The Facts

Fetal Development

• Fetal heart begins to beat at 18 days (when the mother is only four days late for her first menstrual period), and by 21 days it is pumping, through a closed circulatory system, blood whose type is different from that of the mother.
• Fetus feels pain by at least 8 weeks gestation.
• Fetal brain waves detectable by EEG at 40 days.
• By 8 weeks (2 months) all fetal body systems are present. By 11 weeks, they are all functioning.
• Viability, that stage of fetal development when the baby is "potentially able to live outside the mother’s womb [that is, can survive], albeit with artificial help," begins at about 20 weeks.

*From Why Can't We Love Them Both, online at abortionfacts.com.

Abortions

• Number of induced abortions in the U.S.:
  • 1,310,000 in 2000 (average of 3,589 every day, 1 every 24 sec.)
  • More than 40,000,000 abortions in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade 1973
• Number of induced abortions in the world:
  • 46,000,000 (22% of all pregnancies)
• 52% of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25: Women aged 20-24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and teenagers obtain 19%.
• On average, women give at least 3 reasons for choosing abortion: 3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about 2/3 say they cannot afford a child; and 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.
• At current rates, about one in three American women will have had an abortion by the time she reaches age 45.
• In 2000, there were 55 abortion providers in North Carolina. This represents a 7% decrease from 1996, when there were 59 abortion providers.

*From the Alan Guttmacher Institute, research arm of Planned Parenthood.

Post-Abortion Complications

• National statistics on abortion show that 10% of women undergoing induced abortion suffer from immediate complications, of which one-fifth (2%) were considered major.
• "Minor" complications include: minor infections, bleeding, fevers, chronic abdominal pain, gastro-intestinal disturbances, vomiting, and Rh sensitization. The nine most common "major" complications which are infection, excessive bleeding, embolism, ripping or perforation of the uterus, anesthesia complications, convulsions, hemorrhage, cervical injury, and endotoxic shock.
• Studies within the first few weeks after the abortion have found that between 40 and 60 percent of women questioned report negative reactions. Within 8 weeks after their abortions,
  • 55% expressed guilt,
  • 44% complained of nervous disorders,
  • 36% had experienced sleep disturbances,
  • 31% had regrets about their decision, and
  • 11% had been prescribed psychotropic medicine by their family doctor.
• A 5 year retrospective study in two Canadian provinces found that 25% of aborted women made visits to psychiatrists as compared to 3% of the control group.

*From the Elliot Institute.

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