CHILDREN BY CHOICE ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED

Debunking Anti-Choice Myths

Myth:

Abortion causes breast cancer.

Reality:

Around the world, reproductive health and anti-cancer organisations have rejected any association between abortion and an increased risk of breast cancer. This rejection is based on scientific investigation. A summary of the evidence.....

Myth:

Criminalisation of abortion is a sure way to eliminate abortion.

Reality:

Criminalisation of abortion simply drives abortion underground. It does not stop women from having abortions; rather it forces women to have abortions in dangerous conditions, which threaten their health and lives. A clear example is Romania under Ceaucescu where abortion was forbidden for any women younger than 45 with less than five children. Notwithstanding a special arm of the Secret Police Force to monitor pregnant women and to keep an eye on married women who did not conceive, the abortion rate and the maternal mortality rate related to abortion was higher in Romania than in almost any other European country.

Myth:

Legalisation of abortion prevents clandestine abortions.

Reality:

Legalisation in itself is insufficient to prevent clandestine abortions. While information is lacking and where services are inaccessible for many women, clandestine and unsafe abortions continue to take place. India, Russia and Zambia are examples of countries where abortion is legal but where there are still high numbers of clandestine abortions. This is due to several factors; women are unaware of their rights, women are still being stigmatised when they are known to have had an abortion, and services are absolutely inadequate to help all women who need an abortion.

Myth:

When abortion is legalised, the abortion rate will increase.

Reality:

Comparative research in Europe on the developments regarding abortion has shown that the legalisation or liberalisation of abortion has not caused an increase in the incidence of abortion. The abortion rate is not dependent on legalisation per se but on other conditions like the availability of contraceptive services and sexual education. In many Central, Eastern and Southern European countries the abortion figures remained high after legalisation, because contraceptives and sexual education were hardly available. In several Western European countries where legalisation was accompanied by a strong impetus in sexual education and contraceptive services, the abortion figures started to decrease after legalisation.

Myth:

Abortion is forbidden in most 'major' religions.

Reality:

Most of the world's religions recognise and acknowledge the right of a woman to decide if the conditions surrounding her pregnancy warrant an abortion. Almost all branches of Protestantism and Judaism give women this right. Also in Buddhism and Hinduism women are granted this right. Only the most patriarchal religions continue to prohibit abortion. For example, the Roman Catholic Church prohibits all abortions, even to save the life of a woman, and Orthodox Judaism severely limits the right to abortion. While interpretations of the Koran support the right to abortion in early pregnancy, most Islamic countries forbid women having an abortion.

Myth:

It is mostly young, unmarried women who are having abortions.

Reality:

Women of all ages, married and unmarried, have abortions. In Latin America, abortion rates among women over 35 are twice those of women aged 20-34. A study from India showed that a large majority of women seeking abortions were between 20 and 29 years of age and most had several children already. In Africa, data points to a growing reliance on abortion by older women with several children. In Tunisia, for example, rates are highest among women aged 25-39. Nevertheless, teenagers and young women remain a vulnerable group regarding unwanted pregnancies. In the United States for example, abortion rates tend to be highest among teenagers and women between 20 and 24 years of ages.

Myth:

Women will always be traumatised by having an abortion.

Reality:

Whether women are traumatised by abortion depends on the circumstances in which the abortion took place. Abortions performed in illegal and unsafe conditions and forced abortions are traumatic. Where abortion is illegal, women are criminalised and are forced to have abortions in secret. In those circumstances, women dare not talk about their thoughts, their fears and their experiences, which is traumatic in itself and causes unnecessary feelings of guilt. Often, abortionists or their helpers abuse them. In countries where abortion is legal, where information about abortion is readily available, and where there are good quality abortion services, including the provision of counselling services before and after the abortion, abortion may be a difficult decision for women but is hardly ever a traumatic experience.

Myth:

Induced abortion is always a dangerous and complicated procedure.

Reality:

Abortion, in legal circumstances and in countries with a good health care system, performed by well-trained and skilled people, is an easy and very safe procedure. After the thirteenth week of pregnancy the procedure is more complicated and there is more risk involved, but again when performed by competent people, still the risk is relatively low. Abortion is far safer than childbirth.

Myth:

Where contraceptives and sexual education are available, abortion services will no longer be necessary.

Reality:

Even in countries like Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands where contraceptive services and sexual education are widely available, abortion services remain necessary. There are and always will be girls and women with unwanted pregnancies. Contraception can and does occasionally fail. Women in menopause, who have not menstruated for a long time and think they could no longer get pregnant, suddenly find themselves pregnant. Pregnant women who lose their partner may not feel able to raise a child alone. Women are raped and subjected to incest when not protected by contraception. These are just some examples to show why abortion services will always be necessary, not as a necessary evil but as a social reality and a basic right of women.

Data from: Jacobson, J.L (1990) The global politics of abortion. Reproduced with kind permission of Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights, Netherlands.