Check out the truth about abortion and reproductive healthcare.
Myth: Women who have abortions have an increased risk of breast cancer.
Fact: The National Cancer Institute has definitively stated that there is no link between breast cancer and abortion. Women who have had abortions are not at an increased risk of suffering from breast cancer.
Myth: Women who have had an abortion suffer from depression.
Fact: The American Psychological Association examined numerous separate studies and concluded that, “legal abortion, particularly in the first trimester, does not create psychological hazards for most women.”
Myth: Sexuality education leads to promiscuity.
Fact: A program sponsored by The World Health Organization in 1997, which evaluated major international studies, found that sexuality education neither increased nor decreased sexual activity. Many programs were found to delay the onset of sexual activity, reduce the number of sexual partners, or reduce unplanned pregnancy and STD rates.
Myth: Having an abortion causes infertility.
Fact: Studies by The Center for Disease Control and Prevention and The Population Council have found that an abortion in the first trimester, “…does not appear to have any adverse implications for subsequent childbearing.” Less research has focused on multiple abortions. When performed by a trained practitioner, in a licensed facility, the most commonly used first trimester abortion procedure known as vacuum aspiration, is safer than carrying a pregnancy to term.
Myth: Most people think abortion should be illegal.
Fact: According to a 1998 poll taken by The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 52% of Americans believe that legal abortion should be available. Another 37% believe abortion should be available in cases of rape and incest.
