Dear
Friends:
The health consequences of abortion are very costly for society. Breast cancer
(resulting from delayed parenthood) and premature birth are only
two undeniable consequences of "the procedure."
In the short-term, a premature baby may require hundreds of
thousands of dollars in neonatal hospital care during the first months of
life. In the long-term, he may require special education classes later in
life. If he has cerebral palsy, there may be other costs
including the expense of adapting the home to accommodate a wheelchair and the
possible loss of income for parents and a handicapped child.
In her article, "Abortion politics threaten U.S. economy," (listed in
the citations below) insurance agent Cynthia Dudek wrote that economists
recognize two causes of market
failure - moral
hazard and adverse selection.
Sincerely,
Karen Malec
Coalition on Abortion/Breast
Cancer
P.O. Box 957133, Hoffman Estates, IL 60195
www.AbortionBreastCancer.com
response@abortionbreastcancer.com
1-877-803-0102
(toll free)
ABORTION AND THE ECONOMY
By Karen Malec
December 3, 2008
Cynthia Dudek, an insurance agent based in Michigan, has written an article arguing
that the health risks of
abortion, hormonal contraceptive use and in vitro fertilization adversely impact the
U.S. economy. [1] Her article comes at a time when U.S. health care costs have
soared from $75 billion in 1970 to $1.973 trillion in 2005 and the U.S. economy
is reeling under the weight of a recession.
The cost of insurance - whether it's health insurance, medical malpractice insurance,
general liability insurance, and other forms of insurance - is built into every
product or service that consumers purchase. For instance, when physicians
purchase medical malpractice insurance, they must pass the cost to their
patients. When corporations purchase health insurance for their
employees, they pass the cost to their customers.
Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that the consumer must bear the
cost when increased numbers of women and children develop serious illnesses or
conditions because of an unsafe, but common surgical procedure
(abortion). Some serious risks of abortion include breast cancer,
pre-term births, infections, cerebral palsy (for babies from later
pregnancies), post-traumatic stress syndrome, etc. These risks can be
detrimental to the financial well being of health insurers and the
businesses they serve and even impact the nation's economy.
In her article, "Abortion politics threaten U.S. economy," Dudek
observed that economists cite two main causes of market failure - adverse
selection and moral hazard.
When health insurers include individuals within their risk pool who have a
greater than average need for health insurance - i.e., people known as
"high risk policyholders," then they create a problem called
"adverse selection." Adverse selection increases the cost of
insurance and results in a reduction of benefits.
When a person (or an institution, like Planned Parenthood) does not bear the
consequences of his actions or even profits from the problems that he caused,
then he creates a problem in insurance and the economy called a "moral
hazard."
Dudek showed how expensive premature
births can be for the average employer. She wrote,
"The direct health care
costs to employers for a premature baby average $41,610, which is
15 times higher than the $2,830 for a healthy, full-term delivery. Additional
costs to employers in lost productivity average $2,766. Hypothetically, the
(2005) cost of the 861,484 preterm births and low birth weight
babies, at an average cost of $41,610, totals $35,846,349,240."
Dudek's article is also timely because, just this week, the the Journal of
American Physicians and Surgeons published an article showing how the disproportionate number of
abortions on African
American women explains the high rate of premature births within
that population. The article by Brent Rooney and his colleagues is
entitled, "Does induced abortion account for racial disparity in preterm
births, and violate the Nuremberg Code?" [2]
Knowledge of the link between abortion and premature birth has been available
since the 1960s. The knowledge that only full term pregnancy protects women
from breast cancer, but abortions do not, has been available since 1973. The
purveyors of abortion, however, have consistently misrepresented it as
"safe," when in fact it is lethal.
As Rooney's team has pointed out, no animal studies validating the safety of vacuum aspiration abortion
vis-à-vis the premature birth link have ever been published. That makes
abortion a violation of the Nuremberg
Code, which prohibits human testing before animal testing takes
place.
In the studies, Rooney et al. 2008, and Rooney et al. 2003, their team reviewed
dozens of medical studies (some dating from 1963) showing that premature births
are an undeniable risk associated with abortion. The evidence is so
compelling that even the Institute
of Medicine and the Texas State Health Department
acknowledge an abortion-premature birth link.
Rooney's researchers wrote that Malcolm Potts, former medical director of
the International Planned
Parenthood Federation, acknowledged in 1967 "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."
Rooney et al. reported that, last year Byron Calhoun's team calculated the
"annual increase in initial neonatal hospital costs" in their article
for the Journal of
Reproductive Medicine. [3] They estimated the costs to be over
$1.2 billion for babies with cerebral palsy resulting from their mothers' prior
abortions. That figure is based on an estimated 1,096 additional cases of
cerebral palsy among low birth weight babies (under 1,500 grams).
Big Abortion's propaganda machine will continue its drumbeat for abortion by
repeating the Big Lie that it is a "safe procedure" until the
grassroots rise up to protest this horrendous exploitation of women, the
crippling of babies and the financial
hardship it has caused the rest of society.
References:
1. Dudek C. Abortion politics threaten U.S. economy. America's Independent
Party National Committee. November 20, 2008. Available at: http://www.aipnews.com/talk/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=1019&posts=4
2. Rooney B, Calhoun M, Roche L. Does induced abortion account for racial
disparity in preterm births, and violate the Nuremberg Code? J Am Phys Surg .
Available at: http://www.jpands.org/vol13no4/rooney.pdf
3. Calhoun BC, Shadigian E, Rooney B. Cost consequences of induced abortion as
an attributable risk for preterm birth and implications for informed consent. J
Reprod Med 2007;52:927-929.
#####
The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer is an international women's organization founded to protect the health and save the lives of women by educating and providing information on abortion as a risk factor for breast cancer.
Click here to make tax-deductible, credit card donations. Donations can be mailed to:
Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer
P.O. Box 957133
Hoffman Estates, IL 60195
The IRS recognizes the Coalition as a 501(c)3 organization.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer Prevention Institute
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