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. 1973 Jul 30;225(5):507-9.

Mortality with legal abortion in New York City, 1970-1972: a preliminary report

C Tietze, J Pakter, G S Berger
  • PMID: 12306756

Mortality with legal abortion in New York City, 1970-1972: a preliminary report

C Tietze et al. JAMA. .

Abstract

PIP: A survey was conducted to obtain information on mortality resulting from legal abortions during the first 2 years of New York's liberalized abortion law, mid-1970 to mid-1972. Approximately 402,000 women underwent abortions during this period, 65% of whom were nonresidents. 80% of the abortions were performed at 12 weeks or less gestation. To track down the postoperative experiences of the out-of-state patients, a questionnaire inquiring about contact with New York abortion patients was mailed to 20,336 practicing obstetricians and gynecologists in the United States, of whom 54.5% responded. 16 deaths associated with legal abortion were reported by the New York Department of Health (11 residents and 5 nonresidents), and 4 more deaths were reported by the mail survey, for an overall mortality rate of 5 deaths per 100,000 legal abortions. Mortality was 9 times higher in the second trimester (17.4) than in the first trimester of pregnancy (1.9). Mortality was lowest when the vacuum aspiration method was used (1.1) and increased with the other methods: dilatation and curettage (2.4), hypertonic saline induction (18.8), and hysterotomy (208.3). Though it is not certain that all out-of-state deaths have been reported, these mortality statistics compare favorably with the experiences of other countries.

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