A recent Lancet study demonstrated clearly that maternal mortality has declined significantly since l990, without worldwide legalization of abortion.The decline would have been even greater if not for the maternal mortality caused by the HIV epidemic.
Dr. Harrison commented on the faulty WHO definitions of "safe" and "unsafe" abortion, which are legal definitions, not medical definitions. WHO defines "unsafe" abortions as abortions done in countries where abortion is illegal and "safe" abortions as abortions which meet legal (not medical) requirements in countries where abortion is legal. Using WHO definitions, two countries with identical maternal mortality (for example, a thousand deaths caused by misoprostol abortions) would report their identical mortality differently: Country "A" where abortion is not legal would be counted as having a thousand "unsafe" abortion deaths. Country "B" where abortion is legal would be counted as having ZERO unsafe abortion deaths. This dishonesty in WHO definitions allows UN funding agencies to pressure countries into legalizing abortion, under the guise of reducing maternal mortality.
- For Dr. Harrison's presentation, see http://www.c-fam.org/publications/id.1160/pub_detail.asp
- For related articles, see http://www.c-fam.org/search/default.asp?q=maternal+mortality&x=0&y=0
- And for an extremely valuable article by Dr. Elard Koch on maternal mortality in Chile, including AFTER abortion was declared illegal in late the l980s, is found at: http://www.c-fam.org/publications/pub_detail.asp?id=1571
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