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Why Abortion Should Be Legalized

• Categories: Abortion Pro Choice (Abortion) Women's Health

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Words: 1331 |

Published: Jan 28, 2021

Words: 1331 | Pages: 3 | 7 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, why abortion should be legal.

• Gipson, J. D., Hirz, A. E., & Avila, J. L. (2011). Perceptions and practices of illegal abortion among urban young adults in the Philippines: a qualitative study. Studies in family planning, 42(4), 261-272. (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1728-4465.2011.00289.x)
• Finer, L. B., & Hussain, R. (2013). Unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion in the Philippines: context and consequences. (https://www.guttmacher.org/report/unintended-pregnancy-and-unsafe-abortion-philippines-context-and-consequences?ref=vidupdatez.com/image)
• Flavier, J. M., & Chen, C. H. (1980). Induced abortion in rural villages of Cavite, the Philippines: Knowledge, attitudes, and practice. Studies in family planning, 65-71. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1965798)
• Gallen, M. (1979). Abortion choices in the Philippines. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-biosocial-science/article/abs/abortion-choices-in-the-philippines/853B8B71F95FEBDD0D88AB65E8364509 Journal of Biosocial Science, 11(3), 281-288.
• Holgersson, K. (2012). Is There Anybody Out There?: Illegal Abortion, Social Work, Advocacy and Interventions in the Philippines. (https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A574793&dswid=4931)

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• Agree to Disagree: The Morality of Abortion and the Dobbs Decision
• All Stories

Colgate students and professors gathered at Donovan’s Pub on Oct. 17 to hear faculty and staff opinions related to the recent controversial Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision. The decision upholds that the Constitution of the United States does not grant citizens a right to abortion, famously overturning Roe v. Wade.

Panelists discussed the morality and justifications of abortion in the United States as well as the modern world as a whole. Titled “Agree to Disagree: The Morality of Abortion and the Dobbs Decision,” the panel discussion was moderated by Spencer Kelly, Hurley Family Chair and Professor of psychology and brain sciences, and sponsored by the Forum on Philosophy and Religion, the Center for Freedom and Western Civilization, Dart Colegrove Commons, and Hancock Commons.

Panel members included David Dudrick, George Carleton Jr. Professor of philosophy; Jenna Reinbold, associate professor of religion; and Renee Madison, vice president for equity and inclusion.

Before the panelists began introductions and stating their respective positions on the topic, Kelly emphasized that, rather than debating, the panelists would talk about their individual perspectives and attempt to understand one another. 

“My moral position is tied very closely to certain kinds of discomforts I have with our political system, our legal system, and who makes laws and policies in our country,” Reinbold said. “I agree with one aspect of [the Dobbs decision] in the sense that it is a situation in which it involves two lives, and it is a great tragedy in the discourse around abortion that it has become politically difficult to talk about and acknowledge these two lives that are at stake here. I also agree with part of the dissent in that decision, that people who can get pregnant must be given a substantial amount of choice in how they navigate their situation.”

Coming from a law background in law, Madison shared her thoughts on the subject. “I look at it in terms of oppressive restriction and control over the right to liberty. With the opinion that abortion should be a state’s choice, my concern is that we are not well represented in Congress. [Women] are only about 27%, speaking in binary terms of folks who identify as women in Congress. A disproportionate representation of half of the population is significantly outnumbered; we are asking folks to make decisions on things they can never experience.”

Lastly, Professor Dudrick defended a pro-life standpoint. “It is morally wrong to intentionally kill innocent human beings. The second premise is that abortion is the intentional killing of an innocent human being and therefore, abortion is morally wrong. This argument is what philosophers call ‘valid,’ which means that if the premises are true then the conclusion has to be true.”

Having discourse across differences is really important, Dudrick added. “We who have the privilege to be at universities have, I think, the duty to engage in reasoned discourse about difficult topics, and to do so in a spirit of genuine curiosity and truth-seeking.” 

• Centers and Institutes
• News and Updates

Abortion: What it is and why people disagree whether it should be legal

And why you’re hearing so much about it right now.

⭐️HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW⭐️

• A U.S. Supreme Court ruling has determined that states will get to decide how abortions are regulated.
• An abortion is a medical procedure that ends a pregnancy.
• This means in some American states, abortions will become illegal.
• Abortion is legal in Canada and not affected by the U.S. decision.
• Some people agree with this decision, but others say abortion should be a universal right for all who want it.
• Keep reading to understand the anti-abortion/pro-choice debate. ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

On June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a historic decision called Roe v. Wade.

The court’s new ruling limits a person’s right to have an abortion in the United States.

It’s expected to lead to abortion restrictions or outright bans in at least 13 U.S. states.

If you want to know more about the decision, read this article:

• Roe v. Wade was overturned. What does that mean?

If you want to know what an abortion is and why people disagree whether or not it should be allowed, keep reading.

Why are there different views on abortion?

Abortion can be controversial because not everyone agrees who should decide whether or not to end a pregnancy: the individual who is pregnant or the government.

Bernard Dickens, professor emeritus of health law and policy at the University of Toronto, has been studying the history of abortion and the laws relating to it for 50 years.

He says for some people who are pro-choice and support the right to abortion, the fact that the fetus is inside the individual's body means that they get to decide what happens to it.

Those who are anti-abortion oppose the decision to end a pregnancy with abortion and believe that the fetus is considered a person long before birth.

“From a religious or moral perspective, some people say that life begins earlier than birth, life begins at conception, when a woman becomes pregnant,” Dickens said.

Because those who are anti-abortion see the fetus as a living being, they believe that abortion is ending a life, and that the government should intervene to protect that life.

When do abortions happen?

In the U.S., federal statistics suggest that 94 per cent of abortions are performed at or before 13 weeks of pregnancy, which lasts about 40 weeks, or nine months.

Roughly 99 per cent of abortions are performed before 21 weeks of pregnancy (about four and a half months).

In Canada, the statistics are very similar.

Few health care providers in Canada or the U.S. perform abortions after 24 weeks (about five and a half months), unless the life of the person who is pregnant is at risk, if the fetus has serious complications, or in cases where a person has become pregnant as a result of a sexual assault.

Why do people have abortions?

According to Dickens, numerous factors can influence a person’s decision to have an abortion in the United States, including financial, medical and personal.

One of the common reasons is socioeconomic. In other words, some of the people who have had abortions said they couldn't afford to raise a child or add another child to their family.

According to a study done in 2014 by the Guttmacher Institute, a not-for-profit research organization that studies reproductive health:

• 59 per cent of people in the U.S. who chose abortions already have kids.
• 75 per cent of people who had had abortions lived below the poverty line of $15,730 US for a family of two. 

OK, now that you understand the background and you want to learn more about what led to the decision in the United States, read this article .

Have more questions? Want to tell us how we’re doing? Use the “send us feedback” link below. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

With files from The Associated Press

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Key facts about the abortion debate in america.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade – the decision that had guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion for nearly 50 years – has shifted the legal battle over abortion to the states, with some prohibiting the procedure and others moving to safeguard it.

As the nation’s post-Roe chapter begins, here are key facts about Americans’ views on abortion, based on two Pew Research Center polls: one conducted from June 25-July 4 , just after this year’s high court ruling, and one conducted in March , before an earlier leaked draft of the opinion became public.

This analysis primarily draws from two Pew Research Center surveys, one surveying 10,441 U.S. adults conducted March 7-13, 2022, and another surveying 6,174 U.S. adults conducted June 27-July 4, 2022. Here are the questions used for the March survey , along with responses, and the questions used for the survey from June and July , along with responses.

Everyone who took part in these surveys is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories.  Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

A majority of the U.S. public disapproves of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. About six-in-ten adults (57%) disapprove of the court’s decision that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee a right to abortion and that abortion laws can be set by states, including 43% who strongly disapprove, according to the summer survey. About four-in-ten (41%) approve, including 25% who strongly approve.

About eight-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (82%) disapprove of the court’s decision, including nearly two-thirds (66%) who strongly disapprove. Most Republicans and GOP leaners (70%) approve , including 48% who strongly approve.

Most women (62%) disapprove of the decision to end the federal right to an abortion. More than twice as many women strongly disapprove of the court’s decision (47%) as strongly approve of it (21%). Opinion among men is more divided: 52% disapprove (37% strongly), while 47% approve (28% strongly).

About six-in-ten Americans (62%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to the summer survey – little changed since the March survey conducted just before the ruling. That includes 29% of Americans who say it should be legal in all cases and 33% who say it should be legal in most cases. About a third of U.S. adults (36%) say abortion should be illegal in all (8%) or most (28%) cases.

Generally, Americans’ views of whether abortion should be legal remained relatively unchanged in the past few years , though support fluctuated somewhat in previous decades.

Relatively few Americans take an absolutist view on the legality of abortion – either supporting or opposing it at all times, regardless of circumstances. The March survey found that support or opposition to abortion varies substantially depending on such circumstances as when an abortion takes place during a pregnancy, whether the pregnancy is life-threatening or whether a baby would have severe health problems.

While Republicans’ and Democrats’ views on the legality of abortion have long differed, the 46 percentage point partisan gap today is considerably larger than it was in the recent past, according to the survey conducted after the court’s ruling. The wider gap has been largely driven by Democrats: Today, 84% of Democrats say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, up from 72% in 2016 and 63% in 2007. Republicans’ views have shown far less change over time: Currently, 38% of Republicans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, nearly identical to the 39% who said this in 2007.

However, the partisan divisions over whether abortion should generally be legal tell only part of the story. According to the March survey, sizable shares of Democrats favor restrictions on abortion under certain circumstances, while majorities of Republicans favor abortion being legal in some situations , such as in cases of rape or when the pregnancy is life-threatening.

There are wide religious divides in views of whether abortion should be legal , the summer survey found. An overwhelming share of religiously unaffiliated adults (83%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, as do six-in-ten Catholics. Protestants are divided in their views: 48% say it should be legal in all or most cases, while 50% say it should be illegal in all or most cases. Majorities of Black Protestants (71%) and White non-evangelical Protestants (61%) take the position that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while about three-quarters of White evangelicals (73%) say it should be illegal in all (20%) or most cases (53%).

In the March survey, 72% of White evangelicals said that the statement “human life begins at conception, so a fetus is a person with rights” reflected their views extremely or very well . That’s much greater than the share of White non-evangelical Protestants (32%), Black Protestants (38%) and Catholics (44%) who said the same. Overall, 38% of Americans said that statement matched their views extremely or very well.

Catholics, meanwhile, are divided along religious and political lines in their attitudes about abortion, according to the same survey. Catholics who attend Mass regularly are among the country’s strongest opponents of abortion being legal, and they are also more likely than those who attend less frequently to believe that life begins at conception and that a fetus has rights. Catholic Republicans, meanwhile, are far more conservative on a range of abortion questions than are Catholic Democrats.

Women (66%) are more likely than men (57%) to say abortion should be legal in most or all cases, according to the survey conducted after the court’s ruling.

More than half of U.S. adults – including 60% of women and 51% of men – said in March that women should have a greater say than men in setting abortion policy . Just 3% of U.S. adults said men should have more influence over abortion policy than women, with the remainder (39%) saying women and men should have equal say.

The March survey also found that by some measures, women report being closer to the abortion issue than men . For example, women were more likely than men to say they had given “a lot” of thought to issues around abortion prior to taking the survey (40% vs. 30%). They were also considerably more likely than men to say they personally knew someone (such as a close friend, family member or themselves) who had had an abortion (66% vs. 51%) – a gender gap that was evident across age groups, political parties and religious groups.

Relatively few Americans view the morality of abortion in stark terms , the March survey found. Overall, just 7% of all U.S. adults say having an abortion is morally acceptable in all cases, and 13% say it is morally wrong in all cases. A third say that having an abortion is morally wrong in most cases, while about a quarter (24%) say it is morally acceptable in most cases. An additional 21% do not consider having an abortion a moral issue.

Among Republicans, most (68%) say that having an abortion is morally wrong either in most (48%) or all cases (20%). Only about three-in-ten Democrats (29%) hold a similar view. Instead, about four-in-ten Democrats say having an abortion is morally  acceptable  in most (32%) or all (11%) cases, while an additional 28% say it is not a moral issue. 

White evangelical Protestants overwhelmingly say having an abortion is morally wrong in most (51%) or all cases (30%). A slim majority of Catholics (53%) also view having an abortion as morally wrong, but many also say it is morally acceptable in most (24%) or all cases (4%), or that it is not a moral issue (17%). Among religiously unaffiliated Americans, about three-quarters see having an abortion as morally acceptable (45%) or not a moral issue (32%).

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Public Opinion on Abortion

Majority in u.s. say abortion should be legal in some cases, illegal in others, three-in-ten or more democrats and republicans don’t agree with their party on abortion, partisanship a bigger factor than geography in views of abortion access locally, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

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• Malawi Med J
• v.23(4); 2011 Dec

Opinions on abortion as a viable way of improving reproductive health

The definition of abortion is the “termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus as the spontaneous expulsion of a human fetus during the first 12 weeks of gestation” (Webster Online). In Malawi abortion is restricted to mothers whose life would be in danger if allowed to carry on with the pregnancy up to the time of delivery. Except under such circumstances abortion is generally punishable by law. Section 149 of the country's penal code penalizes anyone who performs an abortion to 14 years imprisonment, while any woman who solicits one can be put in jail for up to seven years. It is from this view that some scholars have observed that the abortion laws which Malawi is currently using were imposed by the colonialists in 1930 while the British have themselves reviewed them twice. Some recent research studies has shown that unsafe abortion is the second leading cause of death among pregnant mothers.

The question which should be asked is why is the nation still clinging to the legislation which was imposed while the owners abandoned it? I sought some views from a number of people and this is what they had to say:

Alfred Phiri

Court Clerk

Whether one likes it or not, abortion is rampant in the country due to unplanned/unwanted pregnancies. Since it is criminalized, many women resort to unsafe abortions which lead to complications and many disadvantaged women are dying because of these complications. Therefore, it is high time Malawi reviewed chapter 15, sections 149 to 151 and 243 of the penal code which criminalize abortion. The legislation was imposed on us by the colonial masters in the 1930's and it has never revisited up to this day. Hypocritically, the colonial masters have actually legalized abortion in their own country. Taking into the current account issues of reproductive health rights which empower women to make decisions about their reproduction, there is a great need and urgency to review this archaic legislation. Legalizing abortion will afford women safe abortion services and ensure that there are no complications associated with unsafe abortions which are killing many women, accounting for 30% of maternal deaths in the country. Let's save our dear sisters and mothers by legalizing abortion in this country as our neighbours have done!

Innocent Kalumikiza

I would argue for both answers. Firstly I think if the laws give an opportunity for abortion to a woman in order to save a life then I see no point of changing them because this could result in just aborting carelessly which is also a health hazard more especially to women and I truly think that any unborn child has a right to life.

Frank Sitima

Garden Attendant

Whether we abide to laws of whichever country or what, we are all held accountable to the law of God which condemns abortion as murder, biologically life begins in the womb thats God's creation no one has the right to pronounce the beggining of life saying like the fetus is chinthu not munthu, thats foolishness. Abortion is a sin against God.

Stella Kaphaizi

Terminating dangerous pregnancies can be condoned but just terminating for the sake of running away from responsibility is cruelty and unhuman. So I think that the laws should still be there to deny people who would want to take away innocent lives of unborn children just to satisfy themselves because I think any unborn child has rights just like any other individual.

George Zingeni

No amount of justification will ever take away the fact that abortion destroys a life and the question remains who has given you the right to take away life? Abortion is evil which ever way you look at it and its even worse when you think of killing a defenceless soul which God has entrusted in your custody. Let us not be selfish!

Andrew Maoni

Student (Zingwangwa Secondary)

Why should people who are alive support abortion? Why always push for reform in laws which will just confuse the already confused Malawi? Are we not selfish to say abortion is good whilst knowing that we are not victims of it? Think of the unborn if it was you or relatives or even better still your Loved ones? Are we not burning the bridge because we have crossed it? Its a pity. Only the aborted babies can support abortion because they are the only ones who know the beauty of abortion.

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Essay on Abortion in English in 650 Words

• Updated on  
• Feb 5, 2024

Essay on Abortion: Abortion is the termination of pregnancy. The termination happens due to the removal of the embryo or fetus. 

The process of abortion can be natural as well as intentional. The intentional forces abortion involves a decision to end the pregnancy while when this process unfolds naturally without any external forces such as genetic abnormalities, maternal age, hormonal imbalances, or lifestyle, it is termed as miscarriage or spontaneous abortion. It is important to understand the difference between intentional abortion and miscarriage to explore reproductive health. 

Master the art of essay writing with our blog on How to Write an Essay in English .

Table of Contents

• 1 Types of Abortion
• 2 Law in India for Abortion
• 3.1 1. Comprehensive Sex Education 
• 3.2 2. Access to Contraceptives
• 3.3 3. Support System for Pregnant Women 

Also Read: 3-Minute Speech on Motherhood and Education

Types of Abortion

Abortion procedures can be classified into two main types, Medical abortion and Surgical abortion. Medical abortion involves the termination of pregnancy using medications, such as the combination of mifepristone and misoprostol. This medication method is generally effective within nine weeks of pregnancy and does not involve any penetration or incision of the body or the insertion of instruments into the body. 

On the other hand, surgical abortion involves a physical procedure to remove the pregnancy. The common surgical abortion method includes aspiration (suction) abortion, dilation and curettage (D&C), and dilation and evacuation (D&E) also called vacuum aspiration.

Law in India for Abortion

Laws of abortion play a vital role in the complexities of reproductive health. These laws aim to safeguard the well-being of women by ensuring that the abortion procedures are conducted under safe and medically supervised conditions.

In India, the legal framework for governing abortion primarily comes under the guidance of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act. The act was enacted in the year 1971 and aimed to liberalize the voluntary absorption largely decriminalized Section 312 of the IPC. To have safe and legal abortion services in India The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Regulations,2003 were issued under the MTP Act. 

Further in the year 2021, certain amendments were passed for safe abortion services in case of failures of contraceptive failures, increase in gestation limit to 24 weeks, and the opinion of one abortion service provider up to 20 weeks of gestation. Moreover, the amendment also supported abortion until 24 weeks of pregnancy. The amendment acknowledges 7 specific circumstances to the MTP Act where a female can go for an abortion and those include Minor pregnancies, rape survivors, women with mental and physical disabilities, and more. 

Alternative and Support of Abortion

Some alternative measures that will help to raise awareness about abortion are as follows:

1. Comprehensive Sex Education 

The physical experience of abortion for women can be hazardous too, therefore, to provide an alternative it is necessary that comprehensive sex education should be provided in schools beyond subjects like Biology, healthy relationships, consent, and making responsible choices. Through this knowledge, students will not only be equipped with information but will also navigate relationships and avoid unintended pregnancies.

2. Access to Contraceptives

Easy access to contraceptives is another way to empower women to take charge of their reproductive health. Whether it is condoms, birth control pills, or any other methods of protection ensures to make responsible decisions and help in taking precautions against unplanned pregnancies.

3. Support System for Pregnant Women 

To support women with unwanted pregnancies it is important to create a supportive environment for them mentally as well as emotionally. The government can offer counselling services, and access to healthcare information, and can provide resources to help pregnant women make informed choices or decisions about their future for example parenting classes, legal guidance and financial assistance programs. 

In conclusion, we can say that the topic of abortion is complex as well as deep with emotions as well as with different perspectives. The ethical, religious, and legal debate on this sophisticated topic makes it challenging to find a common ground. Therefore it is necessary to have open and respectful communication, understanding empathy and healthcare options for the women. 

Also Read: National Safe Motherhood Day 2023

Ans. 1 Abortion is the termination of pregnancy. The termination happens due to the removal of the embryo or fetus. 

Ans. 2 As she was going through many health issues the family decided to go for an abortion. 

The causes of abortion in the first trimester can be emotional or psychological, maternal health concerns, unintended pregnancies, contraceptive failure and more.  

Ans. 4 The opposite of abortion is success, continuation, accomplishment, and achievement.

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Legalized Abortion and the Public Health: Report of a Study (1975)

Chapter: summary and conclusions.

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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The legal status of abortion in the United States became a heightened national issue with the January 1973 rulings by the Supreme Court that severely limited states' rights to control the procedure. The Court's decisions on the historic cases of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton precluded any state interference with the doctor-patient decision on abortion during the first trimester (three months) of pregnancy. During the second trimester, a state could intervene only to the extent of insisting on safe medical practices "reasonably related to maternal health." And for approximately the final trimester of a pregnancy—what the Court called "the state subsequent to viability" of a fetus—a state could forbid abortion unless medical judgment found it necessary "for the preservation of the life or health of the mother." The rulings crystallized opposition to abortion, led to the intro- duction of national and state legislation to curtail or prohibit it, and generated political pressures for a national debate on the issue. Against this background of concerns about abortion, the Institute of Medicine in 1974 called together a committee to review the existing evidence on the relationship between legalized abortion and the health of the public. The study group was asked to examine the medical risks to women who obtained legal abortions, and to document changes in the risks as legal abortion became more available. Although there have been other publications on particular relationships between abortion and health, the Institute's study is an attempt to enlist scholars, researchers, health practitioners, and concerned lay persons in a more comprehensive analysis of the available medical information on the subject. Ethical issues of abortion are not discussed in this analysis, nor are questions concerning the fetus in abortion. The study group recog- nizes that this approach implies an ethical position with which some may disagree. The emphasis of the study is on the health effects of abortion, not on the alternatives to abortion.

Abortion legislation and practices are important factors in the relationship between abortion and health status. In order to examine legislation and court decisions that have affected the availability of legal abortion in the U.S., the study group classified the laws and practices into three categories: restrictive conditions, under which abortion is prohibited or permitted only to save the pregnant woman's life; moderately restrictive conditions, under which abortion is per- mitted with approval by several physicians, in a wider range of circumstances to preserve the woman's physical or mental health, prevent the birth of a child with severe genetic or congenital defects, or terminate a pregnancy caused by rape or incest; and non-restrictive conditions, under which abortion essentially is available according to the terms of the Supreme Court ruling. Before 1967, all abortion laws in the United States could be classified as restrictive. Easing of restrictions began in 1967 with Colorado, and soon thereafter 12 other states also adopted moderately restrictive legislation to expand the conditions under which therapeutic abortion could be obtained. In 1970, four states (Alaska, Hawaii, New York, and Washington) removed nearly all legal controls on abortion. Non-restrictive conditions have theoretically existed throughout all fifty states since January 22, 1973, the date of the Supreme Court decision. There is evidence that substantial numbers of illegal abortions were obtained in the U.S. when restrictive laws were in force. Although some of the illegal abortions were performed covertly by physicians in medical settings, many were conducted in unsanitary surroundings by unskilled operators or were self-induced. In this report, "illegal abortion" generally refers to those performed by a non-physician or the woman herself. The medical risks associated with the last two types of illegal abortions are patently greater than with the first. A recent analysis of data from the first year of New York's non- restrictive abortion legislation indicates that approximately 70 percent of the abortions obtained legally in New York City would otherwise have been obtained illegally. Replacement of legal for illegal abortions also is reflected in the substantial decline in the number of reported complications and deaths due to other-than-legal abortions since non- restrictive practices began to be implemented in the United States. The number of all known abortion-related deaths declined from 128 in 1970 to 47 in 1973; those deaths specifically attributed to other-than-legal abortions (i.e., both illegal and spontaneous) dropped from 111 to 25 during the same period, with much of that decline attributed to a reduced incidence of illegal abortions. Increased use of effective con- traception may also have played a role in the decline of abortion-related deaths. Methods most frequently used in the United States to induce abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy are suction (vacuum aspiration) or dilatation and curettage (D&C). Abortions in the second trimester are usually performed by replacing part of the amniotic fluid that surrounds

the fetus with a concentrated salt solution (saline abortion), which usually induces labor 24 to 48 hours later. Other second trimester methods are hysterotomy, a surgical entry into the uterus; hysterectomy, which is the removal of the uterus; and, recently, the injection into the uterine cavity of a prostaglandin, a substance that causes muscular contractions that expel the fetus. Statistics on legal abortion are collected for the U.S. government by the Center for Disease Control. CDC's most recent nationwide data are for 1973, the year of the Supreme Court decision. Some of those figures are: — The 615,800 legal abortions reported in 1973 were an increase of approximately 29,000 over the number reported in 1972. These probably are underestimates of the actual number of abortions performed because some states have not yet developed adequate abortion reporting systems. — The abortion ratio (number of abortions per 1,000 live births) increased from 180 in 1972 to 195 in 1973. — More than four out of five abortions were performed in the first trimester, most often by suction or D&C. — Approximately 25 percent of the reported 1973 abortions were obtained outside the woman's home state. In 1972, before the Supreme Court decision, 44 percent of the reported abortions had been obtained outside the home state of the patient, primarily in New York and the District of Columbia. — Approximately one-third of the women obtaining abortions were less than 20 years old, another third were between 20 and 25, and the remaining third over 25 years of age. — In all states where data were available, about 25 percent of the women obtaining abortions were married. — White women obtained 68 percent of all reported abortions, but non-white women had abortion ratios about one-third greater than white women. In 1972, non-white women had abortion rates (abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age) about twice those of whites in three states from which data were available to analyze. A national survey of hospitals, clinics, and physicians conducted in 1974 by The Alan Guttmacher Institute furnished data on the number of abortions performed in the U.S. during 1973, itemized by state and type of provider. A total of 745,400 abortions were reported in the survey, a figure higher than the 615,800 abortions reported in 1973 to CDC. The Guttmacher Institute obtains its data from providers of health services, while CDC gets most of its data from state health departments.

Risks of medical complications associated with legal abortions are difficult to evaluate because of problems of definition and subjective physician judgment. Available information from 66 centers is provided by the Joint Program for the Study of Abortion, undertaken by The Population Council in 1970-1971. The JPSA study surveyed almost 73,000 legal abortions. It used a restricted definition of major complications, which included unintended major surgery, one or more blood transfusions, three or more days of fever, and several other categories involving prolonged illness or permanent impairment. Although this study also collected data on minor complica- tions, such as one day of fever post-operatively, the data on major com- plications are probably more significant. The major complication rates published by the JPSA study and summarized below relate to women who had abortions in local facilities and from whom follow-up information was obtained. — Complications in women not obtaining concurrent sterilization and with no pre-existing medical problems (e.g., diabetes, heart disease, or gynecological problems) occurred 0.6 times per 100 abortions in the first trimester and 2.1 per 100 in the second trimester. — Complications in women not obtaining concurrent sterilization, but having pre-existing problems, occurred 2.0 times per 100 in the first trimester and 6.7 in the second. — Complications in women obtaining concurrent sterilization and not having pre-existing problems occurred 7.2 times per 100 in the first trimester and 8.0 in the second. — Women with both concurrent sterilization and pre-existing problems experienced complications approximately 17 times per 100 abortions regardless of trimester. The relatively high complication rates associated with sterilization in the JPSA study would probably be lower today because new sterilization techniques require minimal surgery and carry lower rates of complications. The frequency of medical complications due to illegal abortions cannot be calculated precisely, but the trend in these complications can be estimated from the number of hospital admissions due to septic and incomplete abortion—two adverse consequences of the illegal procedure.

The number of such admissions in New York City's municipal hospitals declined from 6,524 in 1969 to 3,253 in 1973; most restrictions on legal abortion in New York City were lifted in July of 1970. In Los Angeles, the number of reported hospital admissions for septic abortions declined from 559 in 1969 to 119 in 1971. Other factors, such as an increased use of effective contraception and a decreasing rate of unwanted pregnancies may have contributed to these declines, but it is probable that the introduction of less restrictive abortion legislation was a major factor. There has not been enough experience with legal abortion in the U.S. for conclusions to be drawn about long-term complications, particularly for women obtaining repeated legal abortions. Some studies from abroad suggest that long-term complications may include prematurity, miscarriage, or ectopic pregnancies in future pregnancies, or infertility. But research findings from countries having long experience with legal abortion are inconsistent among studies and the relevance of these data to the U.S. is not known; methods of abortion, medical services, and socio-economic characteristics vary from one country to another. Risks of maternal death associated with legal abortion are low—1.7 deaths per 100,000 first trimester procedures in 1972 and 1973—and less than the risks associated with illegal abortion, full-term pregnancy, and most surgical procedures. The 1973 mortality rate for a full-term pregnancy was 14 deaths per 100,000 live vaginal deliveries; the 1969 rate for cesarean sections was 111 deaths per 100,000 deliveries. For second trimester abortions, the combined 1972-73 mortality ratio was 12.2 deaths per 100,000 abortions. (For comparison, the surgical removal of the tonsils and adenoids had a mortality risk of five deaths per 100,000 operations in 1969). When the mortality risk of legal abortion is examined by length of gestation it becomes apparent that the mortality risks increase not only from the first to the second trimester, but also by each week of ges- tation. For example, during 1972-73, the mortality ratio for legal abortions performed at eight weeks or less was 0.5, and for those performed between nine and 10 weeks was 1.7 deaths per 100,000 legal abortions. At 11 to 12 weeks the mortality ratio increased to 4.2 deaths, and by 16 to 20 weeks, the ratio was more than 17 deaths per 100,000 abortions. Hysterotomy and hysterectomy, methods performed infrequently in both trimesters, had a combined mortality ratio of 61.3 deaths per 100,000 procedures. Some data on the mortality associated with illegal abortion are avail- lable from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and from CDC. In 1961 there were 320 abortion-related deaths reported in the U.S., most of them presumed by the medical profession to be from illegal abortion. By 1973, total reported deaths had declined to 47, of which 16 were specifi- cally attributed to illegal abortions. There has been a steady decline in the mortality rates (number of deaths per 100,000 women aged 15-44) associated with other-than-legal abortion for both white and non-white women, but in 1973 the mortality rate for non-white women (0.29) was almost ten times greater than that reported for white women (0.03).

Psychological effects of legal abortion are difficult to evaluate for reasons that include lack of information on pre-abortion psychological status, ambiguous terminology, and the absence of standardized measurements. The cumulative evidence in recent years indicates that although it may be a stressful experience, abortion is not associated with any detectable increase in the incidence of mental illness. The depression or guilt feelings reported by some women following abortion are generally described as mild and temporary. This experience, however, does not necessarily apply to women with a previous history of psychiatric illness; for them, abortion may be followed by continued or aggravated mental illness. The JPSA survey led to an estimate of the incidence of post-abortion psychosis ranging from 0.2 to 0.4 per 1,000 legal abortions. This is lower than the post-partum psychosis rate of one to two per 1,000 deliveries in the United States. Psychological factors also bear on whether a woman obtains a first or second-trimester abortion. Two studies in particular suggest that women who delay abortion into the later period may have more feelings of ambiva- lence, denial of the pregnancy, or objection on religious grounds, than those obtaining abortions in the first trimester. It is also apparent, however, that some second-trimester abortions result from procedural delays, difficulties in obtaining a pregnancy test, locating appropriate counseling, or arranging and financing the procedure. Diagnosis of severe defects of a fetus well before birth has greatly advanced in the past decade. Developments in the techniques of amniocen- tesis and cell culture have enabled a number of genetic defects and other congenital disorders to be detected in the second trimester of pregnancy. Prenatal diagnosis and the opportunity to terminate an affected pregnancy by a legal abortion may help many women who would have refrained from becoming pregnant or might have given birth to an abnormal child, to bear children unaffected by the disease they fear. Abortion, with or with- out prenatal diagnosis, also can be used in instances where there is reasonable risk that the fetus may be affected by birth defects from non-genetic causes, such as those caused by exposure of the woman to rubella virus infection or x-rays, or by her ingestion of drugs known to damage the fetus. Almost 60 inherited metabolic disorders, such as Tay-Sachs disease, potentially can be diagnosed before birth. More than 20 of these diseases already have been diagnosed with reasonaable accuracy by means of amniocentesis and other procedures. The techniques also can be used to identify a fetus with abnormal chromosomes, as in Down's syndrome (mongolism), and to discriminate between male and female fetuses, which in such diseases as hemophilia would allow determination of whether the fetus was at risk of being affected or simply at risk of being a hereditary carrier of the disorder.

In North America, amniocentesis was performed in more than 6,000 second-trimester pregnancies between 1967 and 1974. The diagnostic accuracy was close to 100 percent and complication rates were about two percent. Less than 10 percent of the diagnoses disclosed an affected fetus, meaning that the great majority of parents at risk averted an unnecessary abortion and were able to carry an unaffected child to term. There are many limitations to the use of prenatal diagnosis, especially for mass screening purposes. Amniocentesis is a fairly expensive procedure, and relatively few medical personnel are qualified to administer it and carry out the necessary diagnostic tests. Only a small number of genetic disorders can now be identified by means of amniocentesis and many couples still have no way to determine whether or not they are to be the parents of a child with genetic defects. Nevertheless, the avail- ability of a legal abortion expands the options available to a woman who faces a known risk of having an affected child. Abortion as a substitute for contraception is one possibility raised by the adoption of non-restrictive abortion laws. Limited data do not allow definitive conclusions, but they suggest that the introduction of non-restrictive abortion laws in the U.S. has not lead to any documented decline in demand for contraceptive services. Among women who sought abortion and who had previously not used contraception or had used it poorly, there is some evidence that they may have begun to practice contraception because contraceptives were made available to them at the time of their abortion. The health aspects of this issue bear on the higher mortality and mor- bidity associated with abortion as compared with contraceptive use, and on the possibility that if women rely on abortion rather than contraception they may have repeated abortions, for which the risk of long-term compli- cations is not known. The incidence of repeated legal abortions is little known because legal abortion has only been widely available in the U.S. for a few years. Data from New York City indicate that during the first two years of non-restrictive laws 2.45 percent of the abortions obtained by residents were repeat procedures. If those two years are divided into six-month periods, repeated legal abortions as a percent of the total rose from 0.01 percent in the first period to 6.02 percent in the last. Part of this increase is attributable to a statistical fact: the longer non-restrictive laws are in effect, the greater the number of women eligible to have repeated legal abortions. Perhaps, too, the reporting system has improved. In any case, some low incidence of repeated abortions is to be expected because none of the current contraceptive methods is completely failureproof, nor are they likely to be used with maximum care on all occasions.

8 A recent study has suggested that one additional factor contributing to the incidence of repeated abortions is that abortion facilities may not routinely provide contraceptive services at the time of the procedure. This is of concern because of recent evidence that ovulation usually oc- curs within five weeks and perhaps as early as 10 days after an abortion. The conclusions of the study group: — Many women will seek to terminate an unwanted pregnancy by abortion whether it is legal or not. Although the mortality and morbidity . associated with illegal abortion cannot be fully measured, they are clearly greater than the risks associated with legal abortion. Evidence suggests that legislation and practices that permit women to obtain abortions in proper medical surroundings will lead to fewer deaths and a lower rate of medical complications than restrictive legislation and practices. —• The substantial differences between the mortality and morbidity associated with legal abortion in the first and second trimesters suggest that laws, medical practices, and educational programs should enable and encourage women who have chosen abortion to obtain it in the first three months of pregnancy. — More research is needed on the consequences of abortion on health status. Of highest priority are investigations of long-term medical complications, particularly after multiple abortions the effects of abortion and denied abortion on the mental health and social welfare of individuals and families the factors of motivation, behavior, and access associated with contraceptive use and the choice of abortion.

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A bill passed by Kansas lawmakers would make it a crime to coerce someone into an abortion

Kansas state Sen. Dennis Pyle, left, R-Hiawatha, confers with Sen. Brenda Dietrich, R-Topeka, during the Senate session, Friday, April 5, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Pyle supports a bill to make it a crime to coerce someone into having an abortion, while Dietrich passed the last time senators considered it. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

Kansas state Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita, speaks during a meeting of fellow House Democrats, Friday, April 5, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Sawyer opposes a bill to give donors to anti-abortion counseling centers $10 million a year in income tax credits, which is one of several anti-abortion measures approved by the Legislature. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

In this photo from Wednesday, March 27, 2024, three anti-abortion lobbyists sit in the second row of the main Kansas House gallery, monitoring its debates and votes, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. They are, left to right, Lucrecia Nold, of the Kansas Catholic Conference; Brittany Jones, of the Kansas Family Voice and Jeanne Gawdun, of Kansans for Life. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

In this photo from Wednesday, March 27, 2024, state Sen. Virgil Peck, left, R-Havana, confers with Sen. Renee Erickson, R-Wichita, during the Senate’s session, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Both senators support several anti-abortion measures, including one to make it a crime to coerce someone into having an abortion. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — People who make physical or financial threats against others in Kansas to force them to get an abortion could spend a year in prison and be fined up to $10,000 under one of several proposals pushed through the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Abortion opponents in Kansas pursued the measure against abortion “coercion,” increased reporting on abortion and aid to anti-abortion centers providing free counseling, supplies and other services to pregnant women and new mothers because of the state’s unusual legal climate. While the Legislature has strong anti-abortion majorities, the state Supreme Court declared in 2019 that the state constitution protects abortion rights, and Kansas residents decisively affirmed that position in a statewide August 2022 vote.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is a strong supporter of abortion rights, and many lawmakers expect her to veto all the anti-abortion measures reaching her desk. All the proposals appear to have or be close to having the two-thirds majorities necessary in both chambers to override a veto.

“The vast majority of Kansans agree that too many women feel abortion is their only choice,” Danielle Underwood, a spokesperson for Kansans for Life, the state’s most politically influential anti-abortion group, said in an email Tuesday.

Kelly has until Monday to act on the bill that would make coercing someone into an abortion a specific crime. She also faces a Monday deadline on a bill that would require abortion providers to ask their patients why they want to terminate their pregnancies and then report the information to the state health department.

Anti-abortion groups and lawmakers have said they’re pushing for the state to collect the data to better guide state policy. Abortion rights supporters contend the measure is unnecessary and would violate patients’ privacy.

Two other measures will arrive on Kelly’s desk by Monday. One would grant up to $10 million a year in income tax credits for donors to anti-abortion counseling centers and exempt the centers from paying the state’s 6.5% sales tax on what they buy. In addition, a provision in the next state budget would give those centers $2 million in direct aid, continuing a policy enacted last year over Kelly’s veto.

Abortion opponents argue that such measures simply help vulnerable women. But Democrats have been frustrated with GOP lawmakers’ push for new legislation and aid to the anti-abortion counseling centers, arguing that it breaks faith with voters’ support for abortion rights.

“Abortion is a legal health service,” Democratic state Rep. Tom Sawyer, of Wichita, said when the House debated the tax breaks for the centers and their donors. “If you want to try to encourage people to not get abortions, it’s your right to do it, but we should not be so generously funding them with state funds.”

Abortion opponents hope that lawmakers will approve one other bill they’re backing, to ensure that prospective mothers can seek child support back to conception to cover expenses from a pregnancy. The House approved it before the Legislature adjourned early Saturday for a spring break, and the Senate could consider it after lawmakers reconvene April 25 to wrap up business for the year.

Abortion opponents portrayed the bill on coercion as something to help the state fight human trafficking and other crimes, such as the rape of a child. The bill’s definition of coercion includes destroying or hiding someone’s passport or immigration papers or threatening to harm or “physically restrain” them to force them into getting an abortion.

“This is something that flows from criminal activities,” state Sen. Mike Thompson, a Kansas City-area Republican, said during the final debate on the bill.

The measure is similar to laws in Idaho, Indiana, Michigan and South Dakota.

Critics said the Kansas bill is written broadly enough that a doctor who is seen as too aggressive in arguing that an abortion is necessary could fall under it. So, too, they said, could a husband who threatens divorce or a live-in boyfriend who threatens to leave if a woman decides to have a child.

“I just see how this could turn into a real, real sticky situation for a lot of young people,” Rep. Ford Carr, another Wichita Democrat, said during his debate.

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Advertisement

Kari Lake Backs G.O.P. Effort to Drop 1864 Abortion Law in Favor of 15-Week Ban

The Senate candidate and Donald Trump ally is supporting a handful of state Republicans who have backed away from a near-total ban that was upheld by the State Supreme Court this week.

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By Kellen Browning and Jack Healy

• April 11, 2024

A handful of Arizona Republican legislators looking to overturn a 160-year-old state law that bans nearly all abortions have a new high-profile supporter: Kari Lake, a prominent Senate candidate and a close ally of Donald J. Trump.

The state Supreme Court’s ruling on Tuesday that upheld the 1864 law, from before Arizona was a state, set off a political firestorm, with Democrats predicting it would cause women to turn out in droves in a key swing state to protect access to abortion rights.

Now, some Republicans are looking for a way out of their political dilemma after their party blocked efforts to reverse the law . They see Ms. Lake, who is in a competitive race that could determine control of the Senate, as an important ally. Ms. Lake has called a handful of state legislators to offer her support in any effort to repeal the law and revert to the 15-week abortion ban that was in effect in Arizona, according to a person familiar with the outreach.

The new stance is an abrupt about-face for many Arizona Republicans, who cheered when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and then pushed quickly for reinstating the near-total ban from 1864. Ms. Lake herself had praised the 160-year-old ban during her 2022 run for governor, calling it a “great law,” but on Tuesday condemned the court decision, saying it was “out of step with Arizonans.”

Other Republicans followed suit.

“It is time for my legislative colleagues to find common ground of common sense: the first step is to repeal the territorial law,” State Senator Shawnna Bolick posted on X. It was a departure for Ms. Bolick, who once signed onto a law that would require prosecutors to charge women who have abortions with homicide and voted for the 15-week ban in 2022, legislation that included a provision allowing the 1864 law to go into effect.

The Republican backtracking reflects just how sharply public opinion has shifted on abortion since the Supreme Court’s consequential ruling, and how damaging the issue has been to their party. State laws on abortion enacted since Roe was overturned fueled strong showings by Democratic candidates in the 2022 midterms, and voters have turned out in force to protect abortion rights when they have been on the ballot, even in red states.

Still, the shift in tone went only so far. As Arizona Democrats clamored for votes and debate on proposals to repeal the 1864 ban on Wednesday, they were blocked by Republicans, who quickly shut down legislative proceedings and voted to adjourn until next week.

The 1864 law outlaws abortion from the moment of conception, with an exception only to save the life of a mother, and does not make allowances for rape or incest. The 15-week ban also lacks exceptions for rape or incest.

The State Senate president, Warren Petersen, and the State House speaker, Ben Toma, both Republicans, supported the abortion ban. Despite pressure from Democrats, women’s groups and even some Republicans, they have signaled they are in no hurry to repeal it.

“We as an elected body are going to take the time needed to listen to our constituents,” Mr. Toma said, adding that the Republican-controlled House would not “rush legislation on a topic of this magnitude.”

Democrats said it was urgent to pass a repeal before the court’s ruling upholding the 1864 law takes effect. “Today’s legislative action was unconscionable,” Gov. Katie Hobbs of Arizona, a Democrat, wrote on X. “The extremist Republican majority had the chance to do the right thing for their constituents, and they failed.”

Mr. Trump, after months of mixed signals — including privately telling allies he liked the idea of a 16-week federal ban — said this week that abortion restrictions should be left to the states, and then on Wednesday criticized the Arizona ruling and said he would not sign a federal ban.

Ms. Lake, who frequently stated her opposition to abortion on the campaign trail in 2022 and called it the “ultimate sin,” has been emblematic of a Republican shift on the issue . Last year, she said she opposed a federal ban on the procedure and would focus on passing policies giving financial benefits to women who chose to have children.

(On Tuesday, a Lake adviser claimed that the “great law” comment had been referring to the 15-week ban, signed by Gov. Doug Ducey in 2022. But Ms. Lake had referred to the near-total abortion ban by its number in Arizona’s state code, saying in a 2022 interview: “I’m incredibly thrilled that we are going to have a great law that’s already on the books. I believe it’s ARS 13-3603 .”)

On Thursday, she posted a five-and-a-half-minute video on X, trying to carve out a middle ground on the issue by describing her own decision to have a baby.

“I agree with President Trump: We must have exceptions for rape, incest and the life of a mother,” Ms. Lake said in the video. “As your senator, I will oppose federal funding for abortion and federal banning of abortion.”

Other Arizona Republicans have come out against the near-total ban, including Representatives Juan Ciscomani and David Schweikert, both of whom are in competitive districts. Mr. Ciscomani said he still supported the 15-week ban, while Mr. Schweikert, who in the past cosponsored a bill that would have amounted to a federal abortion ban, called on the State Legislature “to address this issue immediately.”

Democrats highlighted the Republicans’ shift, saying they were hypocritical and papering over their anti-abortion histories.

“Arizona’s MAGA Republicans are lying about their long and detailed history of following Trump’s lead in taking away reproductive rights,” one email from the state Democratic Party read, echoing national Democrats’ messaging on abortion . Hannah Goss, a spokeswoman for Representative Ruben Gallego, the Democrat who is poised to face Ms. Lake, said her “longstanding record of wanting to ban abortion is clear.”

State Representative Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, a Democrat from southern Arizona, said that Democrats had introduced bills for six legislative sessions seeking to repeal the territorial-era ban, including a measure she introduced in January, but that Republican majorities had never allowed the measures to advance.

“I crafted a damn bill,” she said. “It just got ignored.”

Kellen Browning is a Times reporter covering the 2024 election, with a focus on the swing states of Nevada and Arizona. More about Kellen Browning

Jack Healy is a Phoenix-based national correspondent who focuses on the fast-changing politics and climate of the Southwest. He has worked in Iraq and Afghanistan and is a graduate of the University of Missouri’s journalism school. More about Jack Healy

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Trevor bauer sexual accuser charged w/ defrauding ex-mlb star, trevor bauer sexual assault accuser charged ... after allegedly defrauding baseball star.

• Breaking News

A woman who accused Trevor Bauer of sexual assault has just been hit with a criminal charge ... after she allegedly defrauded the former Cy Young winner into paying her for an abortion he believes never happened.

The charge -- fraudulent schemes and artifices -- was formally filed against Darcy Esemonu in Arizona on Monday ... weeks after a Maricopa County grand jury indicted her on the felony count.

According to a video statement Bauer posted on his YouTube page Tuesday, it stems from allegations Esemonu made against the former Dodgers star in a 2023 lawsuit.

The woman alleged in her papers that Bauer raped her during a 2020 encounter and got her pregnant. In a countersuit, Bauer denied any wrongdoing ... but he did say he had consensual sex with her one time in Dec. 2020, when the condom he had been using broke.

Trevor Bauer Blasts Latest Accuser's Claims As 'Unhinged Allegations'

He claimed in his countersuit that after their hookup, Esemonu told him she was pregnant and wanted more than $1 million to terminate it. Bauer claimed he would support her decision ... before he gave her $8,761 for the cost she eventually said it took to end the alleged pregnancy.

However, in his video statement Tuesday, Bauer said, "She never had an abortion, because she was never even pregnant." He added that that was all "corroborated by her own medical records."

Bauer said authorities were made aware of all of this after they initiated an investigation into her sexual assault allegations against him.

Court records show Esemonu was also charged with fraud due to her interactions with a man named Marco Bresciani . In addition, the records show she was charged with felony theft by extortion for wrongdoing against Bresciani as well.

"Her m.o. is clear," Bauer said of the newly filed charges. "Lie to men to get their money. Extort them if she must. When they refuse to pay, stop paying, or stop giving her what she wants, go to the police, accuse them of sexual assault, and file a civil suit against them to retaliate."

Bauer stated he's hopeful he can now get another crack at pitching in the MLB again soon.

"What else do I have to do to prove that this entire situation has been a massive lie?" he said. "This is insane. At what point do I get to go back to work and continue earning a living?"

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