By William Lawyer
Around the world, abortion continues to be a leading cause of maternal death. Each year, around seven million women are treated for injuries from unsafe abortion.1 Around 47,000 of them die.2 For the most part, these deaths occur in developing countries, where around 97% of “unsafe abortions” take place. There, abortions are often performed in dangerous conditions or by untrained providers. This results in widespread harm and death for the mother. And as we know, abortion always results in a dead baby.
Because many developing countries ban abortion, pro-life laws are often blamed for deaths. Pro-abortion advocates point to these countries as proof that illegal abortion is unstoppable and that bans only harm women. They pressure these countries to loosen abortion laws to improve maternal health and use them to defend legality in developed countries as well.
The claim that legal abortion reduces maternal deaths is not far-fetched. Often, it does appear that when abortion is made legal, maternal deaths from abortions decrease. As such, it is accepted as fact by most researchers that legalization is the best way to reduce abortion-related deaths.
Despite this, a number of examples blatantly defy this theory. Many times, legalizing abortion has not produced positive results. In addition, it is apparent that abortion restrictions were not harming maternal health at all. When countries don’t fit the abortion narrative, though, they tend to just be ignored.
To read the remainder of this article, visit clmagazine.org/topic/abortion/abortion-and-womens-health-in-developing-countries-does-legalization-make-things-better.
To read additional pro-life articles, visit the Celebrate Life Magazine website at clmagazine.org.
