Comparative Risk of Death From Legally Induced Abortion In Hospitals and Nonhospital Facilities

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Abstract
The rapid emergence of nonhospital abortion facilities as alternatives to traditional hospital-based surgical care raised important questions concerning their safety. Using 1974-1975 data from the Center for Disease Control''s nationwide surveillance of abortion mortality and the Alan Guttmacher Institute''s nationwide surveys of abortion providers, risk of death from legally induced abortion in the USA at .ltoreq. 12 menstrual wk gestation in hospitals and nonhospital facilities (clinics and physicians'' offices) was calculated. The adjusted death-to-case rate for hospitals was 1.1 deaths/100,000 abortions, compared with a crude rate of 1.0 for nonhospital facilities. The risk of death from legal abortion in nonhospital facilities is apparently similar to the risk in hospitals.