NYT: 'Pregnancy Kills. Abortion Saves Lives.'

Pregnancy is dangerous; abortion can be lifesaving, writes Dr. Warren Hern, a provider of late abortion services in Colorado. https://t.co/5lw6Z48459

— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) May 21, 2019

Pregnancy is a life-threatening condition. Women die from being pregnant. We have known that for thousands of years.

They die from hemorrhage, infection, pre-eclampsia (which can lead to fatal seizures), obstructed labor, amniotic fluid embolism, thromboembolism, a ruptured uterus, retained placenta, hydatidiform mole, choriocarcinoma and many other causes that fill the obstetrics textbooks.

In Alabama, the overall maternal mortality ratio in 2018 was 11.9 per 100,000. Among white women, the 2018 maternal mortality ratio was 5.6; among black women, it was 27.6, making black women in Alabama almost five times more likely to die as a result of pregnancy than white women. For the United States overall, the maternal mortality ratio was 20.7.

By comparison, a study in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology on abortion mortality from 1998 to 2010 found that for the 16.1 million abortions performed during that time, the overall death rate was 0.7 per 100,000 procedures. The death rate for early-abortion procedures — those that took place within the first eight weeks of the pregnancy — was less: 0.3 per 100,000.

Pregnancy is dangerous; abortion can be lifesaving.