There is a growing trend among anti-choice advocates toward the use of arguments about how “abortion hurts women”. In South Dakota, this is nothing new.
The language was included in HB 1191, a failed attempt to ban abortion in 2005. It was adorned bumper stickers during the public debate in 2006 and 2008 over the abortion ban ballot initiatives. The false argument that “abortion hurts women” has even been included in Supreme Court decisions such as Gonzales v. Carhart, where Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion upholding a ban on late term abortions.
Scientific studies have repeatedly found these claims false. Moreover, a new study on abortion and mental health risks published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that such claims are false:
“The finding that the incidence rate of psychiatric contact was similar before and after a first-trimester abortion does not support the hypothesis that there is an increased risk of mental disorders after a first-trimester induced abortion.”
Robert Blum, a reproductive health expert at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health added,
“This is an extremely, extremely well done study…” “There is no evidence that abortion predisposes a woman to psychiatric and mental health problems.”
Our opponents hope that if they repeat their false argument enough times, people will believe – even though there is scientific evidence to the contrary. SD Campaign for Healthy Families believes that the decision to have an abortion is a difficult one – that should be made by a woman, her doctor and her family.
Let families decide.