Study: Previous Abortions Linked With Pre-TermBirth and Cerebral Palsy
31.5% of children born with very low birth weight due toprior induced abortions
By Hilary White
VANCOUVER,Canada, October 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An article appearing inthis monthÕs edition of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine concludes thatnearly 32 per cent of Òvery-pretermÓ U.S. births, that is, before 32 weeksgestation, are due to the mother having had a prior abortion. This information,combined with previous research in the relation between low birth weightchildren and cerebral palsy (CP), results in an estimated 1,096 childrensuffering from CP because of their motherÕs prior abortion.
The 2002data examines 4,021,726 births, 4,021,726 preterm babies and 72,751very-preterm babies.
The studyÕsauthors, with the Reduce Preterm Risk Coalition based in Vancouver, are Dr.Byron Calhoun an obstetrics and gynecology professor at Western VirginiaUniversity, Dr. Elizabeth Shadigian, obstetrics and gynecology at theUniversity of Michigan and Brent Rooney the research director. They concludedthat prior induced abortion is a significant risk factor in very pre-termbirths and cerebral palsy.
Theresearch backs up previous findings published in 2006 by Dr. Richard E. Behrmanof Stanford UniversityÕs Institute of Medicine, that named Òprior firsttrimester induced abortionÓ as Òimmutable medical risk factor associated withpreterm birthÓ.
Verypre-term babies have much higher than normal risks of suffering medicalproblems including cerebral palsy, mental retardation, autism, epilepsy,blindness, deafness, lung impairment and serious infections.
Theestimate combines a study of 58,717 newborns with a birth weight under 1500grams (3 pounds 5 ounces) most of whom were very-preterm. Calhoun estimatedthat since 31.5 per cent of children born with very low birth weight are due toprior induced abortions. Approximately 7.7 per cent of children with very lowbirth weight develop CP, at least 1,096 cases of CP are directly associatedwith the motherÕs prior abortion.
The articlefurther estimated a direct cost to the health care system of abortion-relatedpre-term babies at US $1.2 billion in 2002. This estimate did not includelong-term costs for ongoing, often life-long medical expenses and lost incomesuch children will suffer.
The articleis listed in the Journal index as:
CostConsequences of Induced Abortion as an Attributable Risk for Preterm Birth andImpact on Informed Consent
B. C.Calhoun, E. Shadigian and B. Rooney
Inducedabortion contributes to significantly increased initial neonatal health costs,>$1.2 billion, and 1,096 excess cerebral palsy cases per year in the UnitedStates
Readrelated LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
1,100Excess Brain Damaged Babies are Born Yearly in US Due to Previous Abortions
New StudyConfirms Abortion Increases Risk of Future Premature Births