British Pregnancy Advisory Service comment on media discussion of abortion, low birth weight and prematurity

BPAS’ Medical Director Patricia Lohr said of a research review published in BJOG, the International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, which has been the subject of media discussion:

‘As the study’s authors point out, a causal relationship between abortion and adverse pregnancy outcomes cannot be determined from this paper. There are multiple confounding factors affecting low birth weight and premature births that were not examined in many of the previously published studies which were assessed in this paper.

‘We know from other research that adverse pregnancy outcomes often involve other risk factors to health: being poor, unemployed, or the effects of alcohol use and smoking. These risk factors can be difficult to separate from a woman’s previous history of abortion or miscarriage.

‘It’s a central principle for BPAS that women are informed of relevant health information if they are considering an abortion. On the basis of the evidence to date however, it would inappropriate for doctors advise women that there has been anything more than an association made between abortion and adverse pregnancy outcomes. We already do this in our patient literature. This study sheds no light on the contributory effect of one abortion procedure over another.’