This article is part of the Rumor Detector section, click here for other articles.
In the United States, there is great fear of seeing a conservative Supreme Court question the right to abortion that we thought had been acquired since the 1970s. Meanwhile in Quebec, even if anti-abortion movements are more rarely hear, they are present. Some demonstrated to Sherbrooke and to Québec last fall. Moreover, organizations that support pregnant women are concerned disinformation spread on the Internet. For example, these organizations warn against sites like Pregnant and worriedwhich presents itself as a source of information on pregnancy.
Here are four of the myths often conveyed by the anti-abortion movement.
1) The risk of death during an abortion is high? False
A study comparing the risks associated with abortion on the one hand, and childbirth on the other, concluded in 2012 that in the United States, the mortality rate during an abortion was 0.6 deaths per 100,000 procedures. In comparison, the risk of death during childbirth was 14 times higher: a rate of 8.8 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
By analyzing 529,141 abortions performed by surgery, Ontario researchers for their part evaluated in 2019 that the rate of severe complications was, in Ontario between 2003 and 2015, 1.6 cases per 1000 procedures. The mortality rate was 0.05 deaths per 1000 procedures (or 5 deaths per 100,000). It should be mentioned, however, that among the 28 deaths reported in all during this period, 23 had a known cause and that, in the majority of cases, it was a suicide or the result of an act of violence.
The researchers also noted that the risk of severe complications was lower when doctors frequently perform operations of this kind in specialized clinics (1.4 cases per 1000) compared to abortions performed by doctors less accustomed to this procedure (3 ,7 cases per 1000).
Moreover, according to an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the use of drugs like misoprostol and mifepristone is becoming more widespread across the world to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. The symptoms that can then be experienced are identical to those of a miscarriage that occurs naturally. In a 2018 report on abortion safety, theNational Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine of the United States (NAP) also concludes that these drugs carry no more risk than antibiotic treatment.
2) Abortion affects mental health more than childbirth? False
According to’American Psychological Association (APA) when evaluating the effects of abortion on mental health, the diversity of life experiences must be taken into account. Several reasons can indeed lead to an unwanted pregnancy and lead a woman to consider abortion. And these reasons can also affect his psychological health.
According to the APA, a woman may experience sadness and a sense of grief after an abortion. However, adds the organization, studies with a more rigorous methodology reveal that the risk of mental health problems in women who have an abortion during the first trimester is no greater than in those who choose to carry their pregnancy at term.
In his report of 2018, the NAP had analyzed the results of seven systematic reviews on the subject. She came to the conclusion that, during unwanted pregnancies, the rate of mental health problems was the same in women who had had an abortion and in those who had given birth.
Finally, American researchers concluded in 2017 that being denied an abortion was associated with a greater risk of psychological distress than having an abortion. In a study of 2018 conducted by some of the same researchers, they also showed that suicidal thoughts were as rare among women who had had an abortion as among those who had been denied it. According to the authors, policies that seek to restrict access to abortion on the pretext of protecting their psychological health are therefore unfounded.
3) Abortion causes infertility or complications in future pregnancies? False
From finnish researchers published in 2016 a study of 57,000 mothers, of whom more than 5,000 had had an abortion before, and noted that they were less likely to have recourse to fertility treatments for a future pregnancy, which means that there are no links between abortion and infertility.
Moreover, they observe, having had an abortion does not increase the risk of suffering from preeclampsia, hypertension, gestational diabetes or premature rupture of membranes during the next pregnancy.
4) Abortion increases the risk of breast cancer? False
In 2004, a group of researchers specializing in the hormonal factors of breast cancer analyzed the results of 53 studies carried out among 83,000 women struggling with breast cancer. They concluded that having had an induced abortion did not increase the risk of developing this type of cancer. A 2014 review of scientific studies by theAmerican Cancer Association came to the same conclusions.
In both cases, however, the researchers noted that some so-called retrospective studies, where women with breast cancer are asked if they have ever had an abortion in the past, report a “statistically significant” increase in cancer risk. . According to scientists, healthy women do not always dare to admit that they have had recourse to abortion. On the contrary, women suffering from breast cancer are less reluctant to talk about it because they are looking for a reason to explain their disease. This could cause bias in this type of study. This is not the case, continue the researchers, with prospective studies where women who have had an abortion are followed for several years: these studies do not detect any association between abortion and breast cancer.
Photo credits: Lorie Shaull, 2019 / Wikipedia Commons
–
