ABORTION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES:

• In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions superseded all state laws prohibiting abortion.  Because of the broad health definition in Doe v. Bolton, abortion was made legal through all nine months of a pregnancy for any "health" reason a woman can think of and her abortionist will agree to.

• Abortion providers argue that second and third trimester abortions are only allowed when a mother's life and health are in danger.  What they don't tell you is that according to Doe v. Bolton, health is defined in very broad terms, such as social well being, thus making it virtually impossible for a state to protect the unborn child even after the sixth or seventh month of pregnancy.

• Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, stated "...medical judgement may be exercised in the light of all factors - physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age relevant to the well-being of the patient.  All thses factors may relate to health."

• Since the 1973 decisions, it is estimated that there have been more than 52 million abortions performed in the United States.

• Abortion is one of the least regulated industries in our country.  Reported complications and deaths from abortions are often far lower than the actual numbers.

ABORTION  STATISTICS:

• According to estimates from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, there were 1.21 million abortions performed during 2008 in the United States.

• According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 44% of women who had abortions in 2007 had obtained an abortion previously in their life.  Close to 20% of women who chose abortion had at least 2 previous abortions.

• The latest statistics in Michigan showed that in 2009 the total number of reported abortions in Michigan was 22,357.  Of these, 2,592 were performed after 12 weeks, in the second and third trimester.

• The number of abortions in Michigan has dropped 54.4% since 1987 when there were 49,098 abortions performed in Michigan.  The number of abortions performed on minors in Michigan has dropped 62.7% since 1990.

• It is estimated that there are 30 to 40 couples waiting to adopt for every 1 infant who is being placed for adoption, according to Allan Hazlett, the president of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys.

• In 1970, there were 89,200 American children placed in permanent homes to unrelated couples through adoption, but by 1975, only 2 years after the legalization of abortion, that number was down to 47,700 (NCFA, Adoption Factbook, p. 99).

• Abortion advocates often use a coathanger to symbolize the "age of back-alley abortions" where women were forced to seek abortions from "unqualified butchers."  The number of women who died from illegal "back-alley" abortions was often said to be in the thousands.  However, according to the U.S. Bureau of Vital Statistics, there were only 39 women who died from illegal abortions in 1972.

CONSEQUENCES  OF  ABORTION:

• Advocates of abortion claim that if abortion became legal, child abuse would become less frequent.  The National Incidence Study from the National Clearing House estimated that 1,256,600 children in the United States were abused or neglected under the Harm Standard in the 2005-2006 study year.  This same study estimated in 1980 that there were 625,100 abused or neglected children.  This is an increase of 101%.

• One 2008 study in the British Journal of Psychiatry study found women who had abortions were 30% more likely to have a variety of mental health problems after abortion compared to women with other pregnancy outcomes.

• A 2005 study in the European Journal of Public Health discovered that women who had abortions had a 3.5 times higher death rate from suicide, homicide, or accidents in the next year.  Suicide rates were 6 times higher for woman who aborted compared to women who gave birth.

FETAL  DEVELOPMENT:

• When the sperm joins the ovum (egg) to form one cell, this cell contains the complex genetic blueprint for every detail of human development -- such as sex, hair and eye color, height, skin tone.

• Genetically, everything a person is and will ever be is present at the time of conception.  All that is added is nutrition, an appropriate environment, and time.

• Abortion stops a beating heart -- 18 days after conception a baby's heart begins to beat.

• A child's brain waves are measureable 42 days after conception.

• Facial features, including ears, nose, lips and tongue, form with clarity during the second month.

• By 8 weeks, all body systems are present.  From that point on changes will be primarily in the size and refinement of the body parts already formed.

*Abortion Fast Facts courtesy of Right to Life of Michigan*

For more educational resources, visit Right to Life of Michigan at www.rtl.org