For years now abortion advocates have been telling us that most abortions are actually wanted and that there are no negative effects to having an abortion. A new study, however, comes to a radically different conclusion.
In a study of 1,000 women aged 41-45 published in the medical journal Cureus, researchers found that only 33% of women who had an abortion (226 women in the study) said that it was wanted. The study also found that:
- 43% of such women accepted the abortion even though it was not consistent with their values and preferences;
- 24% said their abortion had been coerced or unwanted; and
- 60% would have preferred having their child if they had been more supported by others or had greater financial resources.
Significantly, the study found “Only wanted abortions were associated with positive emotions or mental health gains. All other groups attributed more negative emotions and mental health outcomes to their abortions.”
The authors concluded that their study demonstrates that:
“abortion is a marginal, or even unwanted, choice for most women. These findings are consistent with the results of other investigations reporting high rates of perceived pressure to abort and ambivalence regarding abortion decisions.”
On LifeNews.com, study co-author David Reardon stated:
“We need to discard the dangerous assumption that ‘freedom of choice’ reflects the reality behind most women’s experiences with abortion. Only the minority of abortions are freely chosen absent outside pressures.”
Co-author Tessa Longbons added:
“We tend to think of abortion coercion in countries with oppressive regimes like China. In fact, this shocking hidden epidemic is happening all around us…Countless women suffer in silence under the guise of ‘choice,’ when they never felt like they truly had one.”
So the next time you hear pro-abortion advocates shout the lie that most abortions are wanted and cause no harm, respond courageously to them with the actual truth: most abortions are not wanted, most women feel they do not have a true choice in the matter, and having an abortion really does have a negative effect on women. And then volunteer at one of the pro-life pregnancy centers across the nation that give women crucial support to make a choice for life.