Maternal mortality related to induced abortion in North Carolina: A historical study.

A study of trends in maternal mortality from 1963 to 1992 in North Carolina shows that during the period 1973-1977, when legal abortion first became available, the maternal mortality ratio (maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) for deaths related to induced-abortion was almost 85% lower than the ratio during the previous five-year period. The decrease in abortion-related mortality had a substantial impact on the overall maternal mortality ratio during this period, accounting for about 46% of the total decline in maternal deaths. After 1977, the maternal mortality ratio for induced abortion declined to less than one death per 100,000 live births, while the mortality ratio for all other obstetric causes leveled offal about 10 deaths per 100,000 live births. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]