On 2016 Apr 11, David Reardon commented:

First, it should be noted that this study of self-selected sample of women is non-representative of the general population of women having abortions. 63% of women approached to participate declined, 15% dropped out before even the baseline interview, and only 27% of the eligible women were still in the study at the three year followup.

Regarding the self-assessment of physical complications, this study is far less reliable a prior study which combined self-assessment with assessments of the women's general practitioner which reached the opposite conclusion.Ney PG, 1994 Indeed, record linkage studies which have actually examined women's medical records after abortion and childbirth have consistently shown an increase in demand for medical care (i.e., a decline in health) following abortion.Berkeley D, 1984 & Østbye T, 2001

Regarding the alleged evaluation of mortality, the authors limited their investigation to deaths within 42 days of the birth or abortion, ignoring the fact that the CDC definition for abortion related deaths has no time limit . . . a recognition of the fact that abortion related deaths may occur well after 42 days. Specifically, the CDC defines as an abortion related death to be any death due to "1) a direct complication of an abortion, 2) an indirect complication caused by the chain of events initiated by the abortion, or 3) an aggravation of a preexisting condition by the physiologic or psychologic effects of the abortion, regardless of the amount of time between the abortion and the death"Bartlett LA, 2004 This definition includes deaths due to suicide and risk taking behavior that has been aggravated by abortion associated psychological stress.

Clearly, the authors should have, at least, examined the data for any evidence of suicides after birth or abortion over the entire period of time since the women were first contacted. As the authors well know, record linkage studies have shown that age adjusted risk of suicide increases three fold in the year after abortion compared to non-pregnant women and is over six times greater compared to women who give birth.Gissler M, 1996 In addition, a record linkage study of 173,279 women in California showed that elevated risk of death following abortion persists for several years Reardon DC, 2002 while a more recent record linkage study from Denmark has shown there is also a does effect, with each abortion increasing the risk of death.Coleman PK, 2013

In short, the bold assertion in this paper that the authors' statistically insignificant, non-representative sample of women supports the view that abortion has no physical health risks is spurious and clearly driven by ideological aspirations rather than a careful review of the evidence.

On 2016 Apr 11, David Reardon commented:

First, it should be noted that this study of self-selected sample of women is non-representative of the general population of women having abortions. 63% of women approached to participate declined, 15% dropped out before even the baseline interview, and only 27% of the eligible women were still in the study at the three year followup.

Regarding the self-assessment of physical complications, this study is far less reliable a prior study which combined self-assessment with assessments of the women's general practitioner which reached the opposite conclusion.Ney PG, 1994 Indeed, record linkage studies which have actually examined women's medical records after abortion and childbirth have consistently shown an increase in demand for medical care (i.e., a decline in health) following abortion.Berkeley D, 1984 & Østbye T, 2001

Regarding the alleged evaluation of mortality, the authors limited their investigation to deaths within 42 days of the birth or abortion, ignoring the fact that the CDC definition for abortion related deaths has no time limit . . . a recognition of the fact that abortion related deaths may occur well after 42 days. Specifically, the CDC defines as an abortion related death to be any death due to "1) a direct complication of an abortion, 2) an indirect complication caused by the chain of events initiated by the abortion, or 3) an aggravation of a preexisting condition by the physiologic or psychologic effects of the abortion, regardless of the amount of time between the abortion and the death"Bartlett LA, 2004 This definition includes deaths due to suicide and risk taking behavior that has been aggravated by abortion associated psychological stress.

Clearly, the authors should have, at least, examined the data for any evidence of suicides after birth or abortion over the entire period of time since the women were first contacted. As the authors well know, record linkage studies have shown that age adjusted risk of suicide increases three fold in the year after abortion compared to non-pregnant women and is over six times greater compared to women who give birth.Gissler M, 1996 In addition, a record linkage study of 173,279 women in California showed that elevated risk of death following abortion persists for several years Reardon DC, 2002 while a more recent record linkage study from Denmark has shown there is also a does effect, with each abortion increasing the risk of death.Coleman PK, 2013

In short, the bold assertion in this paper that the authors' statistically insignificant, non-representative sample of women supports the view that abortion has no physical health risks is spurious and clearly driven by ideological aspirations rather than a careful review of the evidence.