly."

Why did maternal morality drop?  "The study included analysis covering 50 years of maternal mortality data (1957-2007) from Chile’s National Institute of Statistics. The analysis found that the most important factor in reducing maternal mortality is the educational level of women. 'Educating women enhances women’s ability to access existing health care resources, including skilled attendants for childbirth, and directly leads to a reduction in her risk of dying during pregnancy and childbirth,' according to Dr Elard Koch, epidemiologist and leading author of the study.'

Education, good medicine and quality health care reduce maternal mortality, not abortion.  Click here to read the rest of the story.  

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