The Dangers of Abortion Revealed by Philadelphia Abortion Clinic

Abortions have always posed a serious risk to the mother. The pro-choice movement has, for long, attempted to deny and silence this fact. However, a medical malpractice lawsuit has surfaced against an abortion doctor in Philadelphia. An AP article seems to implicitly blame pro-lifers, but in reality actually confirms the pro-life movements' warnings about the danger of abortion, both inside and out (remarks of mine added in red):

"When Davida Johnson walked into Dr. Kermit Gosnell's clinic to get an abortion in 2001, she saw what she described as dazed women sitting in dirty, bloodstained recliners. As the abortion got under way, she had a change of heart — but claims she was forced by the doctor to continue. (this is the leftists' and moral relativists' idea of "choice")

"I said, 'I don't want to do this,' and he smacked me. They tied my hands and arms down and gave me more medication," Johnson told The Associated Press. (and the American left wants the nation to fear the pro-life movement and accuse the pro-life movement of disenfranchising women?)

Johnson, then 21, had a 3-year-old daughter when she became pregnant again. She said she first went to Planned Parenthood in downtown Philadelphia but was frightened away by protesters. (frightened by a peaceful group with signs and rosary beads in hand? sounds like her conscience was pricked)

"The picketers out there, they just scared me half to death," Johnson, now 30, recalled this week. (abortion is something to fear, unfortunately Johnson didn't heed her own conscience)

Someone sent her to Gosnell's West Philadelphia clinic (what a pal), at the Women's Medical Society, saying anti-abortion protesters wouldn't be a problem there. (too bad protesters weren't there, Johnson could have had a change of heart there as well and avoid the gynecological problems she subsequently received from the abortion)

. . . Gosnell was charged last week with killing seven babies born alive and with the 2009 death of a 41-year-old refugee after a botched abortion at the clinic, which prosecutors have called a drug mill by day and abortion mill by night. The medical practice alone netted him at least $1.8 million a year, much of it in cash, they say.

Prosecutors said uncounted hundreds more babies died there.

"(He) regularly and illegally delivered live, viable babies in the third trimester of pregnancy and then murdered these newborns by severing their spinal cords with scissors," (not much different than partial birth abortion which was banned in 2007 with President Bush's signed ban (the ban was opposed by NARAL): "Partial-Birth Abortion is a procedure in which the abortionist pulls a living baby feet-first out of the womb and into the birth canal (vagina), except for the head, which the abortionist purposely keeps lodged just inside the cervix (the opening to the womb). The abortionist punctures the base of the baby’s skull with a surgical instrument, such as a long surgical scissors or a pointed hollow metal tube called a trochar. He then inserts a catheter (tube) into the wound, and removes the baby's brain with a powerful suction machine. This causes the skull to collapse, after which the abortionist completes the delivery of the now-dead baby.") said a report of the grand jury that investigated Gosnell and his clinic for a year.

The grand jury said while it believes Gosnell killed most of the babies he aborted after 24 weeks, it could not recommend murder charges for all of the cases.

"In order to constitute murder, the act must involve a baby who was born alive," the grand jury said, adding that it was stymied by files that were falsified or removed and possibly destroyed. (there's nothing like showing personal pride in how you make your living)

"His entire practice showed nothing but a callous disdain for the lives of his patients," said the nearly 300-page grand jury report, released Wednesday. (not to mention the lives of his victims - talk about ignoring the elephant in the room)

. . . "His contempt for laws designed to protect patients' safety resulted in the death of Karnamaya Mongar," the refugee from Bhutan, the grand jury report said. (not to mention his contempt for the natural law)

Johnson never sued over the abortion or ensuing venereal disease, but 46 other parties have, including the family of 22-year-old Semika Shaw, who prosecutors said died of sepsis at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in March 2002 two days after Gosnell perforated her uterus and cervix during an abortion."

Here lied hidden one abortion clinic that operated since at least 1993 when complaints about the clinic began pouring in. Setting aside the intrinsic evil of abortion just for a moment, we should ask the question, 'how many other clinics out there like this one have operated this way undetected for decades? Four? Twenty? One-hundred and twenty?' Now we should all be wondering about the risk to mothers of all abortions. There are clear physical and psychological consequences of abortions that damage the mother. Let's look at what abortion is and what it can do to the mother according to National Right to Life:

"abortion is the premature, willful, and violent penetration of a closed and safeguarded system -- a system in which nearly every cell, tissue and organ of a woman’s reproductive system has been specially transformed and activated to carry out the function of sustaining and nourishing the developing child. Not surprisingly, any violation of the integrity of that system can lead to serious complications. Physical problems range from hemorrhage and infection to sterility and even death. Psychological effects range from depression and mental trauma to divorce and even suicide.

NancyJo Mann is one of many who has experienced both kinds of complications. Infection and bleeding followed her abortion which eventually led to a hysterectomy. Recalling her experience, she said, "Beforehand, I liked myself. I had never entertained the idea of abortion. But the minute that needle went through my abdomen, I hated it, because I knew it could not be reversed. I wanted to scream, ‘Don’t do this to me!’"

The physical complications are alarming:

Despite the use of local anesthesia, a full 97% of women having abortions reported experiencing pain during the procedure, [81] which more than a third described as "intense," [82] "severe" or "very severe." [83] Compared to other pains, researchers have rated the pain from abortion as more painful than a bone fracture, about the same as cancer pain, though not as painful as an amputation. [84]

Studies also reveal that younger women tend to find abortion more painful than do older adults, [85] and that patients typically found abortion more painful than their doctors or counselors expected. [86] The use of more powerful general anesthetics can reduce the pain, but significantly increases the risk of cervical injury or uterine perforation. [87]

Complications such as these are common, as are bleeding, hemorrhage,[88] laceration of the cervix, [89] menstrual disturbance, [90] inflammation of the reproductive organs, [91] bladder or bowel perforation, [92] and serious infection. [93]

Even more harmful long term physical complications from abortion may surface later. For example, overzealous currettage can damage the lining of the uterus and lead to permanent infertility. [94] Overall, women who have abortions face an increased risk of ectopic (tubal) pregnancy [95] and a more than doubled risk of future sterility. [96] Perhaps most important of all, the risk of these sorts of complications, along with risks of future miscarriage, increase with each subsequent abortion. [97]

There is strong evidence that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer. A study of more than 1,800 women appearing in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 1994 found that overall, women having abortions increased their risk of getting breast cancer before age 45 by 50%. For women under 18 with no previous pregnancies, having an abortion after the 8th week increased the risk of breast cancer 800%. Women with a family history of breast cancer fared even worse. All 12 women participating in the study who had abortions before 18 and had a family history of breast cancer themselves got cancer before age 45. [102]

Of course, death of the mother is the most serious of all complications. Over 200 women have died from legal abortions since 1973. [103] The risk of death increases according to the duration of pregnancy [104] and the complexity of the abortion technique employed. [105]" (National Right to Life: click here for references)

Then there is the psychological damage:

"Clinical research provides a growing body of scientific evidence that having an abortion can cause psychological harm to some women. "Women who report negative after-effects from abortion know exactly what their problem is," observed psychologist Wanda Franz, Ph.D., in a March 1989 congressional hearing on the impact of abortion. "They report horrible nightmares of children calling them from trash cans, of body parts, and blood," Franz told the Congressional panel. "When they are reminded of the abortion," Franz testified, "the women re-experienced it with terrible psychological pain ... They feel worthless and victimized because they failed at the most natural of human activities -- the role of being a mother."[106]

The emergence of chemical abortion methods poses a new possibly more devastating psychological threat. Unlike surgical abortions, in which women rarely see the cut up body parts, women having chemical abortions often do see the complete tiny bodies of their unborn children and are even able to distinguish the child’s developing hands, eyes, etc. [107] So traumatic is this for some women that both patients and researchers involved in these studies have recommended that women unprepared for the experience of seeing their aborted children not take the drugs. [108] Long-term psychological implications of this experience have not been studied.

Researchers on the after-effects of abortion have identified a pattern of psychological problems known as Post-Abortion Syndrome (PAS). Women suffering PAS may experience drug and alcohol abuse, personal relationship disorders, sexual dysfunction, repeated abortions, communications difficulties, damaged self-esteem, and even attempt suicide. Post-Abortion Syndrome appears to be a type of pattern of denial which may last for five to ten years before emotional difficulties surface. [109]

Now that some clinicians have established that there is an identifiable patterns to PAS, they face a new challenge. What is still unknown is how widespread psychological problems are among women who have had abortions. A Los Angeles Times survey in 1989 found that 56% of women who had abortions felt guilty about it, and 26% "mostly regretted the abortion."[110] Clinicians’ current goal should be to conduct extensive national research studies to obtain data on the psychological after-effects of abortion.[111]

With the growing awareness of Post Abortion Syndrome in scholarly and clinical circles, women with PAS can expect to receive a more sensitive appreciation of the suffering that they endure. Fortunately, a growing network of peer support groups of women who have had abortions offers assistance to women who are experiencing emotional difficulties.

Many post-abortive women have also been speaking out publicly about their own abortion experiences and the healing process they went through.. Women or family members seeking information about this particular outreach can contact American Victims of Abortion, 419 7th Street, NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C., 20004.

(National Right to Life: click here for references)

So news of harm to mothers from abortion is coming as a surprise to Americans with this latest case only because the media, pro-choice politicians, and Planned Parenthood have all done their job extremely well for decades of suppressing the statistics and scuttling the facts. Let's hope and pray that the news headlines will bring awareness to the deep-seated festering cancer in our country of abortion.