Dispelling 3 Common Myths About Abortion

Melanie Israel, The Daily Signal

With the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case before the Supreme Court and the ongoing litigation over the Texas heartbeat law, the issue of abortion looms large in our national discourse.

Many times, pro-abortion groups make untrued claims and these claims continue to be repeated over and over in the media. Therefore, it’s vital that the American public be made aware of facts that challenge the pro-abortion narrative.

Here’s the truth you need to know about three core claims of abortion activists:

Myth #1: Childbirth is safer than abortions

Some abortion activists believe that aborting is safer than having a child. But that’s the exact inverse of reality—and for a number of reasons.

This framing of debate is a denial of humanity from the beginning. Their safety and health must also be considered, as every fetus has a fundamental human dignity.

It is impossible to consider a procedure that causes the death of a human being safe. The unborn child is the only person who can be considered fatal by abortion. Therefore, by definition, abortion is never “safe.”

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Second, while abortions are undoubtedly the death of unborn children and not the best option for women, they can be safer.

After getting an abortion, women have approximately an 80% higher risk of experiencing mental health issues, including suicidal tendencies and substance abuse.

According to Dr. Ingrid Skop, an obstetrician-gynecologist, potentially fatal complications from abortions include “vaginal or intra-abdominal hemorrhage … infection … incomplete removal of the remains of the aborted baby, damage to the cervix, uterus, or other pelvic or abdominal organs … anesthetic reactions or overdoses, amniotic fluid, septic, or thrombotic embolisms, cardiac, or cardiovascular events.”

This is why abortions are so unsafe for women.

The third assumption is that abortion is safer for women, but this conclusion rests upon incomplete data.

The federal government as well as 22 states do not require abortion providers to report critical data on post-abortion complications. This inevitably skews abortion activists’ numbers, especially when a state like California, one of the states that doesn’t require abortion providers to report data, is estimated to have over a quarter of all abortions performed in the U.S.

Likewise, according to data collected in  2019, there were no states that required doctors, coroners, or emergency rooms that don’t provide abortions to report abortion-related deaths. The hospital does not have to report an abortion-related death if a woman visits an emergency department with complications from her abortion. It reduces the number of abortion-related deaths.

Therefore, abortions aren’t safe for unborn children, and they aren’t always safe for women.

Myth 2: Abortion Is a Woman’s Only Practical Option

 Studies show that most abortions are chosen for reasons related to factors such as finances or personal relationships.

According to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, 74% of abortions are chosen out of a fear that the baby would interfere with education or work, or that the baby would make it difficult to take care of dependents.

A total of 73% said they couldn’t afford children, while nearly half claimed to have relationship problems or didn’t want to be a mother alone.

Even among third-trimester abortions, as reported by Dr. James Studnicki, “most late-term abortions are elective, done on healthy women with healthy fetuses.”

It’s clear from these numbers that medical emergencies do not motivate most abortions.

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Pro-life advocates, however, stress providing women with the necessary resources to bear children.

Pregnancy resource centers help pregnant women and their families navigate challenges such as the pregnancy itself, financial management and needs, threats to job security, unsupportive partners and family members, and more.

A study showed that, for free, pregnancy centers conducted ultrasounds of 486,213 mother-to be in 2019. They also provided material resources to mothers, such as baby clothes and diapers.

In total, they provided $266,764,916 worth of services, and 9 out of 10 people working at pregnancy resource centers do so on a voluntary basis.

Despite activists’ claims, abortion doesn’t solve any of those problems. By reducing “care” for women to the elimination of the unborn life, the mother is not helped. 

Myth 3: Most Americans Support Abortion

The claim that most Americans support abortion is misleading when checked against data from a 2021 Knights of Columbus/Marist Poll.

Despite a slight majority (53%) of Americans identifying as “pro-choice,” 55% of pro-choice individuals are in favor of abortion restrictions.

According to the poll, 76% Americans support significant restrictions on abortion, with 70% of Americans in favor of restricting abortions after the first trimester—which would bring U.S. law in alignment with the rest of the world, including 47 out of 50 European countries.

70 percent of respondents opposed abortions based upon Down syndrome diagnosis when they were asked. A further 58% opposed the use of taxpayer funds for abortion.

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Ultimately, these numbers reflect a nation that wants to do more to protect unborn children and is not remotely aligned with the abortion lobby’s position of abortion on demand, for any reason, through all nine months of pregnancy.

Sadly, that hasn’t kept Democrats from calling for the elimination of the Hyde Amendment, which would clear the way for taxpayer-funded abortions.

Conclusion

Abortions are unsafe for unborn babies and pose significant risk to mothers who have them.

Many abortions cannot be performed for incest or rape. Most Americans are against allowing abortion to be performed in extreme circumstances. Rather, Americans are more supportive of policies that protect unborn children beyond what Roe v. Wade currently allows. These include elective abortions throughout nine months.

We are being presented with the greatest opportunity of our lifetime to turn the tide for life. Tell the truth about abortion, and don’t allow pro-abortion arguments rule.

The Daily Signal granted permission to syndicate this article.