Abortion Increases Women's Mortality Rates: Study
A Danish study that was recently published showed that women who had undergone at least one abortion saw an increase in maternal death rate of 45 percent.
The study, "Reproductive history patterns and long-term mortality rates: a Danish, population-based record linkage study," was published in the European Journal of Public Health and looked at the maternal death rates of women in Denmark, over a 25 year period, who had under gone an abortion or experienced a during pregnancy.
The study showed that a single induced abortion increased the chance of maternal death by 45 percent when compared to women who had never received and abortion.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The researched also highlighted an even higher death rate among women who had multiple abortions.
According to the study women who had two abortions were 114 percent more likely to die during the period examined and women with three or more abortions had a 192 percent increased chance of premature death.
Research also showed an increase in the death rates of women who had experienced miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies or other natural losses.
Women who did not have a history of loss during pregnancy were the least likely to die during the 25 years that were examined, while women who had never conceived had the highest mortality rate.
The finding that each additional abortion or other pregnancy loss contributed to a rising death rate is an indication that the observed effects are more likely to be causal than incidental, according to David Reardon, a co-author of the study, said in a statement.
"We knew from our previous studies of low income women in California that women who have multiple pregnancy outcomes, such as having a history of both abortion and miscarriage, have significantly different mortality rates," Reardon added.
He further stated that this was the first study to specifically consider how abortion or miscarriages affects mortality rates.
