From Walter Hoye:

Cerebral Palsy and Preterm Birth

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a condition where the brain does not properly control muscles and movement. According to Brent Rooney, M.Sc. Byron C. Calhoun, M.D., M.B.A. and Lisa E. Roche, J.D., extremely preterm birth (XPB) infants (i.e., infants delivered at less than 28.0 weeks gestation) have a 129 times higher risk of Cerebral Palsy when compared to full-term infants. So what causes such disparity? Induced Abortion (IA). Rooney, Calhoun and Roche found numerous studies have shown a statistically significant increase in risk of EBP or XPB in women with a history of induced abortion compared with women with no prior IA. About 43% of pregnancies in Black American women end in IA. [1]

Induced Abortion and Racial Disparity in Preterm Births

Between 1980 and 2005, the United States preterm birth (PTB) rate increased by 43% (from 8.9% to 12.7%). Black American women have triple the risk of early preterm birth (EPB), defined as delivery at less than 32.0 weeks gestation, and quadruple the risk of extremely preterm birth (XPB), defined as delivery at less than 28.0 weeks gestation, compared with non-black American women (1.39% in blacks vs. 0.35% in whites). Again, according to the Rooney, Calhoun and Roche study, published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Volume 13, Number 4 in the Winter of 2008, in 1987, Harvard researchers led by Ellice Lieberman reported that black women in the Boston area with more than one prior IA had 1.9 times the odds of a PTB compared to black women with no prior IA. In 2006 and 2007, the Institute of Medicine confirmed that “prior first trimester induced abortion” is an “immutable medical risk factor associated with preterm birth.” [2]

References:

1. Does Induced Abortion Account for Racial Disparity in Preterm Births, and Violate the Nuremberg Code?, Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Volume 13, Number 4, Winter 2008 (http://bit.ly/aLzL4h).
2. Ibid.

Tags: abortion, cerebral palsy, preterm birth

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