Elliot Institute Special Report
From the Leader in Post-Abortion Research

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Reversing the Gender Gap
The Essential Guide for Pro-Life Candidates

 

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Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from our guide for pro-life candidates, Reversing the Gender Gap, which we are publishing in installments. Please share this material with any pro-life candidates you know who are running for office, or who are already in office. If you missed the previous installments of "Reversing the Gender Gap," click here.

 

Look for other user-friendly resources at www.UnChoice.info, including our Key Messages Fact Sheet and updated Political Information Kit. You can also encourage them to sign up for our e-newsletter so they can receive these installments themselves by clicking here.

 

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Powerful Positions & Talking Points, Part II
 

Confidently Affirm That Abortion Is Harmful to Women
 

Don't hesitate to attack the myth that abortion is safe. As shown in the Background Polls and Psychology section, voters are already inclined to believe abortion carries substantial risks and few, if any, benefits.
 

Actually, the best available research published in peer-reviewed medical journals shows that abortion is associated with elevated risks of death, depression, suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, anxiety, sleep disorders, psychiatric hospitalization, and and other psychiatric problems. Studies looking specifically at women with unintended pregnancies have also found that women who have abortions are more likely than delivering women to subsequently experience depression, anxiety, and substance abuse problems. Even among teens, girls who aborted an unplanned pregnancy had poorer mental health outcomes than did girls who carried an unwanted pregnancy to term.

 

One of the most recent published studies, carried out in New Zealand, documented mental health disturbances among a group of young women who had been tracked since childhood. The researchers found that women who had undergone abortions had significantly higher rates of major depression, substance abuse, anxiety and suicidal behavior.

 

Further, although the researchers had anticipated that their findings would show that women who experienced mental health problems after abortion would have a previous history of such problems before abortion, the results showed that abortion itself appeared to be the most likely cause of the problems these women were experiencing. The researchers, lead by pro-choice professor David M. Ferugsson, noted in their paper that "it is difficult to disregard the real possibility that abortion is associated with increased risks of mental health problems."¹

 

In fact, there is not a single known statistically-validated study demonstrating that abortion generally makes women's lives better. The only claims of benefits are anecdotal, and even in these cases, the women often say that while they don't regret having an abortion, they have struggled with it - or at best, have not had any major problems yet.
 

What About Women Who Aren't Harmed by Abortion?

 

Some women do seem to go through an abortion with no emotional or physical aftereffects. We are not trying to claim that all women suffer physical or psychological harm from abortion - only that some do, and that abortion increases the risk that a woman will experience certain problems.

 

Our focus should be on protecting the rights of women who face abuse or who are being pressured or coerced into unwanted abortions, and those who have been or are at risk of being hurt by abortion.

 

Dealing With the Claim That Abortion Clinics Are Doing a Good Job
 

You will eventually hear the claim that Planned Parenthood, or your local abortion clinic, is doing a good job of protecting women from coerced abortions: "Our counselors watch for signs of abuse. We only do an abortion when a woman freely gives her consent."
 

Don't get distracted by efforts to prove they are lying. Instead, accept their claim at face value and ask them to help you in your efforts to bring all abortion clinics up to their standards. Since they concede the importance of protecting women from coerced abortions, yet they are still happening, ask them to support legislation that would require all clinics to screen for coercion.

 

A Legislative Agenda
 

Part of our pro-woman/pro-life position is supporting legislative proposals that protect the rights of women. A number of pro-woman legislative proposals are described in greater detail at www.afterabortion.info. This legislation would:

• Protect the rights of women who are being coerced into unwanted abortions;

• Guarantee women's right to be fully informed about the risks and alternatives to abortion;

• Require physicians to properly screen patients for coercion and for factors that would place them at higher risk of physical or psychological complications;

• Expand the rights of injured patients to recover fair compensation for physical or psychological harm resulting from abortion;

• Support efforts to expanded access to post-abortion counseling programs; and

• Support research on the physical and psychological impact of abortion on women and to better identify which women are at greater risk of post-abortion problems.

These proposals will help protect the rights of women who are at risk of undergoing unwanted, unnecessary and dangerous abortions. Certainly everyone of good will can agree that these proposals will truly help women.

 

to be continued ...

 

Citations

 

1. David M. Fergusson, et. al., "Abortion in young women and subsequent mental health," Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 47(1): 16-24 (2006).

 

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Hard copies of Reversing the Gender Gap are available from the Elliot Institute for $5.00 each (bulk pricing is available). Find out more about other Elliot Institute books and resources at www.unchoice.info/resources.htm. To place an order, call 1-888-412-2676.

 

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