Some of the methods used in illegal abortions by midwives and amateur abortionists are revolting. They often result in mutilation and death. The book Birth Control states:

“Many of them are sickeningly painful, even gruesome, and most of them are designed simply to introduce infections into the womb, which may kill the embryo​—and the woman as well.”

What Effect?

What effect does an abortion have on a woman? Physically, the threat of mutilation, sterility and death is always present.

In the United States there is said to be one death every hour from a bungled abortion. Nationwide, an estimated 45 percent of maternal deaths are due to illegal abortions. In Jamaica it is the leading cause of all deaths in maternity hospitals. In Colombia abortions are the number one cause of death among all women of childbearing age.

In addition to physical effects, there are mental effects. The publication Birth Control says: “There seems to be no question that for many women abortion is a traumatic experience. Regardless of religious background or beliefs, there is something repugnant about the thought of ending, if not a life, at least the promise of life.”

Swiss doctors report that over 50 percent of women having abortions had unfavorable psychological reactions. And Newsweek noted the comment of one woman, typical of many, who said: “Believe me, there is not a man who will ever know the agony and the pain a woman feels when she flushes a fetus down the toilet.” Women have committed suicide because of the feeling of guilt after having an abortion.

Nor are nurses and doctors immune to mental effects. In England, where abortions are easier under a new law, the Daily Mirror of March 9, 1970, noted: “Tory M. P. Norman St. John-Stevas said . . . that nurses all over the country were being more and more revolted by abortion duties. There were cases of babies being heard to cry just before being put into the incinerators.”