Misinformation and Myths about Abortion

[Hermit For Peace]

"There's so much misinformation, so many myths about abortion. Abortion will lead to substance abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts; abortion is bad for your health; every woman is going to regret it," said social psychologist Brenda Major, a distinguished professor emeritus in the department of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In reality, decades of research has shown "the vast majority of women feel they made the right choice, and they don't experience regret," said Major, who led a 2008 American Psychological Association task force exploring the science on abortion and mental health.

"Abortion does not cause depression, it does not cause suicide (or) suicidal ideation. It does not cause substance use. It does not cause anxiety disorders," said Steinberg, who has studied the mental health impact of abortion for years.

Yet this belief that abortion harms women's mental and physical health has been used to justify "waiting period laws, two-trip requirements (in which women have to come back twice) and telling women inaccurate information around medication abortion," Steinberg said.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/02/health/abortion-myths-mental-health-wellness/index.html

[Fuzzy Stands With His Friend, Chairman Sanchez]

"There's so much misinformation, so many myths about abortion. Abortion will lead to substance abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts; abortion is bad for your health; every woman is going to regret it," said social psychologist Brenda Major, a distinguished professor emeritus in the department of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In reality, decades of research has shown "the vast majority of women feel they made the right choice, and they don't experience regret," said Major, who led a 2008 American Psychological Association task force exploring the science on abortion and mental health.

"Abortion does not cause depression, it does not cause suicide (or) suicidal ideation. It does not cause substance use. It does not cause anxiety disorders," said Steinberg, who has studied the mental health impact of abortion for years.

Yet this belief that abortion harms women's mental and physical health has been used to justify "waiting period laws, two-trip requirements (in which women have to come back twice) and telling women inaccurate information around medication abortion," Steinberg said.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/02/health/abortion-myths-mental-health-wellness/index.html

None of this has any bearing on why those of us who truly care about unborn human life.

[7,052,770]

If abortion really is murder, then there's no problem with telling a half-truths and falsities about it here and there to prevent some of it.

If someone could have told a little white lie and prevented the Holocaust, wouldn't it have been the right thing to do?

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

It's gonna have a tangible effect on the Midterms but to what degree, the insurrection is already having a damaging effect, D's are doing well in state by state polling but Biden polls are still low it's still 150 days out but no question the Rs we're heading for a clear victory before Roe decision was overturned

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

There are major problems with the Turnaway Study.

In short, given the fact that 62 percent of the women that ANSIRH approached refused to be interviewed and an additional 37 percent of the initial participants subsequently dropped out before the critical third-year interview, ANSIRH researchers simply have no reliable information about what “most women” believe regarding their abortion decisions.

With such high nonparticipation rates, the likelihood that the results are biased by self-selection is clearly high. Buried in the details of their paper, even ANSIRH admits that women who reported the highest rates of relief and happiness at the baseline interview eight days after their abortions were most likely to remain in the study (Rocca et al. 2015). Conversely, the women who reported the least relief (and presumably the most negative feelings) eight days after their abortions were most likely to drop out before the three-year assessment of their decision satisfaction.

Numerous studies have also confirmed what common sense suggests: the women who anticipate and experience the most negative reactions to abortion are the least likely to want to participate in interviews that stir up their negative feelings (Adler 1976; Söderberg, Andersson, et al. 1998). It is also known that women who anticipate more negative feelings about their abortions actually do experience more negative feelings (Major et al. 1998). It follows that women refusing to participate in postabortion surveys sponsored by their abortion clinics are accurately anticipating that they do not want the stress of interviews that are likely to stir up their negative feelings.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6161227/

Even if you believe the study design is okay and is a representative sample, the claim that it doesn't increase depression and other mental health issues is in comparison to those who were prevented from having an abortion. So if you are using this research to say that abortion doesn't cause mental and emotional problems, you have to say the same thing about laws that deny people the ability to get abortions.

First of all, of course, the same study that found that, five years later, 99% of women did not regret their abortions also found that 96% of women no longer wished they’d had an abortion. Taken together, it sounds as if most people come to process and accept what’s already happened no matter which way it goes. (Research about lottery winners and people paralyzed in accidents seems to confirm this idea – their overall happiness doesn’t ultimately change as much as you’d expect.)

https://secularprolife.org/2021/03/five-years-later-96-of-women-denied/

[All Along The Watchtower]

"There's so much misinformation, so many myths about abortion. Abortion will lead to substance abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts; abortion is bad for your health; every woman is going to regret it," said social psychologist Brenda Major, a distinguished professor emeritus in the department of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In reality, decades of research has shown "the vast majority of women feel they made the right choice, and they don't experience regret," said Major, who led a 2008 American Psychological Association task force exploring the science on abortion and mental health.

"Abortion does not cause depression, it does not cause suicide (or) suicidal ideation. It does not cause substance use. It does not cause anxiety disorders," said Steinberg, who has studied the mental health impact of abortion for years.

Yet this belief that abortion harms women's mental and physical health has been used to justify "waiting period laws, two-trip requirements (in which women have to come back twice) and telling women inaccurate information around medication abortion," Steinberg said.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/02/health/abortion-myths-mental-health-wellness/index.html

None of this has any bearing on why those of us who truly care about unborn human life.

Nor does it have much bearing on those of us who truly care about born human life.

[Hermit For Peace]

"There's so much misinformation, so many myths about abortion. Abortion will lead to substance abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts; abortion is bad for your health; every woman is going to regret it," said social psychologist Brenda Major, a distinguished professor emeritus in the department of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In reality, decades of research has shown "the vast majority of women feel they made the right choice, and they don't experience regret," said Major, who led a 2008 American Psychological Association task force exploring the science on abortion and mental health.

"Abortion does not cause depression, it does not cause suicide (or) suicidal ideation. It does not cause substance use. It does not cause anxiety disorders," said Steinberg, who has studied the mental health impact of abortion for years.

Yet this belief that abortion harms women's mental and physical health has been used to justify "waiting period laws, two-trip requirements (in which women have to come back twice) and telling women inaccurate information around medication abortion," Steinberg said.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/02/health/abortion-myths-mental-health-wellness/index.html

None of this has any bearing on why those of us who truly care about unborn human life.

I don't think it's supposed to have an effect on what I now refer to as the Radical Religious Right (RRR for short). They are too far gone to even care about R E A L I T Y. They are lost in their religious thoughts about God.

What this article does tell me is that most women are just fine with the abortions they had and do not regret their decision. And personally, I felt let off the hook because of all the horror stories I've read about women regretting their decision. It's a myth.

The article also puts the spotlight on the RRR people, showing how they don't care about anything that has to do with the reality of the mother, they are beholding only to their God, no matter what.

This is out of step with the majority opinion in the country. The Radical Religious Right have a real fight on their hands, and it will never stop until they stop with all the moralizing and intolerance toward real live people, and especially toward women. And stop with trying to make their religious systems and their religious beliefs the law of the land. It will never work.

[darklordoftech]

"There's so much misinformation, so many myths about abortion. Abortion will lead to substance abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts; abortion is bad for your health; every woman is going to regret it," said social psychologist Brenda Major, a distinguished professor emeritus in the department of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In reality, decades of research has shown "the vast majority of women feel they made the right choice, and they don't experience regret," said Major, who led a 2008 American Psychological Association task force exploring the science on abortion and mental health.

"Abortion does not cause depression, it does not cause suicide (or) suicidal ideation. It does not cause substance use. It does not cause anxiety disorders," said Steinberg, who has studied the mental health impact of abortion for years.

Yet this belief that abortion harms women's mental and physical health has been used to justify "waiting period laws, two-trip requirements (in which women have to come back twice) and telling women inaccurate information around medication abortion," Steinberg said.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/02/health/abortion-myths-mental-health-wellness/index.html

As Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop studied abortion and came to the same conclusions.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

As Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop studied abortion and came to the same conclusions.

Not quite; he found the evidence either way inconclusive.

Today, considerable attention is being paid to possible mental health effects of abortion. For example, there are almost 250 studies reported in the scientific litera- ture which deal with the psychological aspects of abortion. All of these studies were reviewed and the more significant studies were evaluated by staff in several of the agencies of the Public Health Serv- ice against appropriate criteria and were found to be flawed methodologically. In their view and mine, the data do not sup- port the premise that abortion does or does not cause or contribute to psychological problems. Anecdotal reports abound on both sides. However, individual cases can- not be used to reach scientifically sound conclusions. It is to be noted that when pregnancy, whether wanted or unwanted, comes to full term and delivery, there is a well-documented low incidence of adverse mental health effects.

https://www.priestsforlife.org/postabortion/89-01-09koop.htm

[Del Tachi]

The biggest myth about abortion is that it isnt mostly used as a method of birth control. 

[Indy Texas]

"There's so much misinformation, so many myths about abortion. Abortion will lead to substance abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts; abortion is bad for your health; every woman is going to regret it," said social psychologist Brenda Major, a distinguished professor emeritus in the department of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In reality, decades of research has shown "the vast majority of women feel they made the right choice, and they don't experience regret," said Major, who led a 2008 American Psychological Association task force exploring the science on abortion and mental health.

"Abortion does not cause depression, it does not cause suicide (or) suicidal ideation. It does not cause substance use. It does not cause anxiety disorders," said Steinberg, who has studied the mental health impact of abortion for years.

Yet this belief that abortion harms women's mental and physical health has been used to justify "waiting period laws, two-trip requirements (in which women have to come back twice) and telling women inaccurate information around medication abortion," Steinberg said.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/02/health/abortion-myths-mental-health-wellness/index.html

None of this has any bearing on why those of us who truly care about unborn human life.

You've never said a word about all the fertilized embryos in IVF labs that will get thawed out and thrown in the trash once their owners have already had the child they want.

You've never said a word about all the "unborn human lives" that "die" from spontaneous abortion or miscarriage.

You've never expressed any concern about born human life dying of COVID-19 or gun violence or lack of access to healthcare.

You just want to force your religious beliefs onto everyone else.

[Alben Barkley]

The biggest myth about abortion is that it isnt mostly used as a method of birth control. 

Who cares if it is? It’s called “pro-choice” for a reason.

[Coldstream]

If abortion really is murder, then there's no problem with telling a half-truths and falsities about it here and there to prevent some of it.

If someone could have told a little white lie and prevented the Holocaust, wouldn't it have been the right thing to do?

As someone who’s pro choice - this is the point other pro choice people don’t seem to get.

Pro life people honestly think abortion is murder, so they aren’t going to care about any arguments about bodily autonomy - you may as well debate a tree.

[TPIG]

Of all the different strains of argument I've heard put forward by my fellow pro-lifers, I almost never hear this one. Whether or not any of these things is true is wholly irrelevant to the crux of this debate - the fact that than an innocent life is being taken. Regarding abortion's legality, it doesn't really matter whether the decision shatters the woman later in life or if she decides to celebrate it; all that matters and all that ever should matter is that life in the womb.

[Fuzzy Stands With His Friend, Chairman Sanchez]

"There's so much misinformation, so many myths about abortion. Abortion will lead to substance abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts; abortion is bad for your health; every woman is going to regret it," said social psychologist Brenda Major, a distinguished professor emeritus in the department of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In reality, decades of research has shown "the vast majority of women feel they made the right choice, and they don't experience regret," said Major, who led a 2008 American Psychological Association task force exploring the science on abortion and mental health.

"Abortion does not cause depression, it does not cause suicide (or) suicidal ideation. It does not cause substance use. It does not cause anxiety disorders," said Steinberg, who has studied the mental health impact of abortion for years.

Yet this belief that abortion harms women's mental and physical health has been used to justify "waiting period laws, two-trip requirements (in which women have to come back twice) and telling women inaccurate information around medication abortion," Steinberg said.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/02/health/abortion-myths-mental-health-wellness/index.html

None of this has any bearing on why those of us who truly care about unborn human life.

You've never said a word about all the fertilized embryos in IVF labs that will get thawed out and thrown in the trash once their owners have already had the child they want.

You've never said a word about all the "unborn human lives" that "die" from spontaneous abortion or miscarriage.

You've never expressed any concern about born human life dying of COVID-19 or gun violence or lack of access to healthcare.

You just want to force your religious beliefs onto everyone else.

Once again, you're either lying or lazy.

I've advocated for single payer healthcare for all on these pages, and while I don't see how it will get done, I do support that (so long as no taxpayer funds go to paying for abortion).

I've expressed care for victims of gun violence, but sympathy for those victims is limit to those killed by a white shooter (Buffalo) or one where the case for gun control can be made (Uvalde).  Threads about gun violence in Chicago (for example) where the shooters are disproportionately African-American males (shooting disproportionately other African-American males) is met with silence, and questions of why are we start a thread about this?  THAT gun violence doesn't make the case you want; indeed, given the gun control laws in the places where this sort of violence is widespread, it works AGAINST the desired narrative.  The victims in this violence that this forum ignores are just as dead as the victims in Uvalde, Buffalo, Parkland, and those places where the desired narrative can be advanced.

But, of course, you're derailing the topic.  You - IndyTexas - are derailing.  I'm talking about the deaths of unborn children from Abortion On Demand.  That's the taking of human life, and if you want me to reexamine that issue, you can start by telling me at what point HUMAN Life begins, and at what point it ought to be protected in law, and why you believe that.

If a fetus is a human life from conception on, it doesn't matter what I think about the issues of healthcare, child care, etc.  Those are separate issues.  They should be addressed, of course, and I have always been supportive of an adequate safety net.  But even if I were not, that would not matter.  LIFE is a fundamental right for a person, and if you are advocating it being OK to take an unborn life at a stage of development you were once at, just for craps and giggles (because abortion is, after all, "on demand"), you ought to be able to state where human life actually begins.  If you can't say where, then you could give me a reason why we should not assume that it begins a second, minute, hour, day, week, month, etc. earlier than you say it begins.  THAT would be the proper argument. 

Lots of people seem to wish to make the argument of how many ways folks like myself are not really "Pro-Life".  I've answered that question, but now, I'm going to say that everyone is full of crap on that issue, because my position (and the position of pro-lifers as a whole) on the issues of child care, daycare, healthcare for all, the death penalty, etc. are irrelevant to this argument because no answer we would give would move their needle at all.  They're for abortion on demand, period, and they're not going to trade abortion for M4A, an end to school vouchers, and codifying all the Trans Rights issues they espouse into one monster omnibus package.  So let's be real here; this "Pro-Life In The Womb, Only" chatter by the Left here is insincere in terms of actually moving those issues through compromise.  So I'm fine with my position.  And while it's not MY position, I find it more morally defensible to oppose universal healthcare and support the Death Penalty while being pro-life than the opposite, because THAT position is one that protects INNOCENT Human Life.

[Fuzzy Stands With His Friend, Chairman Sanchez]

Of all the different strains of argument I've heard put forward by my fellow pro-lifers, I almost never hear this one. Whether or not any of these things is true is wholly irrelevant to the crux of this debate - the fact that than an innocent life is being taken. Regarding abortion's legality, it doesn't really matter whether the decision shatters the woman later in life or if she decides to celebrate it; all that matters and all that ever should matter is that life in the womb.

Precisely this.

Note that none of the opposition to this position will take a stand as to where unborn life becomes "Innocent Human Life".

[Del Tachi]

The biggest myth about abortion is that it isnt mostly used as a method of birth control. 

Who cares if it is? It’s called “pro-choice” for a reason.

Apparently pro-choicers care a lot, since they’re always the ones who try to halt any further debate by bringing up that cases of rape and incest exist.  They do this because it’s easier defend abortion in these cases than universal, no-fault ablution (which is what they truly believe.)

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

The biggest myth about abortion is that it isnt mostly used as a method of birth control. 

Who cares if it is? It’s called “pro-choice” for a reason.

Apparently pro-choicers care a lot, since they’re always the ones who try to halt any further debate by bringing up that cases of rape and incest exist.  They do this because it’s easier defend abortion in these cases than universal, no-fault ablution (which is what they truly believe.)

90% of Americans agree with us about abortion in cases of rape. A mere ~60% agree with us about universal, no-fault abortion prior to 15 weeks.

[Del Tachi]

The biggest myth about abortion is that it isnt mostly used as a method of birth control. 

Who cares if it is? It’s called “pro-choice” for a reason.

Apparently pro-choicers care a lot, since they’re always the ones who try to halt any further debate by bringing up that cases of rape and incest exist.  They do this because it’s easier defend abortion in these cases than universal, no-fault ablution (which is what they truly believe.)

90% of Americans agree with us about abortion in cases of rape. A mere ~60% agree with us about universal, no-fault abortion prior to 15 weeks.

Abortion only in the first 15 weeks isn't your position, nor is it the position that D trifectas in states like NY, CA have legislated since 2018. 

Why do pro-choicers remain afraid to argue what they really believe?     

[Hermit For Peace]

Of all the different strains of argument I've heard put forward by my fellow pro-lifers, I almost never hear this one. Whether or not any of these things is true is wholly irrelevant to the crux of this debate - the fact that than an innocent life is being taken. Regarding abortion's legality, it doesn't really matter whether the decision shatters the woman later in life or if she decides to celebrate it; all that matters and all that ever should matter is that life in the womb.

Precisely this.

Note that none of the opposition to this position will take a stand as to where unborn life becomes "Innocent Human Life".

I've studied many religions and philosophies and I've been involved in spiritual organizations that were very inspirational with talk about God and Spirit and Jesus etc., and living life from higher principles.

I am also well studied in metaphysics -- 40 years worth. As for when life becomes human life, it's a complicated answer. In human terms, none of us really know. All we can do is go by what we think is right. And opinions differ on how to classify when a fertilized egg becomes cognizant and self-aware to the point where we consider it human. Or do we just consider a clump of cells human, like we would consider a seed growing in the ground, a plant?

I come from the perspective that all life is precious, but that humans were endowed with Free Will by our Creator. Reality is that all of us are making mistakes all the time, every day. None of us is perfect. For us to judge what other people do is not our call to make, unless of course we are referring to individuals who harm society in some way. That's a different argument.

Poking our nose into other people's private business, in the name of God or Religion or even based in our own personal biases, is crossing the boundary of another person's Free Will. That's what you are doing when you try to legislate how a woman should treat her body with regard to abortion. You are going against her God-given Free Will to choose how she lives her life, and in the end, you will always lose that debate because it's not your call to make.

[T'Chenka]

I come from the perspective that all life is precious,

A lot of blue avatars would disagree with you. They were against lockdowns, masks, vaccines, and I've even seen an argument that their desire to not be "triggered" in 2022,by being reminded of the pandemic is more important than saving lives with mask recommendations during (hypothetical) COVID hospitalization spikes (presumably a new powerful variant. They demanded the freedom to risk actual lives, and they view your clump of cells as a life, but deny you your freedom.

[Hermit For Peace]

I come from the perspective that all life is precious,

A lot of blue avatars would disagree with you. They were against lockdowns, masks, vaccines, and I've even seen an argument that their desire to not be "triggered" in 2022,by being reminded of the pandemic is more important than saving lives with mask recommendations during (hypothetical) COVID hospitalization spikes (presumably a new powerful variant. They demanded the freedom to risk actual lives, and they view your clump of cells as a life, but deny you your freedom.

I know. This is who we're dealing with. They think we're crazy and we think they're crazy. How do you communicate when this type of personal bias is going on? When human emotions get involved we get irrational.

[Hermit For Peace]

The biggest myth about abortion is that it isnt mostly used as a method of birth control. 

Do you have any evidence to back up your claim that abortion is "mostly" used as a method of birth control?

Do you think having an abortion is a picnic?