The following quotations are taken directly from medical studies on teen abortions.

Teenagers, who account for about 30% of all abortions, are also at much higher risk of suffering many abortion related complications. This is true of both immediate complications and of long-term reproductive damage. Wadhera, "Legal Abortion Among Teens," 1974-1978, Canadian Medical Association Journal, 122:1386-1389, (June 1980).

The younger the patient, the greater the gestation (time into the pregnancy), the higher the complication rate?Some of the most catastrophic complications occur in teenagers. M. Bulfin, M.D., OB-GYN Observer, Oct.-Nov. 1975

Women under 17 have been found to face twice the normal risk of suffering cervical damage due to the fact that their cervixes are still "green" and developing. Schulz, et al., "Measures to Prevent Cervical Injury During Suction Curettage Abortion," The Lancet (May 18, 1983) 1182-1184. Wadhera, "Legal Abortion Among Teens," 1974-1978, Canadian Medical Association (June 1980), vol. 122, 1386-1389

The number and types of physical complications resulting from abortion are as diverse as the various abortion methods. Depending upon the type of abortion performed, physical complications can be as follows:

• Cervical tearing and laceration from the instruments.

• Perforation of the uterus by instruments. This may require major surgery, including hysterectomy.

• Scarring of the uterine lining by suction tubing, curettes, or other instruments.

• Infection, local and systemic.

• Hemorrhage and shock, especially if the uterine artery is torn.

• Anesthesia toxicity from both general or local anesthesia, resulting in possible convulsions, cardiorespiratory arrest, and in extreme cases, death.

• Retained tissue, indicated by cramping, heavy bleeding, and infection.

• Postabortal syndrome, referring to an enlarged, tender and soft uterus retaining blood clots.

• Failure to recognize an ectopic pregnancy. This could lead to the rupture of a fallopian tube, hemorrhage, and resulting infertility or death, if treatment is not provided in time.

Dr. Warren Hern, Abortion Practice, c. 1980 & Hern, W. "Long Term Risks of Induced Abortion," Gynecology and Obstetrics, 6:63 (1994)

Some women experience immediate psychological problems from abortion. Other women repress feelings of guilt, delaying emotional reactions sometimes for several years and oftentimes triggered by their first planned pregnancy.

These complications include:

• Sad mood.

• Sudden and uncontrollable crying episodes.

• Deterioration of self-concept.

• Sleep, appetite and sexual disturbances.

• Reduced motivation.

• Disruption in interpersonal relationships.

• Extreme guilt and anxiety.

• Psychological "numbing."

• Depression and thoughts of suicide.

Listing provided by David Reardon, Ph.D., the Elliot Institute and Paul C. Reisser, M.D. and Teri Reisser, M.S., "Identifying and Overcoming Post-Abortion Syndrome," (Colorado Springs: Focus on the Family, 1994), pg. 11.

National statistics on abortion show that 10% of women undergoing abortions suffer from immediate complications, of which one-fifth were considered major. Grimes and Cates, "Abortion: Methods and Complications," Human Reproduction, 2nd ed., 796-813

The cervical damage which results during abortion frequently results in a permanent weakening of the cervix. This weakening may result in an "incompetent cervix" which, unable to carry the weight of a later "wanted" pregnancy, opens prematurely, resulting in miscarriage or premature birth. According to a study entitled "Cervical Incompetence-Aetiology and Management" which appeared in the Medical Journal of Australia, symptoms related to cervical incompetence were found among 75% of women who undergo forced dilation for abortion.

Another research study entitled "Sexual Activity and Its Consequences in the Teenager" published in Clinics in Ob&Gyn, found that among teenagers who aborted their first pregnancies, 66% subsequently experienced miscarriages or premature birth of their second "wanted" pregnancies.

In a 5-year study, 25% of women who have had abortions sought out psychiatric care, versus just 3% of women who have not had abortions. "Report on the Committee on the Operation of the Abortion Law," p. 321, Ottawa, 1977

The relative risk of secondary infertility among women with at least one induced abortion and no spontaneous miscarriages was 3 to 4 times that among non-aborted women. D. Trichopoulos et al, "Induced Abortion & Secondary Infertility," British Journal OB/GYN, vol. 83, Aug. 1976, pp. 645-650

A new study published in the June, 2004 issue of American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse strengthens the case for a connection between abortion and substance abuse. The study found that among women who had unintended first pregnancies, those who had abortions were more likely to report more frequent and recent use of alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine.

The researchers reported that the elevated rates of substance use among women who had abortions might be linked to higher levels of anxiety, depression, and unresolved grief which have been measured in other studies of women with a history of abortion.

San Francisco (AP) September, 2003 - Holly Marie Patterson went to a Planned Parenthood clinic earlier this month to quietly consider ways to handle a life change she wasn't ready for. One week later, the 18-year-old lay dying on an emergency room table, the victim of complications after she took the abortion pill.

Her death has already caused her grief-stricken father to hope that the tragedy will encourage other women considering abortion to seek support, especially from their families. Holly Patterson, who lived in the San Francisco suburb of Livermore, visited a Planned Parenthood clinic Sept. 10 to take the pill. She followed the prescribed procedure for using RU-486, taking two more pills at home in the following days. After experiencing bleeding and cramps so severe that she was unable to walk, her boyfriend rushed her to the hospital, where she was given painkillers and sent home. She was back in the hospital a few days later and died Sept. 17.

Monty Patterson said he learned from an attending physician at the hospital that she had died after a massive infection caused by fragments of the fetus left inside her uterus caused her to go into septic shock.