State Mandated Abortion Counseling Materials Often Medically Inaccurate, Biased
Written materials developed by states as part of the implementation of mandatory abortion counseling laws often contain medically inaccurate, out-of-date or biased information, according to a new analysis by the Guttmacher Institute. “Misinformed Consent: The Medical Accuracy of State-Developed Abortion Counseling Materials,” by Chinué Turner Richardson and Elizabeth Nash, published in the Fall 2006 issue of the Guttmacher Policy Review, details how false or misleading information that has long been promoted by antiabortion activists features prominently in the information that many states require doctors to provide to their patients.
“Our analysis of state abortion counseling laws and the materials doctors are required to provide to women seeking abortions reveals that basic public health principles often are disregarded in favor of furthering a highly politicized antiabortion agenda,” says Elizabeth Nash, a public policy associate at Guttmacher. “Providing medically inaccurate information violates a core tenet of sound public health policy and seriously jeopardizes a woman’s ability to make an informed decision regarding her own life and health.”
The Guttmacher analysis found 22 states where state health departments had developed written counseling materials, in most cases covering specific topics required by law. See further about:
- Fetal Pain
- Psychological effects
- Breast cancer
- Referrals
“The flawed abortion counseling materials produced by many states are the unfortunate, but predictable, outcome of politicians inserting themselves into what should be a private conversation between a woman and her doctor,” says Sharon L. Camp, president and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute. “Rather than creating new barriers for women seeking an abortion, policymakers should instead focus on helping women avoid unintended pregnancies in the first place. But our analysis found that only 13 of the 22 states provide referral information for contraceptive services in their written counseling materials, even though any woman seeking an abortion is at risk of experiencing a subsequent unintended pregnancy.”
Click below for more information on:
• Dispelling the myths around abortion and mental health
• How abortion and unintended pregnancy fit into the context of women’s lives (This is a pdf file.)