Unsafe abortion Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Frequency by continent== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Region !! Number of unsafe abortions (thousands) !! Number of unsafe abortions per 100 live births !! Number of unsafe abortions per 1000 women |- |Africa |4200 |14 |24 |- |Asia* |10500 |14 |13 |- |Europe |500 |7 |3 |- |Latin America and the Caribbean |3700 |32 |29 |- |North America | Negligible incidence | Negligible incidence | Negligible incidence |- |Oceania ** |30 |12 |17 |- |'''World''' |'''19000''' |'''14''' |'''14''' |} : * Excluding Japan : ** Excluding Australia and New Zealand Source: WHO 2006<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Grimes DA, Benson J, Singh S, Romero M, Ganatra B, Okonofua FE, Shah IH | title = Unsafe abortion: the preventable pandemic | journal = Lancet | volume = 368 | issue = 9550 | pages = 1908β1919 | date = November 2006 | pmid = 17126724 | doi = 10.1016/s0140-6736(06)69481-6 | s2cid = 6188636 | url = https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/unsafe_abortion/article_unsafe_abortion.pdf }}</ref> ===Abortion in the U.S. before 1973 (''Roe v. Wade'')=== In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled 7β2 that laws prohibiting an abortion violated a woman's right to privacy. The landmark case, ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'', changed abortion in the United States. Early abortion laws generally only prohibited the use of toxic chemicals that were used to cause a miscarriage. The first such law was passed in Connecticut in 1821.<ref name="CNN_22 January 2013">{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/22/health/roe-wade-abortion-timeline/index.html |title=Before and after Roe v. Wade | vauthors = Wilson J |website=CNN |date=January 22, 2013 |access-date=December 7, 2017}}</ref> Prior to 1973, the authority to legalize abortion rested with the state governments. Up through the 1960s, 44 states had laws that outlawed abortions unless the health of the pregnant patient was at stake.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/01/22/charts-how-roe-v-wade-changed-abortion-rights/ |title=CHARTS: How Roe v. Wade changed abortion rights | vauthors = Kliff S |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=January 22, 2013 |access-date=December 7, 2017}}</ref> In the 1940s, records show that more than 1,000 women died each year from abortions that were labeled as unsafe. Many of these abortions were self-induced. Unsafe abortion practices were such a concern in the United States that nearly every large hospital had some type of "septic abortion ward" that was responsible for dealing with the complications that accompanied an incomplete abortion. Incomplete abortions were the leading cause for OB-GYN services across the United States. In the 1960s, the [[National Opinion Research Center]] found that hundreds of women were attempting to self-abort with coat hangers, knitting needles and ballpoint pens, and by swallowing toxic chemicals like bleach and laundry detergent.<ref name="thinkprogress.org">{{cite web |url=https://thinkprogress.org/what-americans-have-forgotten-about-the-era-before-roe-v-wade-19687b9e9b16/ |title=What Americans Have Forgotten About The Era Before Roe v. Wade | vauthors = Culp-Ressler T |website=ThinkProgress |access-date=February 20, 2021}}</ref> However, the number of deaths declined significantly into the 1960s and 1970s. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in 1972, 130,000 women attempted self-induced abortions or obtained illegal abortions, resulting in 39 deaths.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Gold RB | publisher = Guttmacher Institute |url= https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2003/03/lessons-roe-will-past-be-prologue |title=Lessons from Before Roe: Will Past be Prologue? |date=22 September 2004}}</ref> ===Cases resulting from parental consent laws in the U.S. after 1973=== In 2005, the ''[[Detroit News]]'' reported that a 16-year-old boy, at his pregnant, under-age girlfriend's request, repeatedly beat her abdomen with a bat to abort the fetus. The young couple lived in Michigan and were evading a state law requiring a minor to receive a parent's or a judge's consent to obtain a legal abortion.<ref>{{cite news | vauthors = Cardenas E, George H |date = 5 January 2005 | title =Boy Faces Felony in Baseball Bat Abortion | work =Detroit News | url =https://billmuehlenberg.com/web-archive/detroit-news-boy-faces-felony-baseball-bat-abortion/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | vauthors = White P | date =January 13β21, 2005 | title =Baseball Bat Abortion | publisher =Boulder Weekly | url =http://archive.boulderweekly.com/011305/uncensored.html | access-date =2009-05-31 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/choice-action-center/in_your_state/who-decides/state-profiles/michigan.html?templateName=lawdetails&issueID=6&ssumID=2652 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060130214820/http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/choice-action-center/in_your_state/who-decides/state-profiles/michigan.html?templateName=lawdetails&issueID=6&ssumID=2652 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 30, 2006 |title=Michigan: Restrictions on Young Women's Access to Abortion |publisher=NARAL Pro-Choice America |access-date=2009-05-31}}</ref> In Indiana, where there were also parental consent laws, 17-year-old [[Becky Bell]] died from an unsafe abortion in 1988 rather than discuss her pregnancy and wish for an abortion with her parents.<ref>{{cite web | title=DEMOCRACY NOW! | url=http://www.pacifica.org/programs/dn/030123.html |date=2003-01-22 |access-date=2021-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809172936/http://www.pacifica.org/programs/dn/030123.html |archive-date=2011-08-09 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Platner J | title= Remembering Becky Bell | date=2006-09-15 | publisher=Planned Parenthood Golden Gate | url=http://www.ppgg.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=esJMKZPKJtH&b=1371221&ct=2939285 | access-date=2009-05-31}}</ref> {{better source needed|date=December 2022}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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