RISKS OF ABORTION
The risks of abortion climb with increasing length of pregnancy. Mortality is extremely rare, at about 1 in 400,000 cases. The risk of dying in a first trimester abortion is many times lower than the risk of dying in natural childbirth in the U.S. Morbidity, or complications, are more common but also quite rare. About 1 in 20 cases will have a minor problem; these include mild infections that can be treated on the spot at the clinic, some blood in the uterus that can be easily removed, and so on. Less commonly, in about I in 200 cases, there will be major complications such as serious infection or bleeding or tissue left behind in the uterus. A major complication is perforation of the uterus, which occurs rarely in experienced practitioners' hands, but unfortunately, more often in less skilled hands.
Skill is a very important issue when it comes to abortions—especially as you get into a later stage of pregnancy. According to Dr. Hakim-Elahi, there have been no deaths after more than 250,000 pregnancy terminations in the history of Planned Parenthood, New York, which started doing the procedure in 1972. Of course, we all still read the horror stories in the paper about women who bleed to death after unskilled abortions; these problems exist around the country, but are almost always caused by inept practitioners, unsanitary or unsafe conditions, late abortion or centers with a total lack of backup for medical emergencies. We'll talk about some of the key questions you should ask in order to protect yourself later in this section.
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General health
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