Paul Tuns:
A study of abortions in Quebec between 1989 and 2021 published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that 11.2 per cent of abortions committed in the second trimester end with a live birth. The authors comment that their “findings suggest that second-trimester abortions commonly result in live birth.”
Nathalie Augur, Emile Brousseau, Aimina Ayoub, and William D. Fraser, examined the abortion records of all 13,777 second-trimester abortions committed in Quebec hospitals over the 32-year period, and found that there were 1541 live births. The authors relied on figures from the Maintenance and Use of Data for the Study of Hospital Clientele registry. They note “A discharge summary is present to each patient who undergoes an abortion and for neonates (preborn babies) who are born alive.”
In Quebec, the authors note, a live birth is defined as “the presence of any sign of life, including breathing, heartbeat, umbilical cord pulsation, or muscle movement, in a fetus that is removed from a mother, whether or not the cord is cut or placenta attached.” By law, Augur and her colleagues say, live births “must be registered, regardless of gestational age, reason for birth, or length of time before death.”
According to death certificates, the average survival time is nearly two hours (110 minutes), with 10 per cent living for more than three hours. The range of survival is one minute to one day.
Their analysis of live birth found that a quarter of babies who survived abortions were admitted to an intensive care unit and 5.5 per cent received palliative care. Children born at 25 or more weeks gestation were more likely to receive palliative care. The authors state there was insufficient data to know “whether survival time influenced the type of neonatal care.”
The authors found that abortions committed by labour induction were more likely to result in live birth than dilation and evacuation (D and E), with 15.4 per cent of labour induction abortions resulting in live birth compared to 0.2 per cent for D and E.
They also found that more than a fifth abortions committed from 20-24 weeks gestation ended with a live birth (21.7 per cent), compared to 3.4 per cent of abortions committed between 15-19 weeks and 8.5 per cent of abortions carried out between 25-29 weeks.
Babies with fetal anomalies were more than twice as likely to be born alive, 15.9 per cent compared to 6.8 per cent. More than half of abortions committed in the second trimester were carried out because of a prenatal diagnosis of fetal anomaly. Abortions committed due “maternal emergency” made up just five per cent of abortions and were slightly more likely to result in live birth (14.9 per cent compared to 11 per cent).
Women age 25-34 were most likely to have a live birth (14.1 per cent), followed by women over 35 (12.6 per cent) and those under 25 (5.5 per cent).
There was virtually no difference in live births among women in the bottom two quintiles of income and women of no socioeconomic disadvantage, although slightly more rural women (13.5 per cent) had live birth abortions than urban dwellers (10.8 per cent).
The rate of live birth has more the doubled every 10 years. From 1989 through 2000, 4.1 per cent of second trimester abortions resulted in a live birth compared to 10.2 per cent from 2001-2010 and 20.8 per cent from 2011-2021.
The authors found that the use of a feticidal injection reduced but did not eliminate the chances of a live birth, with one in 20 still resulting in abortion.
The study recommended that feticidal injections – an injection intended to kill the preborn child in utero before delivery — be used more commonly in labour induction abortions. They state, “although feticidal injection has potential to reduce the risk of live birth by stopping the fetal heart” but “Canadian guidelines make no strong recommendations for feticidal injection before an abortive procedure” to reduce the “risk” of live birth.
The authors state that it is plausible that abortions resulting in live birth cause psychological harm to both patients and abortion workers. They recommend that women seeking abortions “be counseled on the risk of live birth, use of feticidal injection, and provision of palliative care.”
The findings are consistent with other studies of second trimester abortions resulting in live births. An Austrian study found that 50.6 per cent of abortions between 20-24 weeks gestation resulted in a live birth and a Swiss study of abortions committed between 22-27 weeks found that 40 per cent resulted in a live birth. A United Kingdom study found that 3.2 per cent of all abortions resulted in a live birth.
Andrea Mrozek, senior fellow at the Cardus think tank, wrote in the Catholic Register on Oct. 11 that although the study was published in June, it has received virtually no news coverage. Noting that the study’s authors do not find the phenomenon of live birth abortions “terrible,” Mrozek said that, to put abortion advocates on the defensive, pro-lifers should use their findings to highlight the reality of live birth abortions and how thousands of children brought into the world this way are left to die.
