informed consent

Well, you likely haven’t–heard of the connection between abortion and subsequent preterm delivery. I have, but I’m the first to admit I’m on one too many abortion-related list serves.

Here, Canadian researchers publish on the link between abortion and preterm delivery. This matters because preterm babies have higher risk of things like cerebral palsy.

The researchers look at the black community in the United States, who have a higher abortion rate and connect it to the subsequent higher risk of preterm delivery.

Interesting, also, is this:

Vacuum aspiration abortions (VAA) have never been shown to be safe in animal studies. Use of a procedure that has not been shown to be safe is a violation of the Nuremberg Code of ethics on human research and experimentation. At a minimum, consent forms for surgical abortions should inform patients of this risk.

Reminds me a bit of Barbara Seaman’s The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed On Women, which discusses how variants on the Pill weren’t adequately tested before being prescribed to women, sometimes with mortal side effects.

Women in Canada think there are no repercussions to having an abortion. It isn’t true, and I wish there was freedom of speech to discuss these things. Why do we (women) stand for being told abortion is our “right”–when not only is that not the case, but there may not even be sufficient medical testing?

BTW, the study was published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. No doubt they are merely a mouthpiece for the pro-life movement.

This is a sad story.

Thirty-two-year-old Krista Stryland, a successful Toronto real estate agent and mother, went to a private clinic for liposuction…

Hours later, court documents allege, she lay in a recovery room for 30 minutes without vital signs after a procedure that drained fat from 23 incisions in six different parts of her body.

She was pronounced dead in hospital on Sept. 20, 2007. Her sister says she was a size 6. She says the doctor should have told her that she did not need liposuction…

Stryland’s family has raised several concerns with the college, including [Dr.] Yazdanfar’s alleged failure to warn of risks, leaving Stryland “with the impression that this was a routine benign procedure.”

I was speaking last week with a woman who, a few years ago, considered an abortion. During her consultation, the nurse asked her if she wanted to be made aware of the risks. The woman said she did, and that answer was received with a look of confusion. “I guess most people don’t care to know,” the woman said during our recent conversation. The nurse granted the request, handing the woman a pamphlet that touched on post-partum depression and what to do in case of excessive bleeding or cramping.

What right is a woman exercising when she chooses not to know? Perhaps it’s the right to cover her ears and sing, “la-la-la!” One thing is certain: informed consent is impossible if the information is optional, and scant at that.

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