Abortion Complications Double Over 5 Years in Pennsylvania

Jasmine, 23, waits for an abortion at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in West Palm Beach, Fla., on July 14, 2022. Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

Abortions in Pennsylvania increased 9 percent in the six years between 2016 and 2021, but medical complications from abortions have almost doubled (up 48 percent) in that time.

Increased medical complications correlate with a 62 percent increase in Pennsylvania’s chemical abortions—the abortion pill—over that same time.

While complications rise from these self-administered chemical abortions, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week agreed to expand access to abortion pills through brick-and-mortar and online pharmacies. The pharmacies must apply for a certification to distribute mifepristone, one of the medications used for chemical abortions. With certification, pharmacies will dispense the pill directly to patients, who must first get a prescription.

Pennsylvania’s 1982 Abortion Control Act requires the state Department of Health to collect abortion data and produce an annual report. The reports usually come out in late December and lag a year behind, so the 2021 data just became available. The Epoch Times compared reports going back to 2016, the earliest available data through the Department of Health website, and found a few trends.

‘Retained Products of Conception’

In 2016, the abortion pill accounted for 11,420 abortions in Pennsylvania. Use of the chemical method outpaced surgical abortions for the first time in 2020, with 16,349 chemical abortions. The pill gained more use in 2021, with 18,370 chemical abortions.

Abortion-related medical complications numbered 155 in 2016 and have increased annually. In 2021, there were 322 complications across Pennsylvania. Data collected from abortion providers describes most complications as infections, bleeding, or the most common, described in the report as “retained products of conception.”

“‘Retained products of conception’ means baby body parts,” Maria Gallagher of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation told The Epoch Times. “Either chemically or surgically, the baby body parts are not being fully expelled from the mother. And I just think that given the rapid rise in these chemical abortions, I think that there is reason to believe that there’s a correlation between that and the complications.”

Mifepristone (Mifeprex), one of the two drugs used in a medication abortion, is displayed at the Women's Reproductive Clinic, which provides legal medication abortion services in Santa Teresa, N.M., on June 15, 2022. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

The 2021 data shows 322 total abortion complications. Of those, 239 (74 percent) were “retained products of conception.”

The data also lists abortion methods and the number of complications for each procedure.

Suction curettage (surgical) was the most common method until chemical abortion outpaced it in 2020.

In 2021, there were 13,410 suction curettage abortions in Pennsylvania with 88 recorded complications, including seven infections, five bleeding issues, 70 instances of “retained products of conception,” and six incidents listed as “other” complications.

In the same year, there were also 18,370 chemical abortions with 180 recorded complications, including six infections, 147 instances of “retained products of conception,” 21 bleeding issues, and seven incidents marked “other.” Since 2016, the abortion pill has accounted for the most complications overall, and the most relating to “retained products of conception.”

There were also 1,360 dilation and evacuation abortions, three intrauterine instillation abortions using saline or prostaglandin, four surgical abortions using sharp curettage, and three hysterotomy/hysterectomy procedures.

Racial Differences

Abortion disproportionality affects black babies and women.

Of Pennsylvania’s 13 million people, 75 percent are white and 11 percent are black or African American, according to 2021 census numbers.

Yet, of the 33,206 total abortions performed in Pennsylvania in 2021, 45 percent were performed on white women and 44 percent on black women.

Between 2016 and 2021, abortions of white children have remained relatively steady from year to year, with 15,124 abortions in 2016 compared to 14,949 in 2021, a difference of 175 abortions.

Abortions of black children have climbed year over year. In 2016 there were 12,984 abortions performed on black women, but by 2021, black women underwent 14,620 abortions—that is, 1,636 more abortions, or about 68 kindergarten classes.

There were 3,862 abortions performed on Hispanic women in 2021, a number that’s been increasing since 2016. Women who identify as Asian/Pacific Islander accounted for 1,082 abortions, and those numbers have remained steady since 2016.

Unmarried women are far more likely to have an abortion. In 2021, unmarried women accounted for 29,358 abortions compared to 3,724 abortions among married women. The numbers are similar annually.

Painful stories and crimes are hidden in the data, with minors aged 17 and under having 690 abortions in 2021, and of those, three were for girls aged 12 or under, 19 were age 13, and 59 were age 14.

The Epoch Times asked Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania and Planned Parenthood Keystone for comment about the report and specifically about the increase in abortion complications and use of abortion pills. The organizations did not respond.