Myths about abortion (USA)

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In 1973, thanks to the historic decision of the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade, the US women won the right to have an abortion. Four decades later, this right is contested. In recent years, conservatives have been particularly aggressive campaign against women's reproductive rights. They call abortion immoral, dangerous and painful procedure, which will certainly be a woman later regret.
To justify the new laws and restrictions conservatives operate myths, while ignoring important facts. As a result, women who had decided to have an abortion, faced with more and more obstacles.


1.MIF: Abortion is dangerous
Reality: More than 99.75% of abortions do not cause complications

According to the study, University of California at San Francisco (2014), who studied the health of 55 thousand. Women for 6 weeks after the abortion, less than a quarter percent of abortions in the United States lead to complications. Researchers note that the risks of abortion are similar to the risks of colonoscopy.

If you are surprised by this fact, look at the idea of abortion, formed by modern American pop culture: the heroine in the film, had an abortion, die in 9% of cases (study of the same KUSF, 2014)


2.MIF: Medical abortion is less common
REALITY: About 20% of abortions - medication

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in 2011, medical abortions accounted for 19% of the total number of abortions, with 28.5% of them were made in the first nine weeks of pregnancy.

Guttmacher Institute also notes a significant increase in the number of medical abortion in the period from 2008 to 2011. Which means that women are increasingly opting for this method of abortion, preferring his surgery.


3.MIF: women who had an abortion regret it and will likely have mental problems
Reality: Most women do not regret their decision and prone to mental disorders are not more likely than women to be coming baby to term

While many women have mixed feelings after an abortion, 95% of women will eventually believe in the correctness of the decision (research KUSF, 2013) "Negative emotions after an abortion - is not the same thing as regret his decision" - the researchers explain.

In addition, although unplanned pregnancy often causes stress, there is no evidence to suggest a tendency to mental disorders in women who undergo abortion. In 2008, the American Psychological Association reviewed all medical studies that tried to establish a link abortion with depression and other disorders, published in 1989, and found that these studies do not take into account the influence of other factors - for example, they do not address the medical history of patients. If these factors are taken into account, it appears that women who have interrupted an unplanned pregnancy, no more prone to mental disorders than women, convey a baby to term.

4.MIF: During embryo abortion in pain
REALITY: The embryos do not feel pain until at least 24 weeks of gestation

Experts - from the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists - agree with this term. In fact, a study University of California at San Francisco found that embryos do not feel pain until the 29th or 30th week of development.

Then why in many states abortion after the twentieth week of pregnancy banned? In part this may be due to the distorted supply of research results: many of the researchers, the most frequently cited politicians-prolayferami, said the New York Times that their studies do not prove anything regarding the pain experienced by the fetus.


5. MYTH: Most Americans do not believe that abortion should be legally allowed
REALITY: Most Americans support a woman's right to choose

According to a poll by Gallup (2014), 78% of Americans believe that abortion should be allowed in all or in some cases (50% said "in some cases" 28% - in all.). Moreover, the 2012 Gallup poll showed that 61% of Americans believe that abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy must be enabled. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 9 out of 10 abortions in the US are made on such terms.


6.MIF: In the US, there is a rapid increase in the number of abortions
REALITY: The number of abortions in the United States in recent years is the lowest since 1973

The latest available data from the Institute Guttmacher show that for several years the number of abortions decreased and reached its lowest level in 2011. Author of the study partly explains the decrease in the number of abortions best oral contraceptive use and the choice of long-term contraceptive methods, such as IUDs.


7.MIF: abortion procedure is available for the majority of Americans
REALITY: Women face a growing number of obstacles in accessing abortion procedure

According to the Guttmacher Institute, more than 57% of American women live in states that follow strict or superrigid antiabortnuyu policy (for comparison - in 2000 lived in states 31% of women).

In 2011, 89% of counties in the United States had no abortion clinics.

This trend is not accidental. Over the past four years across the US legislators have introduced 231 restriction on abortion (see. Guttmacher Institute study, 2015). As a result, many women are forced to travel long distances to get to the clinic for abortion, and already there may be faced with the need to expect another 24 hours.

Such restrictions are particularly difficult to access to abortion for women in rural and low-income women, who often can not afford to take time off from work and spend money on gasoline and hotel.

Other laws force women to go through a potentially painful procedures - for example, viewing ultrasound images.


8.MIF: Women are often forced to have an abortion
REALITY: Women rarely mention that the pressure from family or partner influenced their decisions about abortion

Guttmacher Institute study (2005) showed that less than one percent of the women surveyed named such pressure one of the main reasons that prompted them to have an abortion. Research of the University of California in San Francisco (2013) came to similar conclusions and showed that although women rarely mentioned peer pressure as a reason for his desire to have an abortion, many indicated a desire to "escape" from domestic violence or bad relationships.


9.Mif: Women would never have abortions if they knew what it is - to have a baby
Reality: The majority of women having abortions are already mothers

61% of women who had abortions in 2008 were mothers, and 34% had two or more children (according to the Guttmacher Institute). This number has only increased since the financial crisis of 2009. National Abortion Federation notes that between 2008 and 2011, 72% of women who have abortions are already mothers. A study conducted by the Institute for Guttmacher, found that mothers tend to have abortions to protect children they already have: they simply can not afford to keep another child.


10.Mif: dangerous abortions in clinics that do not meet the standards of outpatient surgical clinics
REALITY: requirements to meet such standards do little to improve the safety of the patient, but also lead to the closure of many clinics

Currently, 22 states require abortion clinics meet a number of limiting and often oppressive standards (proximity to hospitals, certain sizes corridors and toilets). Clinics often have to make costly repairs in order to comply with these requirements, but, according to a group of leading physicians, such laws have little impact on patient safety.

Moreover, 11 states now require abortion clinics to doctors at a nearby hospital received permission for the reception and treatment of patients, but many hospitals refuse such permission. As a result - the hospital, in fact, can close the nearby clinic.