Women's Health After Abortion.

• Position: Book Review

Toronto, Ontario: The deVeber Institute for Bioethics and Social Research, 2002; .

The book is based on over five hundred articles that have appeared in medical and other journals, chiefly during the past twenty years. Much of the information has been extracted from papers whose primary focus was not abortion. Some of the consequences of abortion do not surface until long after the procedure, or, as in the case of infertility, remain undetected until the woman wishes to bear a child. Yet at present many studies rely on short-term findings; furthermore, researchers often minimize the significance of their findings, and sometimes even arrive at conclusions that flatly contradict their data. The difficulties surrounding the study of abortion have only increased with the dramatic rise over the past decade in the number of procedures performed in clinics, where follow-up of patients is minimal or non-existent. Nonetheless, what research there is, shows that abortion is the source of serious physical and psychological problems for a significant number of women.

The medical risks include ectopic pregnancy, which has risen disturbingly during the period since abortion was legalized. Other risks include uterine perforation, uterine adhesions, and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). The latter condition is now epidemic in North America, and commonly results in infertility. There is also valid reason for thinking that maternal mortality from abortion is generally underreported in Canada and the U.S. There is increasing evidence too, of a link between abortion and subsequent cancers of the reproductive system, as well as colorectal cancer. Over the past forty years, there has been overwhelming evidence of a...