CDC Reports of Abortion Deaths Double: Research Shows Many Deaths Go Uncounted

A recent report on abortion released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) noted that, “In 2008, the most recent year for which data were available, 12 women were reported to have died as a result of complications from known legal induced abortions.” The number of reported abortion-related deaths doubled from the year before, when six deaths were reported.

The real number of deaths is, without a doubt, much higher. Researchers looking at death records for women in the years following pregnancy in the U.S., Finland and, most recently, Denmark, found higher rates of death among women who had abortions compared to women who gave birth. And researchers and others have repeatedly reported serious flaws with how abortion deaths are counted in the U.S.

Indeed, in response to a letter questioning the appropriateness of comparing maternal mortality statistics for childbirth with the CDC’s reported mortality statistics for abortion, the director of the CDC wrote in July of 2004 that maternal mortality rates and abortion mortality rates ”are conceptually different and are used by the CDC for different public health purposes.”

The following round-up of articles discusses the miscounting of women’s deaths from abortion.

Why U.S. Abortion Mortality Statistics Are “Meaningless”
Abortionists Are Not Held Accountable for Mistakes: A Physician Speaks
“Invisible” Abortion Deaths