Abortion, gas embolus, and sudden death.

In Los Angeles County, almost one-third of abortion deaths are due to gas embolus. Whenever a gas or a gas-producing liquid is injected into a pregnant uterus, a fatal gas embolus is possible because the utero-placental bed is an open avenue to the maternal circulation. The usual sequence of events is collapse, rapidly followed by death. By the time the rescue squad is summoned, the patient is either dead or beyond possibility of resuscitation. In the six years 1962-1967 there were 27 gas embolus deaths associated with abortion in the Los Angeles area. All the women were the victims of ignorance or indifference. Wider public knowledge of this lethal danger is the only means by which mortality can be reduced.