"When Emily was ten months old, her doctor told us he thought we should have Emily evaluated for 'possible mild cerebral palsy,'" said Sandra. "I suddenly found myself at the beginning of a whole new emotional roller-coaster ride. My jaw dropped, my face felt immediately on fire, my eyes filled with tears, and my body began to shake all over. I clung tightly to my precious girl as I heard his words . . ."(1)
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a brain disorder resulting in improper balance, posture and movement. About 5,000 U.S. children under age 5 are yearly diagnosed as having CP.(2)
There are many unknowns about the risks for CP, and because of lawsuits against obstetricians, anyone identifying a new CP risk will be strongly challenged. In 1991, medical researchers did a review of previous studies and reported that very low birth weight newborns (those weighing less than 3 lbs., 5 oz.) had a whopping 38 times the risk of CP as normal weight newborns.(3)
Thus, it is hardly surprising that a CP expert such as Dr. Elliot Gersh, developmental pediatrician and medical director of Mt. Washington Pediatrics Hospital, lists preterm birth as a major risk factor for CP.(2)Ê The more preterm a birth, the higher the risk that the newborn will have a very low birth weight.
The connection between abortion and premature birth has been acknowledged as far back as 1967, when abortion supporter Dr. Malcom Potts wrote that "there seems little doubt that there is a true relationship between the high incidence of therapeutic abortion and prematurity. The interruption of pregnancy in the young (under 17) is more dangerous than in other cases."(4)
Professor Barbara Luke of the University of Michigan is a highly regarded author in the field of obstetrics. She notes that,
If you have had one or more induced abortions, your risk of prematurity with this pregnancy increases about 30 percent. If they were done during the second trimester, after 14 weeks, your subsequent risk of prematurity is greater than if they had been done during the first trimester, before 14 weeks.(5)
At least 16 studies, including one published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, support Luke's claim that a previous induced abortion elevates the subsequent risk of a premature birth.(6) Most recently, a study of more than 61,000 Danish women, the largest study ever on premature births, found that women with previous induced abortions had double the risk of very preterm births (births before 34 weeks gestation) and almost double the risk of preterm births compared to women with no history of abortion. Women who had two previous "evacuation" type abortions had a 12 times higher risk of prematurity compared to women who had not had abortions.(7)
For entire article and more information view:
http://www.afterabortion.org/PAR/V8/n4/cerebralpalsy.html