# How do people die from abortions?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-die-from-abortions/372169>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 10, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-die-from-abortions/372169 "2006-09-10T15:43:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-die-from-abortions/372169/21 "2006-09-14T09:14:40Z")

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[QUOTE=Dr\_Paprika]  
The myth of “crack babies” was probably bigger in the US than Canada, and the dangers of cocaine in pregnancy have probably been overblown. But that hardly means that cocaine or heavy alcohol use is safe in pregancy. I’ve had two cases in my emergency room of young, pregnant women who required immediate medicine and defibrillation (respectively) for ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation respectively, who were pregnant and turned out to be using cocaine. Both babies did okay, but these heart rhythms are OFTEN fatal, and the fetus certainly isn’t getting optimal oxygenation while they are occurring. I don’t think I’m being melodramatic. I don’t know how commonly these rhythms occur. But they do.  
[/QUOTE]

Thanks, **Dr\_Paprika**.

I can easily see that.

I was more hung on up on the birth defects side.

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