U.S. lawmakers renew call for abortion-pill ban 20 Jul 2005 22:07:56 GMT Source: Reuters
It is a tragedy when any woman dies from pregnancy related causes. It is a sad fact that "Pro-Life"/ Conservative groups and politicians work so diligently to implement policies that will increase the number of women dying.
WASHINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) - Several conservative lawmakers on Wednesday urged Congress to order a halt to sales of the abortion pill RU-486 and require further safety review after the drug's maker announced that five women taking it had died from bacterial infections.
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday alerted the public to the deaths and new warning information on the drug's label. But the lawmakers said that is inadequate.
"Congress needs to act to take this deadly drug off the market and force a serious review of its safety," said South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who joined with Republicans Sam Brownback of Kansas and David Vitter of Louisiana to back new legislation. The three lawmakers oppose abortion.
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There is a risk of death from continuing a pregnancy, from having a miscarriage, from legal surgical abortion, from legal medical abortion, and from illegal abortion. The most recent information shows that the risk of death from medical abortion is the same as the risk of death from miscarriage and legal surgical abortion (1/100,000) . To put this in perspective, the risk of death from each of these three outcomes is still 10-13 times less than the risk of death from continuing a pregnancy (10-13/100,000). Furthermore, whenever abortion is made illegal, the risk of death increases substantially. The risk of death from an illegal abortion in a developed country is 50/100,000.
For those of us who care about the health and safety of women and families---the evidence about the risk of death for women matters. The continued evaluation and honest communication about risks for all outcomes matters. Unfortunately, this is not the case for the "Pro-Life/Anti-Abortion" movement including Republican lawmakers DeMint, Brownback, and Vitter. "Pro-Lifers" consistently take the position of calling for the removal of the safest measures and trying to shift legal, safe abortions to illegal, unsafe abortions. This will directly increase the number of young women dying by 10-50-fold. In a stunning display of dishonesty, they claim to do this in the name of safety.
Not only will "Pro-Life, Anti-Abortion" policies increase the number of women dying given the current rate of unintended pregnancies, by opposing and undermining the measures that prevent unintended pregnancies, they will drastically increase the numbers of unintended pregnancies adding further to the number of women dying from all pregnancy related causes. The "Pro-Life" Policies will very efficiently and successfully increase the number of unintended pregnancies, increase abortions, and increase the number of women dying. It shows incredible gall on their part to claim that they value life.
These people have every right to argue their opinions about abortion but they do not have the right to lie about the medical evidence regarding risks and safety. They do not have the right to claim that safety is their concern given the evidence behind the policies they support. And they certainly should not get away with trying to claim any moral high ground on this issue. Any "Pro-Lifer" who truly values safety and life should dry his crocodile tears, swallow his pride and join us in the Pro-Choice groups. Pro-Choice policies result in the prevention of unintended pregnancies, the reduction of abortions and the prevention of women dying. It is shameful that the biggest obstacle to these goals is the "Pro-Life" movement.
Lisa Littman, MD