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Abortion in Australia

Unborn babies have memories

Life Network Australia - Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Researchers from the Netherlands have discovered evidence that unborn babies have memories from at least 30 weeks gestation – about two months before they are due to be born.

According to an article in The Washington Times, scientists from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Maastricht University Medical Centre and the University Medical Centre St. Radboud, based their findings on a study of 100 healthy pregnant women and their babies, with the help of some gentle but precise sensory stimulation.

"In addition, results indicated that 34-week-old foetuses are able to store information and retrieve it four weeks later," said the research, which was released earlier this month.

"It seems like every day we find out marvelous new things about the development of unborn children. We hope that this latest information helps people realise more clearly that the unborn are members of the human family with amazing capabilities and capacities like these built in from the moment of conception," said Randall K. O'Bannon, director of education and research for the US National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund.

Related research in 2003 by psychologists and obstetricians at Queen's University in Canada found that the unborn babies in the study preferred the voices of their own mothers - both before and after birth.

For those that have had the privilege of carrying an unborn child or spent time with newborns, especially premature babies, the results come as no surprise. Little babies are just as human as the rest of us. In the womb or out, they deserve our protection.

 

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What are the risks associated with abortion?

Life Network Australia - Tuesday, July 14, 2009
A comprehensive evaluation of over 160 recently published research papers8 on aspects of abortion relating to women’s health and wellbeing revealed a long list of abortion-related physical and psychological risks.

Physical risks:

  • There appear to be more deaths from all causes, including suicide and homicide, after abortion, compared with childbirth.
  • Abortion is associated with a variety of significant physical risks, including premature delivery, infection (which may lead to infertility, particularly in the presence of genital infection), uterine perforation, placenta previa, and possibly miscarriage and low birth weight in future pregnancies.
  • A first pregnancy carried to full term provides a degree of protection against breast cancer. Many studies showed that early abortion of a first pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Other studies show no risk.

Psychological harm:

  • Abortion results in short-term relief for most women, usually accompanied by negative emotions. Such relief tend to be transient.
  • Ten to twenty percent of women suffer from severe negative psychological complications after abortion.
  • Many more women experience emotional distress shortly after an abortion including sadness, loneliness, shame, guilt, grief, doubt and regret.
  • Depression and anxiety are experienced by substantial numbers of women after abortion.
  • Abortion triggers Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in a small proportion of women.
  • After abortion women have an increased risk of psychiatric problems.
  • Women who have experienced abortion have an increased risk of substance abuse and self-harm particularly during a subsequent pregnancy.
  • Abortion for foetal disability is particularly traumatic and can be psychologically damaging for women.
  • Chemical abortion may have additional impacts on women’s psychological wellbeing.

The report also identified factors that put women at increased risk of psychological harm from abortion: for example, a lack of emotional and social support, ambivalence and difficulty making the decision to abort, relationship violence, and a history of psychiatric illness. This report can be purchased through Women’s Forum Australia at www.womensforumaustralia.com. 

Further information about the afteraffects of abortion can be found at www.afterabortion.org.  

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8 Ibid.
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Why do women have abortions?

Life Network Australia - Tuesday, July 14, 2009
We at Life Network Australia, believe that the unspoken ‘rules’ about childbirth and motherhood pressure many women to have an abortion. Our society’s attitude towards pregnancies that breach these ‘rules’ can make keeping the baby difficult. Consider the reaction to the following pregnancies:
  • The mother is under 21 or over 40 years old.
  • The mother is in financial difficulty.
  • The mother is a student.
  • The mother already has 3 or more children.
  • The youngest sibling is under 2 years old.
  • The youngest sibling is teenaged or older.
  • The father is not the mother’s current partner.
  • The unborn child has a suspected disability.
According to research 7, the following factors may underlie an abortion decision:
  • A lack of emotional, social and material support.
  • The pregnancy is not necessarily unintended or unwanted.
  • Women may be ambivalent about their pregnancy
  • A substantial number of women undergo abortion while being morally opposed to the practice.
  • Financial concerns are a major motivator.
  • Many women believe that continuing the pregnancy will jeopardise their plans for work and study.
  • Concern about becoming single mothers.
  • Abortion is strongly associated with domestic violence and abuse of women.
  • Relatively few abortions occur for reasons of foetal disability.
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7  ‘Women and Abortion – An evidenced based review’, 2005. S Ewing, published by Women’s Forum Australia.
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Just a ‘bunch of cells’?

Life Network Australia - Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Information about foetal development can be found at www.justthefacts.org. 

The following milestones have been documented by scientific research and collated by the Foundation for Human Development. Slight variations may exist and future research using more sensitive methods may show that some of these milestones occur earlier than is now realised.

Within the first hour after conception, the genetic code that establishes the design of a new unique individual is written.

By 24 days, ten days after the mother misses her first menstrual, the heart begins to beat. 

42 days after conception, the foetus is 6-7 mm long. The skeleton is formed in cartilage and the brain coordinates movements of muscles and organs. Reflex responses have begun.

8 weeks after conception (10 weeks pregnant), the baby is well-proportioned and every organ is present. The stomach, liver and kidneys are functioning. Fingerprints are engraved at 10 ½ weeks.

At 12 weeks pregnant, the entire body is sensitive to touch (except the head). Thumb sucking, squinting and swallowing occur. Fingernails are formed.

At 14 weeks pregnant, the baby is 9cm long and undertakes vigorous activity including kicking. Breathing is practiced. 

At 20 weeks the baby is 14 cm long and weighs 200 grams. The baby can swim and turn somersault. The mother can feel her baby’s movements.

By 26 weeks loud noises provoke activity and sleeping habits appear.

By 30 weeks fine baby hair grows on eyebrows, eyelashes and head. Most of the skeleton has hardened. Height is about 23 cm. Babies born at this age have been known to survive.

At 34 weeks eyelids open and close and eyes look around. Mother’s voice can be recognised. Permanent eye teeth are present.

During the final weeks of the pregnancy, weight increases and the baby’s space in the womb begins to get cramped. 

At around 40 weeks, labour is triggered by the baby and birth occurs.
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How accessible is an abortion?

Life Network Australia - Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Abortions are available at most public hospitals and at private hospitals and clinics across Australia. These facilities are easily located via the Internet or Yellow pages. Many of the private facilities offer same-day service with no referral necessary and no cooling off period. Women with private health cover can access abortion with no out-of-pocket expenses, and public patients can be bulk-billed.
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Is abortion legal?

Life Network Australia - Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Abortion is effectively available on demand in every State up to 20 weeks gestation, later in the ACT and Victoria.

In New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania, it is a criminal offence to unlawfully supply or administer with the intent to procure a miscarriage. 

In NSW and Queensland, the definition of an unlawful abortion is determined by case law, based largely on the 1969 Menhennitt Ruling in the Victorian Supreme Court. This ruling held that an abortion will be lawful if necessary because there is the risk of serious danger to the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant woman from continuing the pregnancy, not ‘merely the normal dangers of pregnancy and childbirth’. Modern interpretations of this ruling include any kind of mental stress from continuing the pregnancy to be ‘serious danger’.

The South Australian, Western Australian, Northern Territory and Tasmanian legislation sets out provisions for a lawful or ‘legally justified’ abortion. These provisions provide limitations on the gestational age at which the abortion is lawful, and the nature of the necessary danger to the mother.

Abortion has been decriminalised in both the ACT and Victoria. The Victorian legislation allows for abortion on demand up until 24 weeks. It also provides for abortion until full term where two doctors testify that the abortion is appropriate, having regard for the woman’s current and future physical, psychological and social circumstances.

For more information: http://www.saltshakers.org.au/issues/abortion/124-the-law-in-australia 
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How many abortions occur in Australia?

Life Network Australia - Monday, July 13, 2009
Abortion crosses in a field
An estimated 80,000 - 90,000 surgical abortions are performed in Australia each year. 1 , 2 This equates to approximately 250 per day, or one abortion for every 2.8 live births.3 One in three Australian women will have an abortion in their lifetime. 4 

An accurate number can not be calculated using the current systems of statistical collection. 5 An analysis of the available data has been prepared by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

There are no statistics available for the number of chemical abortions in Australia. The ‘morning after pill’, Postinor-2 is available over the counter and accounts for an unknown number of early abortions. A combination of drugs, Methotrexate and Misoprostal, is also widely used to induce abortion before 7 weeks gestation. This is done as a general consult by doctors and the number is not recorded.

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1 Department of Health and Ageing, answer to Senate Question Number 325 asked onnotice on 31 January 2005 by Senator Boswell.

2 ChanA, Sage LC. Estimating Australia’sabortion rates 1985-2003. MJA 2005; 182 (9): 447-452 

3 There were 251,200 registered births in 2003. Australian Bureau of Statistics 3301.0 ‘Births, Australia’ released 25/11/2004. www.abs.gov.au.

4 ‘Pregnancy Outcome in South Australia 2002’ Department of Human Services, Government of South Australia, November 2003. South Australia collects the most comprehensive data on abortion rates.

5 Pratt, Biggs and Buckmaster, February 2005. Australian Parliamentary Research Brief no. 9 2004–05. How manyabortions are there in Australia?A discussion of abortion statistics, their limitations, and options forimproved statistical collection.
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Abortion Procedures 6

Life Network Australia - Monday, July 13, 2009
The abortion procedure used depends on the gestational age of the foetus. More information about these abortion methods, complete with medical references, can be found at: http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/index.html.

Postinor-2, the ‘morning after pill’ consists of a high dose of hormones taken in two doses within 72 hours of intercourse. The manufacturers of the drug claim to be unsure about how the drug works. It is thought that the drug prevents the implantation of the fertilised ovum in the lining of the uterus and interrupts the natural pregnancy hormones required for the pregnancy to continue. Some authors assert that the drug delays ovulation and slows the passage of sperm, thereby preventing fertilisation.

Medical abortion can be undertaken before 7 weeks gestation. RU486 is not readily available in Australia, so a combination of Methotrexate and Misoprostal is commonly used. Methotrexate is injected and renders the placenta unable to support the embryo which then dies. Misoprostal tablets are taken 3 to 5 days later to induce cramping so that the embryo and placenta are expelled from the uterus.

During the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, ‘vacuum or suction aspiration’ is used. This method involves dilating the cervix and sucking the foetus and placenta out using a vacuum. The walls of the uterus are then scraped using a curved knife (curette) to ensure that the placental tissue has been fully removed. The procedure can be performed under local or general anaesthetic.

From 12-16 weeks gestation, the ‘dilation and extraction’ method is used, usually under general anaesthetic. The cervix is dilated and a combination of forceps, suction and curettage are used to crush and remove the foetus and other pregnancy tissue.

Prostaglandins are used between 17 and 20 weeks gestation to induce contractions and cause the baby to be delivered. The foetus dies either before delivery from the strong contractions, or from prematurity if born alive. The woman must be awake to deliver the foetus.

Late term abortions (after 20 weeks) are difficult because the baby is relatively large, and can potentially survive outside the womb if delivered alive. Labour is induced and the foetus is killed by injecting potassium into the heart to cause it to stop beating. Alternatively, the baby may be delivered feet first (breech), and the brains removed before the head is delivered.

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6 This section based on ‘Abortion in Australia into the 21stCentury’ compiled by C&D Cotton for NSW Right to Life.
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