No Surprise Here
This news item might be the least surprising of the day, but it’s still worth noting.
A Guttmacher Institute report issued today shows that abortions are no less common in countries where the procedure is illegal than in countries where it’s legally sanctioned. No surprise there. Those of us who follow this issue know that women will get abortions whether abortion is legal or not. We saw it in the U.S. before Roe, and we see it now in many countries around the world where abortion remains illegal or inaccessible.*
But illegal abortion is dangerous for women’s health.
Though abortion is very safe when performed in a clean facility by a medical professional, illegal abortions account for 13% of the world’s maternal mortality (see chart). This is especially worrisome given that 97% of unsafe abortions took place in poor countries, where medical care to treat the results of an unsafe abortion is severely lacking. And it affects the vast majority of women in the world, with 9 out of 10 women worldwide seeking abortions before their 45th birthdays.
Today’s report provides yet more proof that if we are really “pro-life,” we must support reproductive freedom and legal abortion. Because nothing is less supportive of life than a policy that ensures that women will die because they cannot obtain safe and clean health care when they need it and want it.
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* Which is not to say that abortion is accessible in the U.S. Only 13% of American counties have an abortion provider, and several states have laws further restricting the availability of abortion for all women, but especially minors and poor women. But abortion is legal in the U.S.