Medical Abortion Practices in the United States
![handle is hein.journals/cwrlrv17 and id is 415 raw text is: 1965]
Medical Abortion Practices in the
United States
Kenneth 1. Niswander, M.D.
Today, criminal abortion is a primary cause of maternal deaths and
is thus a major public health problem. Dr. Niswander feels that the
continuation of criminal abortion, even in the face of this resultant high
fatality rate, is indicative of a clear societal demand for pregnancy inter-
ruption and of the fact that illegal means to this end will be sought if
legal means are not available. The author discusses contemporary indi-
cations for therapeutic abortion and their historical development. He
explains the medical procedures used to produce an abortion and the haz-
ards involved therein. Dr. Niswander concludes that in order to more
adequately reflect the needs of society, the laws regulating abortion
should be liberalized within the framework of sound medical practices.
(g RIMINAL ABORTION has become a major cause of maternal
death. In a recent survey of maternal deaths in California,'
it was found that almost one-third of the deaths studied were related
to illegal abortion. According to the records of the New York
Department of Health, in 1961
THE AUTHOR (M.D., University of forty-seven per cent of the
Buffalo) is an Associate Professor of Ob- maternal deaths, occurring in
stetrics and Gynecology at the State Uni- metropolitan New York were
versity of New York at Buffalo. due to illegal abortion.' By
reviewing cases of therapeutic
abortion during the past two decades in New York City, it has been
noted that criminal abortion has accounted for an increasing percen-
tage of puerperal deaths.? More alarmingly, the increased number
of puerperal deaths seemed inversely proportional to the decreasing
number of therapeutic abortions done in New York.4 Although it
is impossible to verify the figure, it has been estimated that between
300,000 and a million or more criminal abortions are performed
each year in the United States.5 Kinsey found that 22 per cent of the
' Montgomery & Hammersly, Maternal Deaths in California, 1957-1962, 100
CALIF. MEDICrE 412, 415 (1964).
2Guttmacher, Induced Abortion, 63 N.Y.J. MEDICINE 2334 (1963) (editorial).
3 Gold, Erhardt, Jacobziner & Nelson, Therapeutic Abortions in New York City:
A 20-year Review, 55 AmRIcA J. PUBLIC HEALTH 964, 965 (1965).
4 Can one speculate, if therapeutic abortion were more readily available, that there
would be fewer deaths from illegal abortion?
5 Fisher, Criminal Abortion, in THERAPEUTIC ABORTION: MEDICAL, PSYCHIAT-
iC, LEGAL, ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND RELIGIOUS CONSIDERATIONS 3, 6 (Rosen ed.
1954).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/cwrlrv17&div=28&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Medical Abortion Practices in the United States
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