Campaign aimed at university students spreads misinformation about abortion

‘Prolife’ clubs at universities across New Zealand have since May been distributing a glossy flier called 'Right to Know'. This flier makes a number of poorly referenced and unreferenced claims about abortion in New Zealand. “This wilful distortion of the truth and bad academic practice puts women's lives at risk, as it encourages distrust of medical professionals," the University of Auckland Campus Feminist Collective Secretary Sophie Buchanan said.

The 'Right To Know' flier, which was overseen by a second-year Philosophy student from the University of Auckland, makes a number of unreferenced claims, such as that abortion can cause subsequent miscarriages, infertility, death and ‘unresolved emotions [which] may negatively impact a woman's self-esteem in relationships and in parenting’. Buchanan also points out that, “Interestingly, it makes no mention of the negative effects the stigma on abortion perpetuated by ‘prolife’ advocates may have on peoples’ emotions.”

“The flier also claims that there is no ‘cooling off period for [a person seeking an abortion] to pause and think’ when on average people wait 25 days for an abortion in New Zealand after getting a referral. [1] In addition, the earlier a termination is conducted, the safer the procedure, [2][3] so advocating for or advising a longer waiting period is irresponsible,” says Buchanan.

The flier does reference its claim that abortion causes subsequent premature births, but the citation uses data collected in France in 1997. [4] While the study does show some evidence that abortions performed in France in 1997 gave an increased risk of subsequent premature births, Buchanan points out that since then there have been significant advances in abortion procedures (medical abortions, for example). The authors of the study also note that their data is potentially confounded by other variables such as socio-economic status, smoking status, weight, and physical activity levels, all of which are also associated with premature births.

The study cited by the 'Right to Know' flier for its claim that abortion causes suicide was published in 1996 and the data was collected between 1987 and 1994 in Finland, [5] whose health system is not comparable to New Zealand's. The flier also says that women are likely to experience severe emotional distress, but the study used by the flier actually concludes that most do not, and those few who do tend to be people with a prior history of mental health issues. [6]

And finally, says Buchanan, “the flier makes repeated unreferenced generalisations that people seeking terminations in New Zealand today are not told the implications or the alternatives, implying that pregnant people are shepherded without question through the process due to some unexplained agenda of the medical profession.”

However, according to the Abortion Advisory Committee’s 2010 report, people considering termination of pregnancy are required to discuss the implications with their medical doctor, offered decision counseling, and given the opportunity to reflect in the process of seeing multiple certifying consultants. The report notes, “What is not currently reflected in the statistics are those women, who after having seen two certifying consultants, choose not to proceed with an abortion.”[7]

Notes:

1. Silva M, McNeill R, Ashton T. Ladies in Waiting: the timeliness of first trimester pregnancy termination services in New Zealand. Reproductive Health. 2010;7:19.

2. Bartlett LA, Berg CJ, Shulman HB, et al. Risk factors for legal induced abortion-related mortality in the United States. Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2004;103:729-37. Scandinavica. 2002;81:331-336.

3. Zhou W, Nielsen GL, Moller M, Olsen J. Short-term complications after surgically induced abortions: a register based study of 56117 abortions. ActaObstetrica et Gynecologica

4. Moreau C. et al. Previous induced abortions and the risk of very preterm delivery: results of the EPIPAGE study. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 2005 Feb 19; 112(4): 430-437.

5. Suicides after pregnancy in Finland, 1987-94: register linkage study. BMJ. 1996 Dec 6; 313:1431

6. Major B, Cozzarelli C, et al. Psychological responses of women after first-trimester abortion. Archives of General Psychiatry. 2000 Aug; 57(8): 777-784.

7. Holloway, L., Allan, P. Report of the Abortion Supervisory Committee. 2010. 18 URL: http://www.parliament.nz/NR/rdonlyres/C1B2E369-1DEB-4970-AB22-B47A94D39B26/177876/DBHOH_PAP_21018_AbortionSupervisoryCommitteeReport.pdf

ENDS

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