Abortion Myths Part 3: Women Myths

Myth: Irresponsible women use abortion as a method of birth control. Responsible women don't need abortions.

Fact: Unintended pregnancy can happen to anyone, because there is no contraceptive that can give you an absolute 100% guarantee that pregnancy will not happen. If a woman actually was using abortion as a method of birth control, according to NAF's research, a woman would need between 2 and 3 a year to prevent all the incidences of pregnancy. Women who need abortions are not all young and frivolously irresponsible, though it is true that more women who want abortions are not married. According to research, half of the women who need abortions report that contraceptives were used when they got pregnant and needed the abortion. (Source: NAF)

Myth: Women need mandatory waiting periods to make sure they really want abortions.

Fact: NAF says that "Research indicates that relief is the most common emotional response following abortion, and that psychological distress appears to be greatest before, rather than after, an abortion." According to this article written by a long-time abortion provider, women don't just frivolously pop in to get an abortion, but rather they seriously consider it from the moment they realize they're pregnant. Waiting periods just add to the inconvenience, and make it that much more difficult for a woman to get an abortion.

Myth: Women who have abortions are selfish.

Fact: Women who desire abortions know the extent of the physical and potentially life-changing ramifications of having a child. Many women feel that, for either financial or psychological reasons (like not being mature enough) they are not ready for a child. Other reasons, such as being victims of rape or incest, also come into consideration. It is a complicated decision that usually involves many factors.

Myth: Adoption is a better alternative to abortion.

Fact: Some groups, like this one, insist that adoption is a better alternative than abortion. However, they all fail to mention that a woman still has to give up her body for 9 months to carry the fetus before giving birth (which is painful and scary) then only to know for the rest of her life that her child is somewhere in the world. They often harp on a woman knowing for the rest of her life that she's "killed her child" if she gets an abortion. But if she gives her baby up for adoption, that's a child of hers that she'll always know is out there somewhere--both are psychological perspectives to consider and one should not be considered more or less important (or easier or harder to deal with) than the other. The simple truth is that while adoption is a viable option for some women, for others it is not, and they need the right to make that decision for themselves.

Myth: God will hate you and/or send you to Hell for getting an abortion.

Fact: Nobody can tell you what you should or should not get out of your religion. The answer to this one lies in a personal connection with religion that someone working in a Crisis Pregnancy Center cannot give to you. This is an extremely personal belief that lies within the individual woman. Can I stress it enough? It's personal, something for each woman to decide for herself in the way that she is most comfortable with, without outside pressures that have an agenda weighing in.

--Alexandra

Abortion Myths Part 2: Care Myths

Myth: If you go to Planned Parenthood, they will force you to get an abortion.

Fact: Planned Parenthood is simply a place to go if you need to consider your options about an unwanted pregnancy. Rather than being a place to go if you need an abortion (though they do offer those services) Planned Parenthood actually focuses mostly on contraceptives to prevent pregnancy. In their own words:

"These health centers provide a wide range of safe, reliable health care — and more than 90 percent is preventive, primary care, which helps prevent unintended pregnancies through contraception, reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections through testing and treatment, and screen for cervical and other cancers. Caring physicians, nurse practitioners, and other staff take time to talk with clients, encouraging them to ask questions in an environment that millions have grown to trust."

Myth: Doctors who perform abortions are only in it for the money.

Fact: Doctors and centers that offer abortions are often the victims of violence and hate crimes. Being a doctor who offers abortion as an option is a dangerous profession, and abortion isn't as costly as many other medical procedures, and hasn't gone up in price very much compared with other medical care.

Myth: Abortions are really easy to get. Thanks to Roe v. Wade, a woman can easily find a place to get an abortion, since they're so widely available.

There is a lot of restrictive legislation in place that forces women to wait or get consent to have an abortion. Many ob-gyn programs don't offer the training needed to give an abortion, which means that there aren't many abortion providers around. There is both federal and state law restricting using government funds for abortions, which means that even though the fee isn't very high, many women who are in need of abortions can't pay it. There are a lot of restrictions and difficulties that come with wanting to get an abortion. So they are not nearly as accessible as one might think. (Source: NAF)

--Alexandra

Abortion Myths Part 1: Health Myths

There are many myths surrounding the practice of abortion in the social, political, and health arenas. This post will cover some of the most prevalent myths about abortion as it relates to the health of a woman seeking one.

1. Myth: Having an abortion means you can't get pregnant again, or that you will have serious trouble getting pregnant again.

Fact: Abortion is "twice as safe as getting your tonsils removed" (1) and has no negative effects on the reproductive organs of the woman. If she wants to get pregnant again later, there is no medical reason why she should not be able to. There is no "scar tissue" that builds up and makes it more difficult to get pregnant again, if an abortion is done correctly, even after multiple abortions (2). Abortion that is performed during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is one of the safest surgical procedures (3). The most dangerous type of abortion is an illegal one, performed by someone who is untrained and doing the procedure under the table (in instances where abortions were not legal in our country in the past, for example, or in countries where abortion is not legal).

2. Myth: Having an abortion puts the woman at a much higher risk for breast cancer.

Fact: The National Cancer Institute put this one to rest in 2003 when they had over 100 experts on pregnancy and breast cancer come together (2), and one of the things they found was that "Induced abortion is not associated with an increase in breast cancer risk." (Quote came directly from the website). Medical fact does not support this claim, which is a myth that anti-abortion zealots peddle around to scare women away from considering abortion.

3. Myth: Having an abortion will give you "Post-Abortion Stress Syndrome".

Fact: Many women do not experience any sort of long-term trauma after having an abortion. Every woman experiences abortion differently; there is no one definitive reaction to an abortion, and having an abortion does not guarantee psychological problems. Instead, most studies have found that the most prevalent emotion women feel after having an abortion is relief (1, 2). There are other emotional factors that can contribute to feelings of grief or sadness or loss after an abortion: the thing to remember is that if a pregnancy was unwanted, there was likely a lot of emotional stress connected to the situation to begin with that can be confused with emotional stress about the abortion (3). Planned Parenthood says that 20 percent of women experience feelings of depression after an abortion that pass quickly, but then so do 70 percent of women who have just given birth--and that these feelings are related to large fluctuations in hormones that occur after either experience (1). NAF has collected a lot of research about this myth, which can be found on their page specifically devoted to refuting this myth with medical and psychological research.

These are the three biggest medical myths that I found (that were also presented as truths on anti-abortion websites) when researching this topic. Fortunately there is medical and scientific information out there that is readily available for any woman who should want to know the truth. She doesn't even have to take Planned Parenthood or NAF's word for it: the studies are out there. The only problem is that some organizations don't encourage women to seek the information, but rather scare them or push them around with an agenda.

Sources:

1. Planned Parenthood

2. NAF's common myths

3. NAF's safety of abortion

--Alexandra