Changes In Abortion Research Articles

The presence of abortive changes in thyroid tumors serves as a strong indicator of underlying DICER1 mutations

The presence of abortive changes in thyroid tumors serves as a strong indicator of underlying DICER1 mutations

Medication abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic in France: A research based on the French national health insurance database.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in France, abortion was recognized as an essential service that cannot be delayed, and such care was therefore presumed to be maintained. The aim is to analyze the changes in the practice of abortion in 2020 to identify the consequences of the two lockdowns and the effects of the extension of the legal time limit. We analyzed the data collected by the French national health insurance system, which covers 99% of the population. All women who had an elective abortion, either surgical or with medication, in France in 2019 and 2020 were included in the study. Trend changes in abortions were analyzed by comparing the ratio of the weekly number of abortions in 2020 with the weekly number in 2019. Both 2020 lockdowns were followed by a drop in abortions, particularly after the first and stricter lockdown. This may be explained not by an abrupt shutdown of access to abortion services, but rather by a decrease in conceptions during the lockdown weeks. The decrease was more marked for surgical abortions than for medication abortions in a hospital setting, and less so for medication abortions in non-hospital settings. Moreover, the proportion of the latter type of abortions continued to increase, showing the reinforcement of a previous trend. Our findings indicate that expanding the legal time limit for abortion, diversifying the settings where abortions can be performed and the range of abortion providers help to facilitate access to this fundamental reproductive care.

Association of Texas’ 2021 Ban on Abortion in Early Pregnancy With the Number of Facility-Based Abortions in Texas and Surrounding States

Texas' 2021 ban on abortion in early pregnancy may demonstrate how patterns of abortion might change following the US Supreme Court's June 2022 decision overturning Roe v Wade. To assess changes in the number of abortions and changes in the percentage of out-of-state abortions among Texas residents performed at 12 or more weeks of gestation in the first 6 months following implementation of Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), which prohibited abortions after detection of embryonic cardiac activity. Retrospective study of a sample of 50 Texas and out-of-state abortion facilities using an interrupted time series analysis to assess changes in the number of abortions, and Poisson regression to assess changes in abortions at 12 or more weeks of gestation. Data included 68 820 Texas facility-based abortions and 11 287 out-of-state abortions among Texas residents during the study period from September 1, 2020, to February 28, 2022. Abortion care obtained after (September 2021-February 2022) vs before (September 2020-August 2021) implementation of SB 8. Primary outcomes were changes in the number of facility-based abortions for Texas residents, in Texas and out of state, in the month after implementation of SB 8 compared with the month before. The secondary outcome was the change in the percentage of out-of-state abortions among Texas residents obtained at 12 or more weeks of gestation during the 6-month period after the law's implementation. Between September 2020 and August 2021, there were 55 018 abortions in Texas and 2547 out-of-state abortions among Texas residents. During the 6 months after SB 8, there were 13 802 abortions in Texas and 8740 out-of-state abortions among Texas residents. Compared with the month before implementation of SB 8, the number of Texas facility-based abortions significantly decreased from 5451 to 2169 (difference, -3282 [95% CI, -3171 to -3396]; incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.43 [95% CI, 0.36-0.51]) in the month after SB 8 was implemented. The number of out-of-state abortions among Texas residents significantly increased from 222 to 1332 (difference, 1110 [95% CI, 1047-1177]; IRR, 5.38 [95% CI, 4.19-6.91]). Overall, the total documented number of Texas facility-based and out-of-state abortions among Texas residents significantly decreased from 5673 to 3501 (absolute change, -2172 [95% CI, -2083 to -2265]; IRR, 0.67 [95% CI, 0.56-0.79]) in the first month after SB 8 was implemented compared with the previous month. Out-of-state abortions among Texas residents obtained at 12 or more weeks of gestation increased from 17.1% (221/1291) to 31.0% (399/1289) (difference, 178 [95% CI, 153-206]) during the period between September 2021 and February 2022 (P < .001 for trend). Among a sample of abortion facilities, the 2021 Texas law banning abortion in early pregnancy (SB 8) was significantly associated with a decrease in the documented total of facility-based abortions in Texas and obtained by Texas residents in surrounding states in the first month after implementation compared with the previous month. Over the 6 months following SB 8 implementation, the percentage of out-of-state abortions among Texas residents obtained at 12 or more weeks of gestation significantly increased.

A Review on the Establishment of Abortion Counseling System to Response on Pregnancy and Childbirth Crisis

As the perception on abortion changes into a social problem, it is high time to also change the notion of criminalizing abortion. This necessitates the creation of societal structures that will respond to it. This study aimed to review the abortion counseling system that responds to the pregnancy and childbirth crisis. We conducted a review of the literatures and documentations made available through search engines, including cases overseas. In addition, we analyzed the currently operating pregnancy and childbirth-related service systems and reviewed the issues being discussed in Korea regarding artificial abortion. Based on these analyses, we suggest steps that can be taken for the revision of the law as Constitutional Discordance determining on abortion clause of criminal law. In addition, we propose a plan to establish an appropriate abortion counseling system that will respond to the domestic pregnancy and childbirth crisis.

Disruptions to Abortion Care in Louisiana During Early Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objectives. To examine changes in abortions in Louisiana before and after the COVID-19 pandemic onset and assess whether variations in abortion service availability during this time might explain observed changes. Methods. We collected monthly service data from abortion clinics in Louisiana and neighboring states among Louisiana residents (January 2018‒May 2020) and assessed changes in abortions following pandemic onset. We conducted mystery client calls to 30 abortion clinics in Louisiana and neighboring states (April‒July 2020) and examined the percentage of open and scheduling clinics and median waits. Results. The number of abortions per month among Louisiana residents in Louisiana clinics decreased 31% (incidence rate ratio = 0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.59, 0.79) from before to after pandemic onset, while the odds of having a second-trimester abortion increased (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.91; 95% CI = 1.10, 3.33). The decrease was not offset by an increase in out-of-state abortions. In Louisiana, only 1 or 2 (of 3) clinics were open (with a median wait > 2 weeks) through early May. Conclusions. The COVID-19 pandemic onset was associated with a significant decrease in the number of abortions and increase in the proportion of abortions provided in the second trimester among Louisiana residents. These changes followed service disruptions.

Changes in Abortion in Texas Following an Executive Order Ban During the Coronavirus Pandemic

This study assesses changes in abortions performed and at what gestational age following a Texas order postponing non–medically necessary surgeries due to the COVID-19 pandemic compared with abortions performed during the same months in 2019.

#AbortionChangesYou: A Case Study to Understand the Communicative Tensions in Women’s Medication Abortion Narratives

ABSTRACT One out of four women in the United States will have an abortion by age 45. While abortion rates are steadily declining in the United States, the rate of medication abortions continues to increase, with 39% of all abortions being medication abortions. Our study is one of the first to analyze women’s narratives after having had a medication abortion. Using relational dialectics theory, we conducted a case study of the nonpartisan website, Abortion Changes You. Our contrapuntal analysis rendered four sites of dialectical tension found across women’s blog posts: only choice vs. other alternatives, unprepared vs. knowledgeable, relief vs. regret, and silence vs. openness. Each site of struggle characterized a different noteworthy moment within a woman’s medication abortion experience: the decision, the medication abortion process, identity after abortion, and managing the stigmatizing silence before and after the abortion. We discuss theoretical and practical implications about how the larger politicized discourses prevalent within the abortion debate impact the liminality of women who are contemplating a medication abortion and affect their own narrative construction about the medication abortion experience.

Assessment of immediate production impact following attenuated PRRS type 2 virus vaccination in swine breeding herds

BackgroundTo mitigate production impact of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus outbreaks, it has been common to preventively vaccinate swine breeding herds using PRRS modified live virus (MLV) vaccine. However, attenuated PRRS virus (PRRSv) may result negative impact on farm productivity. The objective of this study was to measure the immediate impact of PRRS type 2 MLV vaccine on breeding herd performance under field conditions. Eight PRRS-stable farms routinely mass vaccinating females with commercial PRRS MLV vaccines were enrolled on study. Vaccination dates were collected and weekly changes in abortions, neonatal losses, pre-weaning mortality, pigs weaned per sow, and wean-to-first-service interval were assessed for up to 6 weeks after each vaccination. A 6-week period prior to each vaccination was established as baseline. Statistical process control (SPC) analysis was conducted to detect significant productivity decreases after MLV interventions, on each farm, and a mixed regression model was used, at the aggregated data level, to assess the productivity change 6 weeks after PRRS MLV vaccinations, compared to baseline.ResultsOut of 65 herd-MLV vaccinations, SPC analysis detected increase on abortions 4 times (6.1%), on neonatal losses 7 times (10.7%), on pre-weaning mortality 2 times (3%), on wean-to-first-service interval 2 times (3%), and no change in total pigs weaned. On aggregated data analysis, there was no significant change in abortion rate, neonatal losses, number of pigs weaned per sow, and wean-to-first-service interval. However, there was an increase of 0.26% of pre-weaning mortality 2 weeks after vaccination compared to the baseline.ConclusionsUnder study conditions, individual PRRS-stable sow farms had experienced transient, and numerically small changes in productivity following PRRS type 2 MLV vaccination. There was a small increase of pre-weaning mortality 2 weeks after vaccination, but no evidence of significant production impact at aggregated data analysis for abortion rate, neonatal losses, pigs weaned per sow and wean-to-first-service interval.

NEPHRITOGENIC ACTIVITY OF STREPTOCOCCUS PYOGENES emm1 AND emm12 GENOTYPES ISOLATED FROM PATIENTS AND ASYMPTOMATIC CARRIERS

In this paper the nephritogenic activity of Streptococcus pyogenes genotype emm1 and emm12 clinical isolates from scarlet fever patients and healthy children was considered. As earlier established, strains of these types differ in Fc-binding profile, interacting with native IgG and immune complexes (IC), respectively. As expected, all the type emm1 strains bound native IgG; besides, ICs interacted only with strains from patients but not with those from carriers. In contrast, all type emm12 strains appeared to be negative for native IgG, whereas ICs were bound by strains from patients exclusively. None of the tested strains bound IgG3. By immunization of rabbits, binding of native IgG as well as ICs was associated with increasing of anti-IgG antibodies titer, formation of ICs, «crescent» deposition of IgG and C3-complement, local production of the proinflammatory cytokine TNFα, аnd also with accumulation of lymphocytes in kidney tissue. These signs indicated immune inflammation, leading to experimental membrane-proliferative glomerulonephritis (PSGN). It is known that PSGN development depends on IC-binding by tissue FcγR, on complement activation as well as on tissue infiltration by macrophages/monocytes. According to the data of morphometric evaluation the nephritogenic activity of the type emm12 strains exceeded those of type emm1. On testing of three IC-binding emm12 strains in six rabbits, typical PSGN developed in 5 of them and an abortive process in 1 animal. In case of five IgG-binding type emm1 strains, out of ten rabbits full-blown PSGN was observed only in 3 of them, but abortive changes in 5 and negative result in 2 animals. No pathologic changes were elicited by the «carrier» strains of either genotype; the inability of these to bind ICs, according to literature data, could be explained by mutation in the Mga-regulator gene thereby impeding M-proteins synthesis. We conclude that isolation of type emm12 IC-binding strains at acute streptococcal infection should be considered a high risk-factor for postinfectious sequelae development. The rabbit model of PSGN used in this research thus allowed to reveal some main stages and features of its pathogenesis.

Hepatic cHanges in abortions and infants from HiV-positiVe motHers

Hepatic cHanges in abortions and infants from HiV-positiVe motHers

Changes in Abortions and Births and the Texas Parental Notification Law

Changes in Abortions and Births and the Texas Parental Notification Law

Changes in Abortions and Births and the Texas Parental Notification Law

On January 1, 2000, Texas began enforcement of a law that requires physicians to notify a parent of a minor child seeking an abortion at least 48 hours before the procedure. We assessed changes in the rates in Texas of abortions and births (events per 1000 age-specific population) before enforcement of the parental notification law (1998 to 1999) and after enforcement (2000 to 2002). We did this by comparing the rate changes among minors 15 to 17 years of age at the time of conception (i.e., those who were subject to the law) with those of teens 18 years of age at the time of conception (i.e., those who were not subject to the law). After enforcement of the law, abortion rates fell by 11 percent among 15-year-olds (rate ratio, 0.89; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.83 to 0.94), 20 percent among 16-year-olds (rate ratio, 0.80; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.76 to 0.85), and 16 percent among 17-year-olds (rate ratio 0.84; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.80 to 0.87), relative to the rates among 18-year-olds. Among the subgroup of minors 17.50 to 17.74 years of age at the time of conception (who would have been subject to the parental notification law in early pregnancy), birth rates rose by 4 percent relative to those of teens 18.00 to 18.24 years of age (rate ratio, 1.04; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.00 to 1.08). The adjusted odds ratio for having an abortion after 12 weeks' gestation among minors 17.50 to 17.74 years of age as compared with 18-year-olds was 1.34 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.10 to 1.62). The Texas parental notification law was associated with a decline in abortion rates among minors from 15 to 17 years of age. It was also associated with increased birth rates and rates of abortion during the second trimester among a subgroup of minors who were 17.50 to 17.74 years of age at the time of conception.

Analysis of surveillance data with Poisson regression: a case study.

One way to examine the ability of a statistical technique to detect changes in surveillance data is to analyse data sets with known changes and observe how accurately these changes can be detected. The elimination of restrictions on legal abortions should have reduced mortality associated with abortions, particularly mortality associated with illegal abortions. The sensitivity of Poisson regression to detect changes in abortion associated mortality from 1962 to 1984 was assessed for the entire United States of America and for specific states. Although it is clear that this change occurred using data from the entire United States, only the largest of the individual state data sets examined (370 events over 23 years) consistently demonstrated the expected pattern. Inconsistent patterns were found in data sets from two states with between one-fourth and one-half this number of events. The legal change was not detected at all in three states with a small number of events (1 event per year or less). From this case study, a minimum of two or three events per year seems to be necessary before Poisson regression can detect outliers. Comparisons of the four tests used suggest that tests based on model deviance are superior to tests based on comparison of observed and expected number of events.

Seasonality of birth in India

SummaryThe conception rate in Baroda and Manipal, India, is lowest during the hottest weather. The greatest extremes are found in Baroda and, following high summer temperatures, there is a prolongation of low conception rates which may indicate that part or all of the effect is mediated through an effect on scrotal temperature. However, other factors may also be involved and a reduction of coital frequency is likely at extremes of temperature. Seasonal changes in abortion, stillbirths and prematurity are also observed. Changes in spontaneous abortion could be due to heat stress in the mother or possibly to abnormal sperm production at high temperature or to less frequent coitus, leading to embryonic defects.

Plasma progesterone changes in abortion induced by hypertonic saline in the second trimester of pregnancy.

SummaryPlasma progesterone levels were measured by a competitive binding method in a total of 177 blood samples obtained from 17 patients after the intra‐amniotic instillation of hypertonic saline for termination of a second trimester pregnancy. A mean fall in plasma progesterone of 51 per cent was observed before abortion of the fetus. There was a highly significant correlation between falling progesterone values and the instillation‐abortion interval (p&lt;0.001).