A new University of Toronto study indicates women who abort their unborn babies face an increased risk of blood clots.
Researchers found that women who underwent abortions doubled their risk for venous thromboembolism, compared to women who were not pregnant, according to the medical news website Healio.
Lead author Joel G. Ray, MD, MSc, professor of medicine at University of Toronto, noted that venous thromboembolism, or VTE, is a leading cause of maternal mortality.
“Approximately 25 percent of pregnancies end in induced abortion, accounting for 56 million induced abortions annually worldwide,” Ray said. “Although information about risk [for] VTE in pregnancy exists, data about the risk after induced abortion is scarce.”
VTE is a blood clot that begins in a vein; it can be fatal if not treated. It affects up to 600,000 Americans each year, according to the American Heart Association.
Here’s more from the report:
The researchers performed a propensity-matched cohort study, reviewing data from the universal health care system in Ontario, Canada. Ray and colleagues matched primigravid women aged 15 to 49 years who had abortions between 2003 and 2015 (n = 176,001) with primigravid women who had live births (n = 176,001) and nonpregnant women (n = 880,005) who did not conceive within a year of their matched counterparts’ abortions.
The main outcome was risk for VTE within 42 days of the index date — defined as the date of abortion, live birth or, in the case of nonpregnant women, the date of a matched pregnant women’s abortion.
The rate of VTE within 42 days was 30.1 (95% CI, 22-38.2) per 100,000 among women who had an abortion, compared with 13.5 (95% CI, 11.1-16) per 100,000 among nonpregnant women.
Keep up with the latest pro-life news and information on Twitter. Follow @LifeNewsHQ
However, women who had abortions had a significantly lower risk for VTE within 42 days than those whose pregnancies ended in live births, whose rate of VTE within 42 days was 184.7 (95% CI, 164.6-204.7) per 100,000 (HR = 0.16; 95% CI, 0.12-0.22).
The abortion industry down-plays the risks of abortion by citing studies by its own supporters. However, a growing body of research indicates that abortions do increase risks to the mother’s health while destroying their unborn baby’s life. These include increased risks of future preterm births, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, suicide, breast cancer and death.
