Misinformation related to abortion

Misinformation related to abortion pertains to incorrect or misleading information related to abortion and its implications, including its medical, legal and societal effects.[1] Misinformation and disinformation related to abortion often stems from political, religious and social groups, particularly on social media.

Abortion misinformation can negatively impact public opinion, access to abortion services and policy-making. Misinformation can also divert pregnant people from accessing safe and timely care from appropriately trained medical practitioners, leading to severe long-term complications and/or death.[2]

Similarly, abortion misinformation can lead to confusion, stigma and increased feeling of shame in those undergoing the procedure.[3]

Negative Medical Impact

Abortion restrictions increase maternal morbidity and mortality by, among other things, forcing patients with cancer to delay cancer care until after pregnancy,[4] forcing women to carry out pregnancies that pose risks to their health,[5] and restricting how physicians can treat miscarriages and give care regarding infertility.[6] Additionally, abortion misinformation can negatively impact doctors and other medical personnel,[7] and ultimately even put them in danger.[8]

Pregnant People Dying

Main article: Impacts of restrictive abortion laws in the United States

Numerous women in America have died from these pieces of legislation, and doctors' confusion and potential reticence to do anything even on the edge of the law with incredibly harsh jail time penalties on the line.[9][10]

Physician Safety

Due to the high prevalence of abortion infodemic, physicians who speak publicly about abortion have been targeted and harassed. Physicians providing abortion services may face stigma in the workplace, in their communities, and from colleagues.[2]

Additionally, there danger has risen for physicians who perform abortion, such as arson causing the burning down of several clinics.[8] Several medical providers and volunteers have suffered injuries or death from forms of violence such as shooting and bombs over the years:[11][12]

  • Dr. George Tiller initially survived being shot by an abortion protestor,[13] but sixteen years later was shot by another anti-abortion protestor and died.[14]
  • Dr. David Gunn was shot outside of his clinic for Women's Medical Services in the midst of an anti-abortion demonstration outside his office. He died two hours later and some anti-abortion groups said they "would not mourn the death of a doctor who performed abortions[15]." A representative from Rescue America, an anti-abortion group, said that because of Gunn's death, "quite a number of babies' lives will be saved."[16]
  • Dr. John Bayard Britton and James H. Barrett, a clinic volunteer, were shot and killed by an abortion protester and former minister, who also wounded June Barrett (another clinic volunteer) outside of a women’s health center.[17]
  • In 2015, three people died when a man opened fire with an assault rifle at a Planned Parenthood.[18]
  • In Boston, two abortion clinic receptionists were killed and five other personnel injured by an anti-abortion gunman opening fire.[19]
  • Dr. Barnett Slepian, an obstetrician who provided abortion services in the Buffalo area, was killed at his home by an abortion protester who hid in the woods behind Dr. Slepian's home and shot him through the window right in front of his family, shortly after they had returned home for a memorial service for Dr. Slepian's father.[20] His death marked the fifth year in a row that a doctor who provides abortions in update New York was killed by a sniper attack.[21]

In Lawmaking

Misinformation related to abortion among healthcare professionals and legislators may lead to abortion legislation being written vaguely or inaccurately.[22][23] In part due to misinformation related to abortion, in some states, abortion has been heavily criminalized, including becoming classified as a felony that could carry heavy jail time.[24] John Becker, an Ohio lawmaker, introduced a bill that would subject doctors to murder charges if they did not do everything possible to save the life of fetus - specifically including trying to re-implant an ectopic pregnancy, despite that not being scientifically possible.[25] Becker later stated he had not researched ectopic pregnancies before writing the bill.[26]

Confusing information related to abortion may also cause physicians to deny abortions in instances where the patient's complications are considered to not have met the legal threshold for "life threatening,"[27][28] with several birthing people dying because of delated care.[9]

Medical Training

Main article: Impacts of restrictive abortion laws in the United States

Abortion misinformation results in physicians getting less opportunities or having less incentives to practice abortion care, resulting in fewer physicians qualifying for performing safe abortions.[29]

Extent and scope

Digital platforms have often been a source of misinformation regarding abortion. A 2014 investigation into the websites of crisis pregnancy centers revealed that 80% of these sites disseminated inaccurate information, frequently perpetuating unfounded myths about the health risks associated with abortion.[30]

Another study analyzing the first five results from Google searches related to abortion medication found the majority of these pages propagated similar misinformation. Common inaccuracies on these web pages include claims that abortion medication can lead to mental illness, adversely affect fertility, or elevate mortality risk, despite none of those things being backed up by science.[31]

A report from the Guttmacher Institute showed that information presented in the state health departments of the United States sometimes contain inaccurate or incomplete information, including out-of-date and biased information.[32] The same report and another study showed that an overwhelming majority of the crisis pregnancy centers provided misleading information related to abortion.[33]

Social media

A study shows that 36.5% of the posts related to abortion on Instagram contained misinformation. Out of the misinformation posts containing medical information, 84.2% were anti-abortion. Around 97% of misinformation posts were created by non-medical providers.[34]

Facebook ads for abortion reversal, an unproven and unsafe medical procedure, deliberately targeted women and girls as young as 13 and have been shown to Facebook users up to 18.4 million times. Google also placed ads for abortion reversal in as much as 83% of the searches related to abortion.[35]

Commonly propagated misinformation

Untrue myths & lies about abortion:

  • Abortion is a dangerous medical procedure: Abortion is a relatively safe medical procedure. There are twice as many complications associated with wisdom teeth removal than with abortion. The complications related to childbirth is more common and serious than the complications related to abortion.[36]
  • Abortion is a rare procedure: Abortion is so common that around 25% of the women in US will have undergone an abortion before 45 years of age.[36] Each year, hundreds of thousands of more abortions happen in the US than other surgeries like appendicectomy or hysterectomy.[37]
  • Undergoing abortion increases the risk for breast cancer: There is no evidence for association of abortion with breast cancer. The US National Institute of Cancer and the UK Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have independently concluded that induced abortion is not associated with an increased cancer risk.[38]
  • Abortion will result in negative mental health outcomes: The relative risk of mental health problems in women undergoing a first trimester abortion of an unwanted pregnancy is no greater than the risk among women who give birth to an unwanted pregnancy.[38]
    Main article: Abortion and mental health
  • Fetus perceives excruciating pain during abortion: The connection between the thalamus and cortex of the brain of the fetus is not fully developed until the 24th week of gestation, which means that perception of pain is not possible until after 24 weeks.[39] Such late abortions are extremely rare, and only 1% of the abortions are conducted after 21 weeks of pregnancy.[40] Secondly, the fetus is not conscious before birth, due to the sedating effect of the physical environment in the uterus. Therefore, it is less likely that fetus can experience pain before birth, even when the brain is fully developed and synaptic connections are in place.[38]
  • There is an increased risk of fertility problems after abortion: There is no conclusive evidence that undergoing an abortion increases the risk for subsequent infertility.[38]
  • Abortion pills are unsafe: Medical abortion is both safe and effective when taken as directed by regulated healthcare bodies.[1]
  • Herbal medicine can help provide safe abortion: There is no sufficient scientific evidence showing any herbal products being able to provide safe abortion. In fact, use of some herbs for abortion might cause serious health problems. Additionally, if the abortion effort was unsuccessful, some herbal medication can cause lasting damage to the fetus if it is brought to term.[1]

Public Confusion

The impact of abortion misinformation is wide-reaching, influencing individuals across the spectrum of beliefs about abortion. Marginalized communities often face heightened adverse effects from abortion misinformation due to their higher abortion rates, reduced access to healthcare, lower levels of health literacy, limited access to reliable health information, and a diminished trust in healthcare providers, as well as due to a prolonged history of systemic racism in healthcare.[29]

A survey found that 67% of "pro-choice" respondents and 88% of "pro-life" respondents believed that childbirth is either safer or as safe as undergoing an abortion. Contrary to these beliefs, childbirth's mortality rate is considerably higher, ranging between 50 and 130 times greater than that of abortion.[37]

About 25 to 30% of American women will terminate pregnancy at some point in their lives. However, highly educated and higher-income Americans are likely to believe that abortion is rare. Among Americans without a college degree, 54% underestimate abortion rates, compared with 70% of those with graduate degrees. The frequency of abortion is underestimated by 67% of men and 57% of women. Low income and less educated women, the group that is more likely to undergo an abortion, were more likely to estimate the abortion rates correctly.[37]

References

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