Abstract

PIP: The U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare's Center for Disease Control has collected data on abortion deaths since 1972. These data, controlled for age and race, show that abortions perfomed before the 16th week of pregnancy are safer than childbirth. 104 women died of causes associated with legal abortion in the years 1972-1975; 1/2 of these women were white and the other 1/2 nonwhite. Both infection, often terminating in septic shock, and embolic events, accounted for slightly more than 1/4 of the deaths. The data showed the age distribution of women obtaining abortions in the 1972-1975 period remaining relatively constant; the proportion of nonwhites increased. There was a significant shift in the period toward earlier abortions. Older women tended more often to obtain earlier abortions. Abortion-related mortality declined in this period, due to: 1) the trend toward earlier abortions, and 2) improved operative skill of the physicians. Childbirth-related mortality figures for the same period were much higher in each of the component groups. Women in the age group 20-24 had a 2.3 times greater mortality risk in childbirth than in abortion and women over 35 had an 8.1 times greater risk.