Risks After Abortion:

As reported by Tony Gosgnach, Assistant Editor of The Interim, Canadian Family physician Dr. Deborah Zeni, in a talk on Young Women at Risk: Abortion and Consent, which dealt with the subject of risks after abortion, said that, "If you look at the rates of immediate complications across the world in developed countries, they range anywhere from 5 per cent in Denmark... all the way up to 17 per cent in the United States. That means if you do 100,000 abortions a year, as we do in Canada, 10 per cent of those women will end up with immediate complications of their pregnancy. They end up needing to see a physician... to have their problems treated — problems that are directly attributable to the abortion."

Dr. Zeni's talk was part of the 25th anniversary celebration and annual general meeting of the de Veber Institute in Toronto. Dr. Zeni is the recipient of the 2006 Mentorship Award for the Rural Ontario Medicine program, the 2004 Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons Award for Excellence in Community Medicine, and a contributor to the de Veber Institute's book, "Women's Health After Abortion – The Medical and Psychological Evidence."

The numbers presented by Dr. Zeni translate to a staggering ratio of complications in the United States alone. Using a low estimate of 1 million abortions performed in the U.S. each year, at a complication rate of 17%, this would mean there are approximately 170,000 cases of complications directly attributable to abortions each year.

The Most Common Risks after Abortion

• If pregnancy is terminated for genetic (defect) reasons, 3 in 4 (77%) of the mothers develop Acute Grief Reaction
• In general, the procedure leads to about emotional and psychological disturbance in 1 in 2 (50% of) women, which may last for months,and may include depression, nervousness, insomnia, guilt, regret, loss of self-esteem, and anorexia.
• Complications in future pregnancies include bleeding, premature delivery, sterility, and cervical injury in about 1 in 4 (23.3%) of cases
• Miscarriage during subsequent pregnancy is about 1 in 6 (17.5%)
• Increased incidence of retention of placenta and severe bleeding
• Increased risk of tubal pregnancy (30% increase after one abortion and 160% higher after two or more abortions)
• Placenta Previa, a condition that produces life-threatening bleeding in subsequent pregnancies is increased by 600% following an abortion
• Decreased future maternal bonding, because the loss of a baby through Abortion may cause the mother to be less affectionate towards future children (Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 1979; 24:610-20).
• According to the British Journal of Cancer (1981;43:72-6) there is 140%greater risk for women who had an abortion to develop cancer of the breast.
• Post-Abortion Syndrome, which is actually an entity under Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can happen to any person who has undergone a traumatic (physical and emotional) experience. In severe case, the symptoms may include anxiety, fear, withdrawal from people, irritability, outbursts of anger and rage, difficulty in concentrating, nightmares or sleeping disorders, flashbacks of the abortion, intense grief, guilt, repression or denial, inability to maintain a loving and trusting relationship, a sense of helplessness, and hopelessness. In these cases, professional help should be sought as early as possible.

Possible Complications of Abortion

• Women under age 20 have twice the risk for medical complications
• A little more than 4% of these women have immediate complications like bleeding, perforation of uterus, retained parts of fetus in womb,infection
• Those under 20 also have 150% chance of having injury to their cervix (mouth of womb)
• Women who have had a previous abortion have 200% increased risk of miscarriages after two or more abortions, 160% increased risk of tubal (out of the womb) pregnancy, and increased risk of abnormal positioning of the baby in future pregnancies.