Life Without Roe: Making Predictions About Illegal Abortions
By Editorial Staff
Published September 1, 1992
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Laws preventing abortion will not only dramatically reduce the total number of abortions, but also the number of women and babies killed by either legal or illegal abortion, according to a report released by the Horatio R. Storer Foundation.
“This report carefully and clearly debunks the myth that women will die if abortion is no longer available,” said Cynthia McKnight, author of the report and a specialist in state legislative issues at the Storer Foundation. “Medical progress in treating complications, not legalization of abortion, accounts for the enormous drop in maternal abortion deaths from the 1940s to the 1970s.”
The report, Life Without Roe: Making Predictions About Illegal Abortions, was released Wednesday, July 1, by the Storer Foundation, an educational foundation dedicated to examining issues related to life and death and affiliated with the National Right to Life Committee.
The report, both historical and forward-looking in its scope, examines previous studies and statistics on the number of illegal abortions before Roe v. Wade and the number of maternal deaths (deaths of mothers) from legal and illegal abortion to provide a scientific framework for predicting “life without Roe.”
The report provides the basis for estimates that there were a mean of less than 100,000 illegal abortions annually in the years before Roe v. Wade, far fewer than the 1 million repeatedly claimed by abortion advocates.
“Today, there are 1.6 million abortions each year – 16 times as many as in the years before legalization,” McKnight noted. “Even assuming an increased risk from illegal abortions, that means that the total number of women dying and being hurt by abortion would be less in a post-Roe America with protective laws than it is today.”
- Before Roe v. Wade, there were approximately 100,000 illegal abortions per year, a number far lower than the 1 million claimed by abortion advocates.
- The largest reasonably possible number of illegal abortions in any one year before Roe v. Wade was approximately 210,000 in 1961; the lowest was about 39,000 in 1950. The mean was 98,000 per year.
- The data demonstrates an exponential increase in the number of abortions since legalization. There are roughly 16 times as many abortions now each year as there were in an average year before Roe v. Wade.
- The claims by abortion advocates that 1,000,000 or more illegal abortions occurred annually and 5,000-10,000 women died are based on inaccurately calculated extrapolations from flawed and erroneous data of the 1920s and the 1930s – the pre-penicillin era.
- The number of deaths of childbearing-age women for non-abortion related causes remained relatively constant in the years before Roe v. Wade, showing that deaths from illegal abortion could not have been “hidden” under other causes of death.
- Advances in medical technology, not the legalization of abortion, caused a significant drop in the number of maternal deaths from abortion:
- maternal deaths from illegal abortions were above 1,000 per year only in the pre-penicillin era (1940). The maternal abortion deaths dropped sharply with the advent of antibiotics (penicillin and sulfa) and other medical advances to treat infections.
- the maternal death rate had declined to 30 maternal deaths from illegal abortions by 1972, the year before Roe v. Wade was decided.
- If maternal abortion deaths were significantly under-reported in the official statistics, there would be an over-reporting of other causes of death. But multiple forms of analysis demonstrate this did not occur.
- The small numbers of maternal deaths demonstrate that there were a comparatively small number of illegal abortions pre-Roe, suggesting that the total number of abortions would drop substantially if protective laws were again in effect.
“As America looks forward to life without Roe, the debate on the legality of abortion must move beyond unsubstantiated claims and toward a realistic approach sensitive to the lives of both women and unborn children,” the report concludes.
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The Silent Scream (DVD) Eight Languages
“When the lives of the unborn are snuffed out, they often feel pain, pain that is long and agonizing.” – President Ronald Reagan to National Religious Broadcasters Convention, January 1981
Ronald Reagan became convinced of this as a result of watching The Silent Scream – a movie he considered so powerful and convicting that he screened it at the White House. More recently, it was by catching just a glimpse of what this film reveals that Planned Parenthood director and abortion advocate Abby Johnson turned and became a strong advocate for the pre-born.
The modern technology of real-time ultrasound now reveals the actual responses of a 12-week old fetus to being aborted. As the unborn child attempts to escape the abortionist’s suction curette, her motions can be seen to become desperately agitated and her heart rate doubles. Her mouth opens – as if to scream – but no sound can come out. Her scream doesn’t have to remain silent, however … not if you will become her voice. This newly re-mastered version features eight language tracks and two bonus videos.
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Running Time: 28 minutes
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The Real Jesus: A Defense of the Historicity and Divinity of Christ (DVD)
Who is the Real Jesus?
Ever since the dawn of modern rationalism, skeptics have sought to use textual criticism, archeology and historical reconstructions to uncover the “historical Jesus” — a wise teacher who said many wonderful things, but fulfilled no prophecies, performed no miracles and certainly did not rise from the dead in triumph over sin.
Over the past 100 years, however, startling discoveries in biblical archeology and scholarship have all but vanquished the faulty assumptions of these doubting modernists. Regrettably, these discoveries have often been ignored by the skeptics as well as by the popular media. As a result, the liberal view still holds sway in universities and impacts the culture and even much of the church.
The Real Jesus explodes the myths of these critics and the movies, books and television programs that have popularized their views. Presented in ten parts — perfect for individual, family and classroom study — viewers will be challenged to go deeper in their knowledge of Christ in order to be able to defend their faith and present the truth to a skeptical modern world – that the Jesus of the Gospels is the Jesus of history — “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He is the real Jesus.
Speakers include: George Grant, Ted Baehr, Stephen Mansfield, Raymond Ortlund, Phil Kayser, David Lutzweiler, Jay Grimstead, J.P. Holding, and Eric Holmberg.
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A Revival Account: Asbury 1970 (DVD)
What is true Revival and Spiritual Awakening?
Discover the answer in this eyewitness account by Dennis Kinlaw, President of Asbury College, Wilmore, Kentucky, who recounts the story of a visitation of the Holy Spirit in 1970. This is the presentation that has continued to spark the flames of Revival in the hearts of people around the world. Contains eyewitness footage from the Revival at Asbury College in 1970 in Wilmore, Kentucky.
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Go Stand Speak (DVD)
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The Four Keys to the Millennium (Book)
Foundations in Biblical Eschatology
By Jay Rogers, Larry Waugh, Rodney Stortz, Joseph Meiring. High quality paperback, 167 pages.
All Christians believe that their great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will one day return. Although we cannot know the exact time of His return, what exactly did Jesus mean when he spoke of the signs of His coming (Mat. 24)? How are we to interpret the prophecies in Isaiah regarding the time when “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:19)? Should we expect a time of great tribulation and apostasy or revival and reformation before the Lord returns? Is the devil bound now, and are the saints reigning with Christ? Did you know that there are four hermeneutical approaches to the book of Daniel and Revelation?
These and many more questions are dealt with by four authors as they present the four views on the millennium. Each view is then critiqued by the other three authors.
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Please forward this to all of the Senate and Congress, and the President. I have heard some crazy numbers from their offices!!!!!
Peter DeFazio Democrat from Oregon cited that illegal abortions accounted for 20 percent of maternal deaths prior to Roe v. Wade.
Posted by Lynda Teutsch on 04/10/2009 12:32 PM #