Ban on abortion increases maternal mortality: studies prove it’s wrong

• News
• 21 Nov 2013

Lola Velarde, president of the Institute for Family Policies in New York, denounced at the UN headquarters the falsity of feminism as it claims the need to legalize abortion in order to decrease maternal mortality. These are old lies, which studies have fully proven to be wrong.

In her speech at the conference of the 19^th September she explained that «it isn’t possible to reach the UN Millennium Development Goals unless you grant the right to life and to family». She proceeded to debunk the main myth of pro-abortionists: maternal health. Through this myth they wanted to manage the recent cases in Beatriz, El Salvador, and Savita, Ireland, failing in both of them. She mentioned the case of Ireland, a nation with strict abortion laws (in fact, abortion is performed only in the case of a real risk of death of the mother), a  nation considered by the World.  Health Organization (WHO) as the safest country in the world to give birth.

Dr Monique V. Chireau, professor at University Medical Center in North Carolina (USA) also gave a speech, in which she explained that the low maternal mortality rate of Ireland shows that «treatment of high risk pregnancies doesn’t require a false choice between the needs and the rights of the mother and those of the baby. In fact, data of the British Health Department show that in the last 20 years not a single abortion was necessary to save the life of the mother». Moreover, Dr Chireau underlined that «doctors have the duty to give assistance taking into account either the interests of the mother and those of the baby ».

It isn’t a coincidence that the recent Medical Symposium in Dublin — organized by the “Committee for Excellence in Maternal Healthcare”, chaired by Eamon O’Dwyer, Professor, emeritus, of Obstetrics and Gynaecology National University of Ireland (NUI) and attended by the main experts of the medical area, gynecologists, psychologists and molecular biologists — concluded that «direct abortion  – the deliberate destruction of the unborn – is never medically necessary to save the life of a woman» and that «the prohibition of abortion does not affect, in any way, the availability of optimal care to pregnant women»

Chile is another example of the connection between pro-life legislation and safe maternity, since it has the second lowest maternal mortality rate of the American continent (after Canada). Dr Elard Koch, director of the Institute of Molecular Epidemiology (MELISA), spoke about the Chilean case: he presented a thorough study with data from the last 50 years, showing that maternal mortality in Chile decreased by 69 percent since the ban on abortion of 1989. Koch also presented data about Mexico, as he compared 14 countries with permissive laws about abortion with 18 countries with more restrictive laws: he showed that the latter have lower maternal mortality rates .

The editorial staff