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Griffin Daily News
>SS6BS&SiSSSS*W:
8
Doußie look Piease
New York Assesses Liberal Abortion Law Effects
Medical, Social Gains Counted
/EDITORS NOTE: NEA
Science Editor Hendin is
author of the recently
published paperback."
’'Everything You Need to
Know About Abortion."
$1.50. Pinnacle Books.)
By DAVID HENDIN
NEA Science Editor
NEW YORK—(NEA t—lt’s
just over a year since the
enactment of New York
State’s liberal abortion law—
the controversial legislation
that led abortion critics to
predict direconsequences foi
the morals, culture and
health of citizens in this, the
largest city in the United
States.
Since July 1, 1970. when
the liberal law went into
effect, city officials report
that physicians here have
performed some 165,000
abortions—more than be
lieved possible a year ago.
And, at both private and city
abortion facilities, the op
erations have been per
formed for less money and
with a greater degree of
safety than even some abor
tion proponents had pre
dicted.
Essentially, the New York
law leaves the decision to
have an abortion to a woman
and her physician up to the
24th week of pregnancy. Un
like recently passed liberal
abortion laws in states such
as Hawaii. Alaska and Wash
ington, New York’s law has
no residency requirements
and some 64 per cent of the
abortions in the city have
been performed on women
liom out of state.
This new abortion mecca
hasn’t been without its initial
problems, though: public
confusion, scheduling diffi
culties, resistance by some
physicians and profiteering
by others. The state’s at
torney general recently
banned profit-making abor
tion referral services which
were misleading unknowing
women into paying SSO to
$l5O referral fees for serv
ices on their behalf. General
ly, the “services” rendered
by these commercial outfits
amounted to little more than
a single telephone call.
Still, there may be more
positive than negative points
to be made with regard to
New York’s first year of
abortion experience, and the
trends keep improving.
FIGURES IN THOUSANDS r . L .
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TOTAL ABORTIONS I
' ' RESIDENTS
July 1970 April 1971
STEADY RISE in reported pregnancy terminations has been registered since adop
tion of New York City's liberalized abortion laws. With no residency requirement,
the city is also becoming a center for the country with the abortion rate up most
sharply for nonresidents.
“It is gratifying,” says
Gordon Chase, the city
Health Services administra
tor, "that more and more
women who seek abortions
are doing so in the first tri
mester (12 weeks) of preg
nancy, when the procedure is
easier and safer.”
Last July and August few
er than 70 per cent of the
abortions performed here
were before the 13th week of
pregnancy. The percentage
has now climbed to higher
than 80.
The mortality rate and the
rate of medical complica
tions from abortions are
dropping proportionately.
Medical complications from
legal abortions have dropped
from an early rate of 12.4
per 1,000 to about 8.7 per
1,000.
In the first eight months
of the new law, there had
been 15 abortion-associated
deaths (several from illegal
abortions), but there have
been no deaths reported
since.
Aside from these adminis
trative and medical ad
vances, progress also has
been made on the social side
of the problem. In Ohio,
where the legislature is cur
rently considering abortion
reform, a recent guest edi-
torial in the Cincinnati Post
and Times-Star noted:
"Those who cannot afford
the price must carry the un
wanted pregnancy to term
or seek unsafe abortions
from quacks brandishing
knitting needles and coal
hangers. Each year 400 to
1.000 women in the United
States die from out of hos
pital abortions, and 350,000
are admitted to hospitals for
damages inflicted by unsafe
procedures.”
Until New York’s abortion
reform, a large number of
those casualties occurred
here. But in the first six
months of the liberal abor
tion law. poor and nonwhite
women received nearly half
of the legal abortions per
formed in New York City,
and a good number of these
were paid for under various
medical insurance plans.
And, according to expecta
tions, New York health of
ficals are gratified by the
fact that the number of
illegal and clandestine abor
tions has dropped in the last
year.
City hospitals report that
they are treating fewer vic
tims of botched abortions
now than in recent years.
Criminal and self-induced
abortions—which have al
ways contributed greatly to
maternal mortality rates—
are also down. Maternal
mortality rates have dropped
to 2.3 maternal deaths per
10,000 live births, from 5.2
deaths per 10,000 live births
a year ago.
It is also reported that for
the first time in 10 years the
number of illegitimate births
has decreased, and the birth
rate has also begun to drop
off after years of a steady
climb.
Cost of legal abortions—
initially thought to be a
major problem to deal with—
has also been brought under
control. A year ago the cost
of an early abortion ranged
from S3OO to S6OO. Today,
however, safe procedures
performed on an outpatient
basis are readily available
for as little as $l5O. The cost
of late abortions, where hos
pital stays are required, has
also dropped considerably.
“We have set a good ex
ample for other states to fol
low,” says Dr. Jean Pakter,
head of maternal services
for the city. And she added,
“New York would be happy
to relinquish its role as an
abortion center for the coun
try.”
(NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN.)