INDUCED ABORTION

Nearly 50% of all pregnancies among American women are unintended, and 4 in
10 of these are terminated by abortion. Excluding miscarriages, 25% of all
pregnancies end in abortion.

Early   first-trimester abortions   pose    virtually   no  long-term   risk    of  infertility,

ectopic pregnancy,  spontaneous abortion    (miscarriage),  or  congenital

malformation    (birth  defect),    and little  or  no  risk    of  preterm or  low birthweight

deliveries. Very    few abortion    patients    experience  a   complication    that    requires

hospitalization.

Numerous    epidemiologic   studies have    shown   no  association between abortion

and breast  cancer  or  any other   type    of  cancer.

The risk    of  maternal    death   associated  with    abortion    increases   with    advancing

gestational age.    The maternal    mortality   associated  with    childbirth  is  about   12

times   as  high    as  that    associated  with    early   first-trimester abortion.