CATHERINE WHEELER: Colorado Late-Term Abortions A Cautionary Tale For US
Just over a year ago, a healthy 18-year-old Colorado girl died due to complications from an elective induced abortion at 22 weeks (5.5 months). As an OBGYN in the state – who previously performed second-trimester…
Just over a year ago, a healthy 18-year-old Colorado girl died due to complications from an elective induced abortion at 22 weeks (5.5 months). As an OBGYN in the state – who previously performed second-trimester abortions – my heart breaks imagining her fear and her belief that abortion was the only answer to an unexpected pregnancy.
Instead, it took her life.
Since then, the lack of outcry about her death is sobering and a harsh reminder that the media, legislators and the medical community are failing women and shirking their responsibility.
While Colorado has no gestational limits on abortion, legal does not equate to safe, and we are placing moms and babies in significant danger. Colorado’s policies should serve as a national warning.
My experience performing later abortions opened my eyes to the many risks of the procedure. Most women don’t realize that the window for error is high, growing exponentially as the baby develops.
Second trimester abortions are already complicated surgical procedures. Third trimester abortions are even more complex, often including multi-day inductions of labor with difficult removal of the baby and placenta. In the words of the infamous former Colorado abortionist Dr. Warren Hern, the “procedure changes significantly at 21 weeks because the fetal tissues become…difficult to dismember…the calvaria (head) is no longer the principal problem; it can be collapsed. Other structures, such as the pelvis, present more difficulty.”
Studies have found that one in 10 later abortions involve complications – even under the most qualified and vigilant care – including perforating a woman’s uterus, in addition to potentially causing serious blood loss.
The dangers are especially dire in Colorado, where abortions are legal up till birth, and the state health department has no obligation to regulate, inspect, or oversee abortion clinics. Without oversight, most Colorado abortion facilities aren’t even held to the same medical standards as