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January 11, 2006
Blogging for Choice stats
Bitch PhD is blogging for choice.
Let's begin with a few details and statistics, okay? Worldwide, over half a million women die each year. From pregnancy.
Here are some of the risks of pregnancy.
In the U.S., about 300 women a year die from pregnancy. More than one in five pregnant women who is admitted to a hospital goes there not to deliver, but because of some pregnancy-related complication. Ectopic pregnancies *alone* constitute a little over 1.5% of all pregnancies in the U.S.; for women of color, for some reason, the rate of ectopic pregnancy--which is always fatal if not terminated--is 2%. Here's an interesting PDF about pregnancy morbidity in the U.S.
So, to begin with, let's acknowledge that pregnancy, in and of itself, is dangerous to women's health. In the U.S. it is much less dangerous than it is in the developing world--but it is still difficult and dangerous, especially for women with health problems, and more so for women who are poor, very young, or for other reasons unable to obtain good health care and good nutrition. (Believe me, simply eating while pregnant is not cheap: I went through a half gallon of milk every day, and I estimate that our grocery bill doubled while I was pregnant.)
We worry a lot about the number of women who will die from unsafe abortions if abortion is outlawed. And that's a legitimate worry.
Read the full post at Bitch PhD.
Posted by at January 11, 2006 8:57 AM
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