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Abortion Study Provides Incomplete Picture

Audra Nakas
By | July 29, 2015

A new study gaining widespread attention claims that the overwhelming majority of women who obtain abortions—over 95 percent—believe that their decision was the right one, both immediately following the procedure and three years later. This comes as a surprise to anyone who has worked closely on pro-life issues, as anecdotal evidence of regret among post-abortive women abounds and ministries for post-abortive women such as Project Rachel have grown over the years, as have ministries geared toward men.

The study authors, most of whom are associated with Advancing Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) at the University of California, San Francisco, analyzed data from several hundred women tracked over several years in the Turnaway Study, “a longitudinal study examining the health and socioeconomic consequences of receiving or being denied termination of pregnancy in the US.” Women obtaining abortions were asked about their emotional state and about whether they thought their decision was the right one at the time of the procedure and then semi-annually for three years.

The study reports nuances in which women feel negatively and regret the decision. Women who had a difficult time making the decision or who perceived stigma surrounding abortion were more likely to report negative emotions. Women were more likely to report that the decision was right if they were simultaneously working and in school, but less likely to do so if the father was against the abortion or was unsure.

Though the study features a relatively large sample from across the country, some pro-life groups have argued that ANSIRH has an agenda and that the Turnaway Study as a whole is flawed. One limitation in particular jumps out: Fewer than 40% of women who were informed of the study agreed to participate. The authors argue that this is a typical consent rate for such a study, and they find no reason to believe that women who declined to participate were different from those who agreed to do so. It is highly plausible, however, that women with more negative feelings and attitudes about their decision to obtain an abortion would be less inclined to participate in a study in which they would be reminded of the event every few months.

Further, even if it is true that most women obtaining abortions do not regret them, it is also true that most women who carry their children to term, even if originally intending to have an abortion, are happy they did so. In a 2013 New York Times interview about the Turnaway Study, study author Diana Greene Foster admitted that “About 5 percent of the women, after they have had the baby, still wish they hadn’t. And the rest of them adjust.” In other words, 95 percent of women who were denied abortions because, for instance, they were past the gestational limit, were happy that they had the baby.

Together with the fact that most people are apparently happy with whatever choice they make, the study’s low participation rate leaves us with an incomplete picture that may nonetheless carry implications for public policies surrounding abortion decision-making, such as mandatory waiting periods.

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  • http://newarkistheplace.com/ Thomas Mullally

    Thanks- but truly, what a useless study! Who would expect women to have regret within only three years? Where is the study asking the women who remain childless following menopause, about their level of regret? That would be the relevant study!

    An empathy for helpless fetuses being destroyed, on par with Jimmy Kimmel’s recent (and very popular) on-air breakdown about a powerful lion who was shot as a prize, is of course one-half of the pro-life ethic. The other half which has been lacking, is the empathy for women who lost their chance at motherhood, pursuing other gains which, in any event, never even arrived.

  • pdxcatholic

    This study seems designed to justify abortion by positing that it’s the stigma that makes women feel regret, not the act of abortion itself. How does the absence of regret in any way justify the taking of an innocent human life? There are cold-blooded murderers who never feel remorse, much less regret, for what they have done.