Maternal Deaths- Abortion

Following the release of the abortion statistics for 2008, Dr Margaret Sparrow, President of ALRANZ, a society with a national membership of less than 200 members, stated that; “We must be thankful that women are not dying from backstreet abortions or having to travel to Australia in their thousands as they did during the 1970s.” The statement that women, prior to 1977 were dying from backstreet abortions is challenged. The statement infers that there were many women who died as the result of having an abortion, that is not true, the statement is misleading, alarmist, and is made to make woman fearful.

The Royal Commission on Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion in its report to Parliament in 1977 advised, that they had received expert medical evidence that revealed that on average, one woman died each year in New Zealand from the complications of an illegal abortion. The majority of unlawful backstreet abortions were performed by doctors in their surgery. In the event of complications the hapless women was admitted to hospital for treatment.

The death of any woman from an abortion is a great tragedy and is deplored. In every abortion someone always dies, an unborn child is killed. Due to the increasing commendable reluctance of doctors and nurses to be involved in abortions, women are still flying to Australia for an abortion. There are two District Health Boards that send women seeking a second trimester abortion to Australia at the taxpayer’s expense. There are ten other Boards that pay air, travel and accommodation expenses, to send women to a main centre for an abortion.

ENDS

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