Is Cerebral Palsy ever a 'Choice'?
by Brent Rooney (Jan. 2004)
[An updated version of an article first published in
Post-Abortion Review (Oct.-Dec. 2000)]
by Brent Rooney
"When Emily was ten months old, her doctor told us he thought
we should have Emily evaluated for "possible mild cerebral palsy."
I suddenly found myself at the beginning of a whole new emotional
roller-coaster ride. My jaw dropped, my face felt immediately on
fire, my eyes filled with tears, and my body began to shake all
over. I clung tightly to my precious girl as I heard his words...."
(Sandra, Mother of 30-weeker Emily, Your premature baby and child,
Amy Tracy et al., 1999, pp. 115-116).[7]
What is cerebral palsy?
It is a brain injury resulting in improper balance, posture and
movement. It is estimated that 2-3 newborn per thousand will have
CP in North America. Since there are roughly 4 million births per
year in the United States, that means between 8,000 and 12,000
will have cerebral palsy.
Can the risk of a newborn having CP be reduced?
There are many unknowns about the risks for CP and because of yearly
law suits against obstetricians, anyone identifying a new CP risk
will be strongly challenged. In 1991 medical researchers did a
review of previous studies and reported that very low birth weight
(VLBW: under 3 pounds 5 ounces) newborns had a whopping 38 times the
risk of CP as normal weight newborns.[4] Thus, it is hardly surprising
that a CP expert such as Dr. Elliot Gersh, developmental pediatrician
and Medical Director of Mt. Washington Pediatrics Hospital, lists
preterm birth as a risk factor for cerebral palsy. (Children with
Cerebral Palsy , p. 14)[2] The more preterm a birth, the higher the
risk of a VLBW newborn. It is thus reasonable to believe that any
action taken by a woman to reduce her prematurity risk will reduce her
newborn's CP risk.
Can Elective Surgery boost preterm & CP risk?
Professor Barbara Luke, University of Michigan, is a highly regarded
author in the field of obstetrics and her 1995 book, Every Pregnant
Woman's Guide to Preventing Premature Birth, is a classic in its
field.[6] Luke wrote, "If you have had one or more induced abortions,
your risk of prematurity with this pregnancy increases about 30
percent. If they were done during the second trimester, after 14
weeks, your subsequent risk of prematurity is greater than if they had
been done during the first trimester, before 14 weeks."[6, p. 32] How
many studies support Luke's claim that a previous induced abortion
elevates subsequent risk of a premature or Low Birth Weight birth?
At least fifty (50) studies including very prestigious medical
journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet,
American Journal of Epidemiology, and American Journal of Public
Health.[ www.vcn.bc.ca/~whatsup/APB-Major.html ] All fifty (50)
of these studies are at least 95 percent confident of increased
prematurity or LBW risk. The best review article to demonstrate
the increased pre-term risk of prior induced abortions is at URL:
www.jpands.org/vol8no2/rooney.pdf
Is 30 percent an underestimate of prematurity risk?
Four years after Luke's 1995 "EPWG" book, the largest ever study (with
over 61,000 Danish women) had results published by the very respected
medical journal Obstetrics & Gynecology (December, 1999). Key
Findings[12]:
1. Doubled risk of a VERY preterm (before 34 weeks' gestation) birth
for women with previous induced abortions
2. Almost doubled risk of a preterm birth for women with previous
induced abortions
3. 1155% (!!!) boosted prematurity risk for women with two (2)
previous "evacuation" type abortions. (In "evacuations" the unborn
is cut up and removed from the mom)
Many times medical researchers will report risk increases but note
that they are not at least 95% confident of boosted risk. The medical
researchers for this Danish study were at least 95% confident of the
above three findings.[12]
Is Cerebral Palsy ever a "Choice"?
Answer: Yes. However, it is an uninformed choice, since no abortion
clinic lists elevated risk of subsequent preterm birth. How can these
clinics defend not listing a risk with substantial support? By
borrowing an argument from "Big Tobacco". By 1954 there were some
medical research reports showing that cigarette smoking raised lung
cancer risk. On January 4, 1954 the Tobacco Industry Research
Committee placed a full-page ad in major newspapers entitled "A Frank
Statement to Cigarette Smokers." Their message: the link between
smoking and lung cancer was "not regarded as conclusive." Was this
statement true? Yes, but it implied that no warning of possible lung
cancer risk be given until "all" the evidence was in and was
conclusive. Smoking cigarettes is not curative for any disease nor is
it necessary, so even in 1954 cigarette packs should have carried
warnings about possible lung cancer risk. Just as abortion clinics
demand conclusive proof for higher breast cancer risk before issuing
warnings on consent forms, they will demand conclusive proof of pre-
maturity risk. Shades of spokesman "Joe Camel". But surely, medical
scientists would not take the same 'line'? Yes, many will. When asked
if there is credible proof of preterm birth risk, they'll give answers
that will 'run' something like, 'confouders [other risks not taken
into account] were not controlled for and thus the evidence is not
convincing'. Note that such answers are not responsive since
'convincing' is a higher standard than 'credible'. For an elective
(!!!) medical treatment only 'credible' is needed for warnings to be
issued.
Is it biologically plausible that abortions can increase risk of a
subsequent preterm birth?
Highly regarded obstetric expert, Barbara Luke (PhD), has identified
one mechanism that explains abortion causing prematurity risk. "The
procedures for first-trimester abortion involve dilating the cervix
slightly and suction- ing the contents of the uterus (see Figure 3).
The procedures for second-trimester abortion are more involved,
including dilating the cervix wider and for longer periods, and
scraping the inside of the uterus. Women who had had several
second-trimester abortions may have a higher incidence of incompetent
cervix, a premature spontaneous dilation of the cervix, because the
cervix has been artificially dilated several times before this
pregnancy."[6;pp. 32-33] In a 'recent' (1998) book pediatrician Dr.
Elliot Gersh included the following risk factor for cerebral palsy:
"Incompetent cervix (premature dilation) leading to premature
delivery"[2]
Incompetent cervix is a known risk of induced abortion surgery.[6]
A second biological risk that helps to explain higher prematurity risk?
Yes, infection risk. "Our findings indicate that an abortion in a
woman's first pregnancy does not have the same protective effect of
lowering the risk for intrapartum infection in the following
pregnancy as does a livebirth." So wrote researchers (1996)
from the University of Washington in the respected
medical journal Epidemiology.[10] Infection is a leading cause of
death from induced abortion (if one ignores breast cancer and suicide
from abortion ). Infection is often mentioned as a risk factor for
premature birth. In 1992 Dr. Janet Daling and colleagues reported that
if the previous pregnancy ended in induced abortion, the risk of
intraamniotic infection increased by 140% (95% CI=1.7-3.4).[11] "One
possible mechanism is that cervical instrumentation can facilitate the
passage of organisms into the upper part of the uterus, increasing the
probability of inapparent infection and subsequent preterm birth",
wrote Judith Lumley in 1998.21
How many U.S. cases of "abortion-cerebral-palsy" yearly?
If 20 percent of U.S. women giving birth yearly had a previous induced
abortion, that represents 800,000 women. The 1999 Danish study
reported that a previous induced abortion doubles the risk of a very
preterm risk. It is reasonable to assume that the risk of very low
birth weight is also doubled. The 800,000 women will give birth to
about 19,360 Very Low Birth Weight newborn; half (9,680) due to a
previous induced abortion. The odds of a VLBW newborn having cerebral
palsy is about 9.34% (based on a study 1991 by GJ Escobar, et al).[4]
This yields 904 VLBW newborn with cerebral palsy due to a mom's
previous induced abortion.
A similar calculation for moderately low birth weight (between 3
pounds 5 ounces and 5 pounds 8 ounces) births to women with prior
induced abortions yields an additional 185 newborn with CP to moms
with prior induced abortions. Grand total: 1089 U.S. cerebral palsy
yearly to moms with previous induced abortions. This is an estimate.
It is over 2.5 times the number of victims (412) in the Tuskegee
experiment and it happens every year.
A medical malpractice lawyer's dream?
Every year American parents of infants with cerebral palsy sue
obstetricians, believing that errors of commission or omission
contributed to their child's malady; it is believed by at least some
medical researchers that some cases of CP are caused by problems
occurring during delivery. This article does not dispute this very
real possibility. What is virtually unknown (as of late 2000) by
malpractice lawyers and parents of CP children is that a previous
obstetrician (many abortionists are obstetricians) may have boosted
their child's CP risk by performing an induced abortion in the past.
Remember that preterm risk for later births is not listed on consent
forms nor is this risk verbally communicated to young women
considering surgical abortions. Successful CP suits can result in
damage awards exceeding one million dollars. In addition to suing the
obstetrician who delivered their newborn, the parents can consider
adding the name of the abortion obstetrician(s) to those sued. One
thing that medical malpractice lawyers love to see is an UNCONSENTED
risk. Also, induced abortions are legally considered to be elective
procedures and thus, serious risks for which less than conclusive
evidence evidence exists, must be disclosed to the potential patient.
Bottom line: elective induced abortion is a credible risk factor for
cerebral palsy but it has never been disclosed to women. The vast
majority of U.S. adults believe in informed medical consent and that
right is being denied at abortion clinics. Some jury members may be
outraged by this fraud of not disclosing risks to young women of
prematurity and cerebral palsy. Result of nondisclosure: newborns put
at elevated risk for CEREBRAL PALSY. No wonder, some groups talk about
"Choice" but not about INFORMED Choice.
Disparate CP impact on Black American women?
According to abortion apologist Dr. David A. Grimes black American
women have 35.2% of all induced abortions in the U.S. although they
comprise only about 12% of the U.S. female population. It has been a
"mystery" to the vast bulk of medical researchers why black American
women have about three times the risk of very low birth weight
newborns compared to Caucasian women. Certainly, not all of this
disparate impact on black women can be blamed on the tripled rate of
induced abortions, but to assign no impact, requires willing blindness
. In 1987 it was reported in the New England Journal of Medicine
(Ellice Lieberman et al.) that black women with two (2) previous
induced abortions had a 91% higher relative risk of a subsequent
preterm birth (than black women with no induced abortions). [16] Dr.
Lieberman is currently associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology,
and reproductive biology at Harvard University's School of Public
Health. This study noted, "black infants remain twice as likely as
white infants to die during the first year of life."[16] Very Low
Weight newborns have over 90 times the mortality risk in their first
year of life compared to normal weight newborns.[5] In a study of
Atlanta, GA. youngsters (1985 through 1987) is was reported that
"Ten-year-old black children had higher preva- lence of CP than did
10-year-old white children" ; it was 30 percent higher and the
researchers were 95% confident of increased CP risk for black
10-year-olds compared to white 10-year-olds.[ 9; Journal of
Pediatrics ] This disparate rate of Very Low Birth Weight babies for
black American women has ominous implications for cerebral palsy rates
among black infants. Which black leader will start a campaign to lower
the rate of black cerebral palsy by informing black women of the
health risks of elective abortion? Colin Powell?
Afterword:
When did medical science first know about abortion & prematurity risk?
In 1967 Dr. Malcolm Potts wrote about "Legal Abortion in Eastern
Europe" in the journal The Eugenics Review, a journal dedicated to
spreading EUGENIC principles to the countries of the world. Page 235
of that article reveals: "there seems little doubt that there is a
true relationship between the high incidence of therapeutic abortion
and prematurity. The interruption of pregnancy in the young (under
seventeen) is more dangerous than in other cases."
Dr. Malcolm Potts has always been a stout defender of induced
abortion. Thus, his 1967 concession of prematurity risk, means that
the abortion-prematurity risk can not be portrayed as a scare tactic
manufactured by pro-life activists. In fact, pro-lifers can well ask
why Dr. Potts would write for a pro-eugenics journal (The Eugenics
Review). Eugenics was a policy of Nazi Germany. [Malcolm Potts. Legal
Abortion in Eastern Europe, The Eugenics Review, 1967;59: 232-250]
_________________________________________________________________
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..........
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de Haas I, Harlow BL, Cramer DW, Frigoletto FD. Spontaneous
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............................................................
* - studies that recorded both induced and spontaneous abortions
and did not analyze them separately.
Brent Rooney Publishing credits:
Elective Surgery boosts Cerebral Palsy risk.
European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and
Reproductive Biology 2001;96(2):239-240
Delayed birth equals more cancers and preterm births.
Western Journal of Medicine. 2001;174:385-386
Low Birth Weight: Reducing the Risk (Birthing mag.
, Fall 1998)
Having an induced abortion increases risk in
future pregnancies. British Medical Journal
2001;322:430
Racism, Poverty, Abortion, and Other Reproductive
Outcomes. EPIDEMIOLOGY 2000;11:740-741
An Early First Birth for Breast Cancer Prevention
(ALIVE mag., April 1997)
No Breast Cancer for My Daughter - How to Reduce
the Risk, ALIVE magazine, July/August 1995)
[ALIVE: highest circulation health mag. in Canada]
Escape from Breast Cancer - (published on the world
wide web: www.vcn.bc.ca/~whatsup/ESCAPE.html )
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Brent Rooney ( [email protected] )
Copyright (c) Brent Rooney All rights reserved
_________________________________________________________________