 Ever since induced abortion was legalized in the United States, there has been a running argument over whether induced abortion has any impact on subsequent childbearing. For instance, it has been stated that women who terminate a pregnancy are at a greater risk of miscarrying a subsequent pregnancy or of having a low-birth-weight baby.
Ten studies of the later influence of first-trimester induced abortion by vacuum aspiration (the dominant method in the United States) are examined there. They have found that compared with women who carry their first pregnancy to term, women whose first pregnancy ends in induced abortion have no greater risk of bearing low-birth-weight babies, delivering prematurely or suffering spontaneous abortions in subsequent pregnancies.
Nevertheless, these studies also show that induced abortion of a woman's first pregnancy does not have the protective effect on her first live birth that carrying a first birth to term has on later deliveries. Besides, some facts from other studies links dilatation and curettage (D&C) procedures with later infertility, but most studies have found no such association.
No exact conclusions can be reached about the influence of multiple induced abortions, since the results of 13 different epidemiologic studies are almost evenly divided between those that demonstrate no effect and those reporting related reproductive problems.
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