McCrory Signed Legislation That Requires Teaching Public Students About A Link Between Abortions And Pre-Term Births Later In Life. According to the Miami Herald, “North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has signed into law a requirement teaching public school children there's a link between abortion and pre-term births later in life. The measure was among 43 bills McCrory signed Thursday. One adds instruction about abortion risks to mandatory public health curriculum starting in seventh grade. The law says schools must teach preventable pre-term birth risk factors including induced abortion, smoking, alcohol and drug use among others. Bill opponents said there's not clear scientific evidence linking abortion and later preterm birth.” [Miami Herald, 7/18/13]
McCrory Said He Supported A Bill To Teach Middle School Children That Abortion Increases The Risk Of Premature Birth. According to the News & Observer, “He’s also in favor of requiring middle-school students be taught that abortion is a risk factor for premature births. His remarks prompted NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina to issue a statement Saturday criticizing McCrory for his stance on SB 132, the classroom abortion bill. During the campaign for office, McCrory flatly said he would not support any new restrictions on abortion.” [News & Observer, 6/29/13]
A British Study Found That In The Past, Women Who Had An Abortion Increased Their Risk Of A Premature Birth Later In Life, But That With Modern Procedures, That Risk Is All But Zero. According to the Los Angeles Times, “In a finding likely to reignite debate over proposed new limits on abortion, British researchers have found that years ago, women who terminated a pregnancy increased their risk of giving birth prematurely in subsequent pregnancies, but that with modern procedures the danger has all but vanished.” [Los Angeles Times, 7/9/13]
A Study Showed That The More Abortions Women Had, The More Likely They Were To Give Birth “Very” Prematurely In The Future. According to the BBC, “The more abortions a woman has before her first child, the more likely she is to give birth prematurely, a study has suggested. Data from all 300,858 first-time mothers in Finland between 1996 and 2008 was analysed. The study showed women were three times more likely to have a very premature baby, born before 28 weeks, if they had had three or more abortions.” [BBC, 8/30/12]
After Only One Abortion, The Risk Of Having A Premature Baby Increased By .001 Percent. According to the BBC, “The study showed there would be three babies born before 28 weeks for every 1,000 women who had never had an abortion, four per 1,000 who had had one abortion, six in those who had had two abortions and 11 if the woman had three or more abortions.” [BBC, 8/30/12]
The Study Could Not Claim Causality, Perhaps Just Correlation. According to the BBC, “The way the study was designed means the researchers cannot say for certain that abortions result in premature births, merely that they had spotted a link between the two.” [BBC, 8/30/12]