Abortion myths
There are a lot of myths and lies about Abortion floating around on. We’re here to debunk some of them.
If you have any questions about abortion, please don’t hesitate to contact us here.
Myth: Abortion is dangerous.
Abortion is NOT dangerous. It’s actually one of the safest procedures you can have! Medication abortion is also some of the safest medication on the market. (It’s safer than Tylenol and Viagra!)
In the first trimester (when the majority of abortions are performed) complications occur in less than 1% of procedures.
Abortion is considered safer than pregnancy and childbirth.
Myth: Abortion is rare.
Not true! In fact abortion is super common. In the United States about 1 in 4 pregnant people will have an abortion by age 45.
Exact numbers can be hard to estimate, but globally about 73 MILLION abortions occur each year.
Myth: Abortion causes infertility, breast cancer, or other problems.
Multiple studies have shown that there is NO known link between safe abortions and infertility, breast cancer, or future pregnancy complications.
Myth: Abortion pills are reversible.
This is not true. Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) or protesters outside of abortion clinics will often lie and try to trick people by saying that abortion pills are reversible. Claims about abortion reversal are not based in any science and do not meet clinical standards.
Myth: Late-term abortions happen all the time.
Let’s be clear: Late-term abortion isn’t a thing.
First of all: Late-term is not a medical term for abortions. Dr. Daniel Grossman, director of Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) in California, explains, "Generally people mean abortion performed after 12 weeks or 3 months, but it's better to specify exactly which period of gestation one is talking about."
Secondly, the vast majority the majority of abortions (93%) are performed within the first trimester– that is, at or before 13 weeks of gestation, according to the CDC.
About 6% of abortions are performed between 14 and 20 weeks of gestation.
And just 1% happen after 21 weeks.
In reality, these percentages are likely not entirely accurate. We’re too soon after Dobbs, the decision that overturned Roe v Wade, to really know what the abortion landscape looks like.
What we do know is that people who have abortions after 20 weeks that they either A) gain new information— whether that is a fatal fetal diagnosis, change or loss of a job or relationship, or just are simply only recently aware of their pregnancy, or B) they face multiple delays— again either medical, financial, or laws that’s main purpose is to overburden people— in accessing an abortion at earlier gestation periods.
We also know that delays and bans are pushing people later and later in their abortions.
Myth: Fetuses can feel pain during abortion.
The short answer is: No.
The long answer is: it’s complicated.
We know that fetuses don’t have the capacity to experience pain until at least week 24-25 of gestation. Countless studies have proven this time and time again. We also know that just because a fetus moves doesn’t mean that they are capable of experiencing pain.
It’s after this point that a more philosophical debate starts. Some people argue that pain isn’t only measured by neural reactions. The International Association for the Study of Pain (ISAP) views pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage.” There’s a strong argument to be made that because fetuses don’t have the capacity to distinguish between touch and painful touch until very late into the 3rd trimester, that means that they don’t feel pain. Basically, because fetuses aren’t conscious, we can’t know that they experience the same things we do.
All this to say: we honestly don’t know if fetuses experience pain. But we do know that if they happen to experience any kind of pain, it’s likely not until at the EARLIEST 24 weeks; though it’s entirely possible to be far beyond that (28-40 weeks).
Myth: Chemical abortions are happening all the time.
So, lets set the record straight: Chemical Abortions are NOT a thing.
When anti-abortion activists use this language, what they’re generally referring to is Medication Abortion (AKA Abortion Pills).
“Chemical abortion” is a scare tactic used by anti-abortion activists in an attempt to stigmatize, shame, mislead, and scare people. “Chemical” carries a negative connotation and completely ignores the fact that ALL medicine is made up of chemicals.
If you’ve ever taken a Tylenol for a headache or Losartan for blood pressure, you’ve had a chemical medicine— but we don’t use that terminology because people associate the word “chemical” as inherently bad or dangerous. Anti-abortion folks use this term in an attempt to cast doubt on a very safe medication. They don’t come right out and say what they want to say (“dangerous”), so they hide behind terms like “chemical” where the danger is heavily implied— rather than stated.
Medication Abortion is backed by rigorous medical research and healthcare authorities. It’s also been FDA Approved for over 20 years. And it’s one of the safest medications on the market!
What IS true about this statement is that abortion does happen all the time! Around 1 in 4 pregnant people have had an abortion. Medication Abortion is also the more common type of abortion— in the United States alone it accounts for 54% of abortions.
Myth: Abortion is new. It only started around 100 years ago.
Nope! Abortion has been happening for as long as people have been getting pregnant.
Some of the earliest records we have of abortion methods date back to around 1550 BCE Egypt. That’s about 3500 years ago!
Abortion methods have been documented across the globe, for thousands of years. The methods vary from herb mixtures, to deep tissue massages, to strenuous physical activity and more.
In many western cultures, it wasn’t until the mid 1800s that attitudes on abortion shifted to what we think of them today. Christianity didn’t have any problem with abortions until after the quickening (when the first fetal movement is felt), when they thought babies gained a soul. It can depend on the pregnancy, but the quickening usually happens between 16-20 weeks (that’s 3 or 4 months).
In the mid 1800s the growing industry of Medicine (run almost entirely by white men) realized they could earn a lot more money by ousting the lucrative midwife profession, that laws began to change. It was medical doctors, and not the church, that insisted that life began at conception, not at the quickening.
While across time, different cultures have had different feelings on abortion, the fact that it’s been going on for thousands of years is proof that abortions have and will continue to happen regardless of laws or regulations.