Encouraging teen pregnancy to stimulate abortion industry.true story
SENATE VOTE LIKELY MEANS MORE ABORTIONS
Niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. says President Obama needs change of heart
ONLY TOOK 72 HOURS
30,000 in SF March in Protest: Cite Black Genocide
250,000 protest abortion in D.C. Jan. 22, 2009 Didn’t see or hear about this did you?
ABORTION HURTS WOMEN
YOUR TAX DOLLARS TO FUND ABORTION, GLOBALLY
In the U.S., two children die every minute from induced abortion, 1,400 African American children killed daily?
Dr. Kagia of KENYA says, “The promotion of and the effort to legalize abortion in Africa is a foreign agenda and a form of recolonization. … I have to ask why Congress wants to fund organizations that work against the will of the majority of the people of democratic countries.”
F.O.C.A. you America
Planned Parenthood Racist: Gets Millions from taxpayers annually
Black genocide?
Planned Parenthood Founder Margaret Sanger Racist
GRAPHIC PRESENTATION OF A PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION
OBAMA & INFANTICIDE
WARNING: GRAPHIC PICTURES OF ABORTED BABIES
The Top Ten
Myths About Abortion
by William l. Saunders, Jr., Cathy Cleaver ruse
& Lucia Papayova
Family Research Council
In order to discuss abortion intelligently, it is a
prerequisite that the facts about it be known. Yet,
the one thing that can be said with certainty is
this: the American people do not understand the
facts surrounding abortion. Instead, their views are
clouded by various “myths.”
In this pamphlet, we separate myth from reality.
From whether abortion is protected under the
Constitution to whether one can truly be “personally
opposed, but pro-choice,” from whether abortion
benefits women to whether it benefits society,
from the frequency of and reasons for abortion to
whether the American people support abortion
“rights” as currently existing, from the question
of an abortion/contraception “link” to the facts
of human development, we look at the important
issues surrounding abortion.
We hope readers will use this pamphlet to educate
themselves and others so they can confidently
enter into the public policy debate and shape a just
resolution of this important issue.
Myth No. 1:
Abortion is legal only during the first 3 months
of pregnancy.
Fact:
Abortion is legal during all 9 months of
pregnancy.
The Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade declared
abortion a constitutional right.
The Court divided pregnancy into three trimesters1
but ultimately ruled that women have a right to
abortion any time an abortion doctor deems the
abortion necessary for her “health.”2 The Supreme
Court defined “health” as “all factors—physical,
emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s
age—relevant to the well-being of the patient.”3
This “health” exception gives abortion doctors the
power to nullify any abortion restriction on the
grounds that there are “emotional” reasons for the
abortion.4
myth 1 – footnotes
1 Some Supreme Court cases have also spoken of
“viability” (the point at which the child is able to live
outside the mother’s womb) as a crucial factor in judging
abortion regulations. Two points should be noted
about this. First, the “health exception” (see footnotes
3 & 4 and accompanying text) nullifies any significance
this might have, as an abortion doctor can always claim
to find a particular abortion—even after viability—is
important for the woman’s “health.” Second, though
the Court in Roe thought viability fell between 24 and
28 weeks, children are actually able to survive outside
the womb at earlier ages. See, e.g.: http://www.
dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.
html?in_article_id=437236&in_page_id=1774 (child
survived at 22 weeks). Further, the development of the
artificial womb means that, in the future, children may
be able to survive outside the mother’s womb very soon
after the time of conception. Cf., Knight, Jonathan,
“An out of body experience,” Nature Publishing group:
Nature, 12 September, 2002. If “viability” matters,
such developments should entitle unborn children to
legal protection at earlier stages of development.
2 Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 164-65 (1973).
3 Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 192 (1973). In Planned
Parenthood v. Casey, the Court abandoned the trimester
framework but continued to prohibit laws against
abortion where the abortion doctor deems the abortion
necessary to preserve the mother’s “health.” Planned
Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 879 (1992).
4 After Gonzales v. Carhart, 55 U.S.__ (2007),
laws banning the use of the partial-birth abortion
procedure except in life-threatening circumstances are
constitutional.
Myth No. 2:
Abortion is legal because the Constitution says so.
Fact:
Legal abortion is the fruit of judicial activism. It
has been imposed upon the country by judges.
The word “abortion” does not appear in the
Constitution.
Nevertheless, in Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court
ruled that a right to abortion was part of an implied
right to personal privacy emanating from various
constitutional Amendments5 —in other words,
that a right to abortion is an “implied” part of the
Constitution.
It is the chief modern example of judicial activism—
judges imposing their own policy preferences
rather than interpreting the law as written. When
judges act in this manner, they usurp the role of
the legislators, whom the citizens elect to represent
them in deciding disputed, difficult policy issues.
Thus, judicial activism undermines the very basis
of our representative democracy.
This ruling has been sharply criticized by legal
scholars, federal judges, and seven other Supreme
Court justices. Justice Byron White, for example,
said the Court engaged, “not in constitutional
interpretation, but in the unrestrained imposition
of its own, extraconstitutional value preferences.”6
Justice Antonin Scalia said, “the Court should
return this matter to the people—where the
Constitution, by its silence on the subject, left it—
and let them decide.”7
Even Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an outspoken
proponent of legal abortion, called Roe v. Wade
a “heavy handed judicial intervention” that was
“difficult to justify,”8 and said it was “not the way
courts generally work.”9
myth 2 – footnotes
5 “The Constitution does not explicitly mention any
right of privacy,” but the Court found “at least the
roots of that right” in the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth,
and Fourteenth Amendments, and in the penumbras
of the Bill of Rights. Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 152-
153 (1973).
6 Thornburgh v. American Coll. of Obst. & Gyn., 476 U.S.
747, 794 (1986) (White, J., dissenting).
7 Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914, 956 (2000) (Scalia,
J., dissenting).
8 Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “Some Thoughts on Autonomy
and Equality in Relation to Roe v. Wade,” 63 North
Carolina Law Review 375, 385 (1985).
9 “Comments of Justice Ginsburg to law students at
the University of Kansas,” Associated Press, March
Edward Lazarus, former clerk of Justice Blackmun,
the author of the Roe decision, said, “Roe borders
on the indefensible” because a “constitutional right
to privacy broad enough to include abortion has
no meaningful foundation in constitutional text,
history, or precedent.”10
When the Supreme Court creates a new
constitutional right which has “no meaningful
foundation in constitutional text, history, or
precedent,” it acts beyond the scope of its authority
to interpret the Constitution and thwarts the
will of the American people as expressed in their
Constitution.
Roe v. Wade was an illegitimate decision of judicial
activists. There is no right to abortion in the
Constitution.
11, 2005. Other Supreme Court justices have spoken
against Roe v. Wade. Chief Justice Warren Burger,
who, while voting with the majority in Roe, later called
into question its soundness and pondered whether “we
should reexamine Roe.” Thornburgh v. American Coll.
of Obst. & Gyn., 476 U.S. 747, 785 (1986) (Burger, C.
J., dissenting). Chief Justice Rehnquist, an associate
justice at the time of Roe, filed a dissenting opinion
observing that the Court had to “find…a right that
was apparently completely unknown to the drafters”
in order “[t]o reach its result.” Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S.
113, 174 (1973) (Rehnquist, J., dissenting). Justice
Sandra Day O’Connor said, “the court is not suited to
the expansive role it has claimed for itself in the series
of cases that began with Roe v. Wade.” Thornburgh v.
American Coll. of Obst. & Gyn., 476 U.S.747, 814-815
(1986) (O’Connor, J., dissenting). Justice Clarence
Thomas was more blunt, calling Roe “grievously
wrong.” Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914, 980 (2000)
(Thomas, J., dissenting).
10 “The Lingering Problems with Roe v. Wade,” FindLaw’s
Writ, Oct. 3, 2002, http://writ.news.findlaw.com/
lazarus/20021003.html Lazarus favors legal abortion.
Prominent law professors who support legal abortion
have also criticized Roe v. Wade. “[B]ehind its own
verbal smokescreen, the substantive judgment on
which it rests is nowhere to be found.” Prof. Laurence
Tribe, “The Supreme Court, 1972 Term—Foreword:
Toward a Model of Roles in the Due Process of Life
and Law,” 87 Harvard Law Review 1, 7 (1973). Roe
“is not constitutional law and gives almost no sense of
an obligation to try to be.” Prof. John Hart Ely, “The
Wages of Crying Wolf: A Comment on Roe v. Wade,”
82 Yale Law Journal, 920, 935-937 (1973).
Myth No. 3:
Most Americans agree with current U.S. abortion
law.
Fact :
The vast majority of Americans strongly disagree
with it.
According to various national polls:
• 61% of Americans say abortion should be illegal
after the fetal heartbeat has begun11 — which
occurs in the first month of pregnancy.12
• 72% of Americans say abortion should be
illegal after the first 3 months of pregnancy.13
• 86% of Americans say abortion should be
illegal after the first 6 months of pregnancy.14
• Only 16% of Americans say abortion should
be legal at any time for any reason.15
However, Supreme Court decisions make abortion
legal throughout all 9 months of pregnancy, for
any reason.16
Therefore, abortion law today is completely out of
step with Americans’ views on what it should be.
myth 3 – footnotes
11 Zogby International Poll, April 15-17, 2004.
12 Moore, Keith L. and Persaud, T.V.N., The Developing
Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 6th edition
(Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Co., 1998): 77, 350.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 77% of abortions in the United States
occur after the heart of the fetus has begun to beat.
“Abortion Surveillance—United States, 2000,” 52
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (SS-12) Table
7 (Nov. 28, 2003).
13 The Harris Poll #18, March 3, 2005.
14 Ibid.
15 Zogby International Poll, March 10-14, 2006.
16 Roe v. Wade forbids any law against abortion in the
first and second trimester of pregnancy and even after
“viability” if the abortion doctor deems the abortion
necessary to preserve the mother’s “health.” Roe v.
Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 164-165 (1973). “Health”
is defined by the Court as “all factors—physical,
emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s
age—relevant to the well-being of the patient.” Doe v.
Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 192 (1973).
Myth No. 4:
Abortion is rare in United States.
Fact:
The U.S. has the highest abortion rate in the
western world.
There are 1.31 million induced abortions every
year in the United States.17 24.5 percent of
all pregnancies in the United States end in
abortion.18
That means 3,500 children are aborted every day,
145 children are aborted every hour, and 2 children
die every minute due to induced abortion in the
U.S.
In fact, the U.S. has the highest abortion rate in
the western world, and the third-highest abortion
rate of all developed nations worldwide.19
The U.S. abortion rate is higher than the abortion
rate in Spain, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium,
Germany, Switzerland, Scotland, Italy, France,
England, Wales, Denmark, Tunisia, Finland,
Uzbekistan, Croatia, Japan, Israel, Hong Kong,
Canada, Norway, Singapore, Azerbaijan, New
Zealand, Sweden, South Korea, Slovak Republic,
Czech Republic, Georgia, Australia, Kyrgyzstan,
and Puerto Rico.20
myth 4 – footnotes
17 L.B. Finer and S.K. Henshaw, “Abortion Incidence
and Services in the United States in 2000,” Perspective
on Sexual and Reproductive Health 35 (Jan/Feb 2003),
p.8.
18 An Overview of Abortion in United States, Physicians
for Reproductive Choice & Health and The Alan
Guttmacher Institute, May 2006, http://www.
guttmacher.org/presentations/ab_slides.html
19 The abortion rate is per 1000 women, age 15-44. Sharing
Responsibility: Women, Society and Abortion Worldwide
(New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1999),
p. 28, http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/sharing.pdf
20 Ibid.
Myth No. 5:
Most abortions in the United States are done for
health reasons or because of rape or incest.
Fact :
Most abortions in the United States have nothing
to do with these reasons.
According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute (a pro-
choice organization), 93.5 percent of the abortions
every year are done for reasons other than health,
rape or incest. Their survey shows women have
abortions for the following reasons:21
25 % “not ready for a(nother) child/timing is
wrong”
23 % “can’t afford a baby now”
19 % “have completed my childbearing/have
other people depending on me/children
are grown”
8 % “don’t want to be a single mother/am
having relationship problems”
7 % “don’t feel mature enough to raise
a(nother) child/feel too young”
4% “would interfere with education or career
plans”
>0.5% “husband or partner wants me to have an
abortion”
>0.5% “parents want me to have an abortion”
>0.5% “don’t want people to know I had sex or
got pregnant”
Less than 8 percent of abortions every year are
done for reasons of health, rape or incest:
4 % “physical problem with my health”
3 % “possible problems affecting the health
of the fetus”
>0.5 % “was a victim of rape”
>0.5 % “became pregnant as a result of incest”22
Yet, under current U.S. abortion law, all of these
abortions are legal.23
myth 5 – footnotes
21 L. B. Finer, L. F. Frohwirth, L. A. Dauphinee, S.
Singh and A. M. Moore, “Reasons U.S. Women Have
Abortions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives,”
Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 37
(2005): 113, 114.
22 The survey also categorizes the reasons for 6% of
abortions as “other,” without further explanation.
23 Roe v. Wade forbids any law against abortion in the
first and second trimester of pregnancy and even after
“viability” if the abortion doctor deems the abortion
necessary to preserve the mother’s “health.” Roe
v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 164-165 (1973). “Health”
is defined by the Court as “all factors—physical,
emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s
age—relevant to the well-being of the patient.” Doe v.
Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 192 (1973).
Myth No. 6:
Abortion is good for women.
Fact:
Women suffer physically and psychologically
after abortion.
Physical complications
Abortion can cause both short-term and long-
term physical complications, and can significantly
affect a woman’s ability to have healthy future
pregnancies.
Though there are no requirements for states to
report abortion data to any federal agency, the
Centers for Disease Prevention and Control have
received reports of the deaths of 386 women from
legal abortion between 1973, when abortion was
legalized, and 2003.24
Physical complications include cervical lacerations
and injury, uterine perforations, bleeding,
hemorrhage, serious infection, pain, and incomplete
abortion. Risks of complications increase with
gestational age and are dependent upon the
abortion procedure.25
Long-term physical consequences of abortion
include future preterm birth and placenta previa
(improper implantation of the placenta) in future
pregnancies. Premature delivery is associated with
higher rates of cerebral palsy, as well as respiratory,
brain, and bowel abnormalities. Pregnancies
complicated by placenta previa result in high rates
of preterm birth, low birth weight, and perinatal
death.26
myth 6 – footnotes
For more complete references regarding the research
presented in this “myth,” please see Moira Gaul, “How
Abortion Harms Women’s Health,” In Focus (Family
Research Council), December 12, 2007.
24 See http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/
ss5109a1.htm#tab19
25 S. Lalitkumar, M. Bydeman, and K. Gemzell-
Danielsson, “Mid-trimester Induced Abortion:
A Review,” Human Reproduction, 13 (2007): 37-
52; National Abortion Federation Clinical Policy
Guidelines. Washington DC: National Abortion
Federation, 2007.
26 J.A. Martius, T. Steck, M.K. Oehler, et al., “Risk
Factors Associated with Preterm (<37 + 0 Weeks) and
Early Preterm Birth (<32 + 0 Weeks): A Univariate
and Multivariate Analysis of 106,345 Singleton Births
from the 1994 Statewide Perinatal Survey of Bavaria,”
European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and
Reproductive Biology,” 80 (1998): 183-89.
While the question of whether abortion can
increase the risk of breast cancer is hotly debated,
a number of scientific studies demonstrate that
induced abortion can adversely affect a woman’s
future risk of breast cancer.27
Physical complications from chemical abortion with
the drug RU-486 include hemorrhage, infection,
and missed ectopic pregnancy (a potentially fatal
complication). At least 8 women have died from
RU-486 due to hemorrhage and infection.28
Psychological complications
A “pro-choice” research team in New Zealand,
analyzing data from a 25 year period and controlling
for multiple factors both pre- and post-abortion,
found conclusively that abortion in young women is
associated with increased risks of major depression,
anxiety disorder, suicidal behaviors, and substance
dependence.29 This is the most comprehensive,
long-term study ever conducted on the issue.
Other studies also conclude that there is substantial
evidence of a causal association between induced
abortion and both substance abuse and suicide. 30
A review of over 100 long-term international studies
concluded that induced abortion increases risks for
mood disorders enough to provoke attempts at self
harm.31 Researchers have also identified a pattern
of psychological problems, known collectively as
Post-Abortion Syndrome, in which women may
experience depression, anxiety, anger, flashbacks,
guilt, grief, denial, and relationship problems.32
Post-Abortion Syndrome has been identified
in research as a subset of Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder.33
Further, studies analyzing the effects of induced
abortion in adolescents have shown, when
compared to adolescents who give birth, those who
abort reported more frequent problems sleeping,
more frequent marijuana use, and increased need
for psychological counseling.34
27 J.M. Thorp, K.E. Hartmann, and E. Shadigian, “Long-
term Physical and Psychological Health Consequences
of Induced Abortion: Review of the Evidence,”
Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey, 58 (2002): 67-79.
28 M.M. Gary and D.J. Harrison, “Analysis of Severe
Adverse Events Related to Use of Mifepristone as
an Abortifacient,” The Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 40
(February 2006).
29 D.M. Fergusson, I.J. Horwood, and E.M. Ridder,
“Abortion in Young Women and Subsequent Mental
Health,” Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47
(2006): 16-24.
30 M. Gissler, C. Berg, M. Bouvier-Colle et al., “Injury
Deaths, Suicides, and Homicides Associated with
Pregnancy, Finland 1987-2000,” The European Journal
of Public Health, (July 2005).
31 J.M. Thorp, K.E. Hartmann, and E. Shadigian, “Long-
term Physical and Psychological Health Consequences
of Induced Abortion: Review of the Evidence,”
Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey, 58 (2002): 67-79.
32 A.C. Speckhard and V.M. Rue. “Postabortion
Syndrome: An Emerging Public Health Concern,”
Journal of Social Issues, 48 (1992):95-119.
33 V.M. Rue, P.K. Coleman, J.J. Rue, et al., “Induced
Abortion and Traumatic Stress: A Preliminary
Comparison of American and Russian Women,”
Medical Science Monitor, 10 (2004): SR 5-16.
34 P.K. Coleman, “Resolution of Unwanted Pregnancy
During Adolescence Through Abortion Versus
Childbirth: Individual and Family Predictors and
Psychological Consequences,” Journal of Youth and
Adolescence, (2005): 35(6); 903-911.
Myth No. 7:
Abortion is beneficial to modern society.
Fact:
Abortion has a negative impact on communities
and society at large.
Despite “pro-choice” predictions to the contrary,
the illegitimacy rate has increased significantly since
Roe. The percent of children born out of wedlock
at the time of Roe was 15.5 percent, but by 2000
that number had increased to 33.2 percent, and by
2004, it increased to 36 percent.35 There is a high
correlation between out-of-wedlock childbearing
and a host of negative social indicators such as
pervasive child poverty.36
Abortion hits minority communities hardest. The
Guttmacher Institute reports that the abortion
rate among black women remains more than twice
the national average, and three times that of white
women.37 The organization Blacks for Life calls
abortion “cooperative genocide.”38
Abortion also has contributed to population
decline and demographic changes. The U.S. birth
rate has dropped to the lowest level since national
data has been available. In 2002 the birth rate fell
to 13.9 per 1,000—down 17 percent since1990.39
This results in a demographic shift to an older
population known as “population ageing” where the
share of the population of working age shrinks and
the labor force grows older.40 This demographic
phenomenon will have negative effects on the
economy, especially as workers reach retirement
age leaving fewer people engaged in productive
work.
myth 7 – footnotes
35 See National Center of Health Statistics, Centers
for Disease Control, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/
statab/t001x17.pdf and http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/
data/nvsr/nvsr55/nvsr55_01.pdf
36 Rector, Robert E., Johnson, Kirk A., Ph.D., Fagan,
Patrick F., and Noyes, Lauren R., “Increasing Marriage
Would Drastically Reduce Child Poverty,” The
Heritage Foundation, Center for Data Analysis Report
#03-06 http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/
cda0306.cfm
37 An overview of Abortion in United States, Physicians
for Reproductive Choice and Health and Guttmacher
Institute, May 2006. Statistics from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention for 2003 show that
there were 165 abortions among white women per
1,000 live births while the ratio of abortions to live
births among black women was 491 to 1,000. “Abortion
Surveillance—The United States 2003,” Centers for
Disease Control, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/
mmwrhtml/ss5511a1.htm
38 Jones, Leon, “Imitating the Enemy,” The American
Feminist (Winter 1994/1995), http://www.
feministsforlife.org/taf/1994/winter/imitatenemy.htm
39 “Births—Preliminary Data for 2002,” National Vital
Statistics Reports, Centers for Disease Control, Vol.
54, no. 11.
40 “Developing in an Ageing World,” World Economic
and Social Survey 2007, Department of Economic and
Social Affairs, United Nations, http://www.un.org/
esa/policy/wess/index.html
Myth No. 8:
The more that people have access to
contraception, the fewer abortions there will be.
Fact:
More contraception leads to more sexual
behavior, more unintended pregnancies, and
more abortion.
“Pro-choice” politicians do not want to talk about
abortion; they prefer to promote contraception.
But research here and abroad shows that increasing
access to contraception is not a solution to the
problem of soaring abortion rates. In fact, it makes
the problem worse.
In Sweden, for example, an increase in affordable
access to contraception and the presence of
free contraceptive counseling have resulted in a
substantial increase in the teen abortion rate. The
abortion rate has climbed from 17 abortions per
thousand teens in 1995 to 22.5 abortions per
thousand teens in 2001.41
According to Professor Peter Arcidiacono of
Duke University, increasing teenagers’ access to
contraception “may actually increase long run
pregnancy rates even though short run pregnancy
rates fall. On the other hand, policies that decrease
access to contraception, and hence sexual activity,
are likely to lower pregnancy rates in the long
run.”42
In the United States, a decrease in contraceptive
use in recent years correlates to a decrease in the
number of abortions. From 1995 to 2002, the rate
of contraceptive use decreased from 64 percent to
62 percent,43 while the number of abortions fell
from 1,359,400 to 1,293,000.44
myth 8 – footnotes
41 Edgardh, K., et al., “Adolescent Sexual Health in
Sweden,” Sexual Transmitted Infections 78 (2002):
352-6, http://sti.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/78/
5/352
42 Peter Arcidiacono, et al., “Habit Persistence and Teen
Sex: Could Increased Contraception Have Unintended
Consequences for Teen Pregnancies?” (Oct. 3, 2005),
Working Paper, http://www.econ.duke.edu/~psarcidi/addicted13.
pdf, p. 29.
43 “Contraceptive Use,” Facts in Brief, The Alan
Guttmacher Institute (March, 2005), http://www.
guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_contr_use.html. These numbers
represent use among all women age 15-44, and
thus, because many women in this age group would not
be sexually active, the rate of use among sexually active
women would be higher.
44 L.B. Finer and S.K. Henshaw, “Estimates of
U.S. Abortion Incidence, 2001-2003,” The Alan
Much has been made of the emergence of the
Morning After Pill, or “emergency contraception.”
Putting aside the fact that this drug can work either
as a contraceptive or as an abortion, research shows
that it has not reduced abortion rates. In Britain,
the abortion rate actually increased from 136,388
abortions in 1984 to 185,400 abortions in 2004
despite increased use of the Morning After Pill.45
Anna Glasier, director of the Lothian Primary Care
NHS Trust in Edinburgh Scotland, acknowledges
that use of the Morning After Pill “is not going
to make a big difference [in] abortion rates.”46
Similarly, a recent study in the San Francisco Bay
area showed no difference in pregnancy rates in
women with greater access to the Morning After
Pill, confirming previous studies showing no
significant differences in pregnancy or abortion
rates among women with greater access.47
Guttmacher Institute (August 3, 2006) http://www.
guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/08/03/ab_incidence.pdf
45 Reinberg, Steven “Emergency Contraception
Doesn’t Lower the Abortion Rate,” HealthDay News
(September 15, 2006).
46 http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_
women.cfm#39853
47 T. Raine, et al., “Direct Access to Emergency
Contraception through Pharmacies and Effect on
Unintended Pregnancy and STIs,” Journal of the
American Medical Association 293 (2005): 54-62. www.
dph.sf.ca.us/sfcityclinic/providers/Directaccesscontraception.pdf
Myth No. 9:
Abortion, particularly early abortion, does not
take the life of a human being.
Fact:
Every abortion takes the life of a human being.
At the time of fertilization, when a sperm
penetrates the ovum or “egg” cell, a new human
organism comes into existence, with a complete
and unique genetic code.48 This is a scientific fact,
not a religious claim. Those who claim not to know
“when human life begins” are making a political
statement, not a scientific one.
Human beings develop at an astonishingly rapid
pace. The cardio-vascular system is the first major
system to function. The blood is circulating and
the heart begins to beat at 21 or 22 days (3 weeks),
and can be detected on ultrasound.49 By the end of
the eighth week, the unborn child has developed
all its organs and biological systems.50 20 weeks
after fertilization (5 months), unborn children feel
pain.51
Some try to distinguish among human beings,
arguing that some are worthy of respect (because
they possess certain characteristics), while others
are not. This assertion contradicts the basic premise
of Western law and of our Constitution—the
equality of all human beings. As the Declaration
of Independence says, all human beings are created
equal. It would be perilous to abandon this point
of view and to adopt a philosophy that puts into
the hands of some human beings (the powerful) the
right to decide whether other human beings (the
weak, the unpopular, the defenseless) are to be
counted as members of the human family.
myth 9 – footnotes
48 “Human development is a continuous process that
begins when an oocyte (ovum) from a female is
fertilized by a sperm (or spermatozoon) from a
male,” Moore, Keith L. and Persaud, T.V.N. The
Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology,
6th edition (Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Co., 1998);
“The Development of a human being begins with
fertilization, a process by which two highly specialized
cells, the spermatozoon from the male and the oocyte
from the female, unite to give rise to a new organism,
the zygote,” Langman, Jan. Medical Embryology, 3rd
edition ( Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1975): 3;
“The time of fertilization represents the starting point
in the life history, or ontogeny, of the individual,”
Carlson, Bruce M. Pattern’s Foundations of Embryology,
6th edition (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996): 3.
49 Moore, Keith L. and Persaud, T.V.N. The Developing
Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 6th edition
(Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Co. 1998): 77, 350.
50 England, Marjorie A., Life Before Birth, 2nd edition
(London: Mosby-Wolfe, 1996).
51 Anand, K. J, “Pain and Its Effects in the Human
Neonate and Fetus,” New England Journal of Medicine
317 (November1987): 1321-9.
Myth No. 10:
I can be “personally opposed, but pro-choice.”
Fact:
That is impossible.
While it is true that some people claim to be
“personally opposed, but pro-choice,” that position
is, logically, impossible to hold. People who profess
this opinion say that while they would not choose
abortion themselves, they would not deny women
the option to choose it. They appear to think that
what is a wrong choice “for them” might not be
wrong “for someone else.” However, what happens
in an abortion is an objective fact, not a subjective
judgment. During an abortion a human being
who is unborn—and therefore innocent of any
wrong-doing—is killed. Since abortion is, thus,
objectively unjust, anyone who supports the “right”
of others to have abortions necessarily supports
such unjust acts (the killing of innocent, unborn
children). Further, a choice to be “personally
opposed but pro-choice” is necessarily a choice in
favor of the legalization of abortion (so that the
“choice” to abort is available to others). And that
means the person who makes such a choice accepts
that innocent, unborn children will be killed by
abortions, albeit by other people. Thus, while one
can say that one is “personally opposed but pro-
choice,” what one necessarily means is “I support
the right to kill innocent human beings.”
________________________________
Additional Resources from
FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL
Partial-Birth Abortion on Trial
Presenting excerpts from the testimony given
by abortionists in one of the federal trials on
the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, FRC
attorneys Cathy Ruse and Bill Saunders take the
abortionists’ own words and put them together
in this striking pamphlet. It is nothing less than a
collection of admissions by the abortion industry,
under oath, about the reality of abortion.
Politicized Science: The Manipulated Approval of
RU-486 and Its Dangers to Women’s Health BC07A01
RU-486’s ability to bring an end to a human life
developing in the womb is known to all, but the
drug’s considerable harmful effects on women’s
health have been minimized or ignored completely.
Several organizations, including Family Research
Council, have unearthed a vast amount of
information regarding safety concerns about the
drug, as well as evidence documenting the Clinton
Administration’s manipulation of the FDA approval process.
This pamphlet provides an overview of what we now
know about the drug’s approval and the dangers posed by
RU-486 to women’s health.
___________________________________________________________________
William l. Saunders, jr. is Senior Fellow and Director
of the Center for Human Life & Bioethics at Family Research
Council. A graduate of the Harvard Law School, he was featured
in its inaugural Guide to Conservative Public Interest
Law in 2004.
Cathy Cleaver ruse is Senior Fellow for Legal Studies
at Family Research Council. She received a law degree from
Georgetown University and was Chief Counsel for the U. S.
House of Representatives Constitution Subcommitee.
Lucia Papayova is an attorney in Slovakia. She served as a
Witherspoon Fellow at Family Research Council in 2007.
The authors wish to thank Michael Fragoso and Moira Gaul
for their help in the production of this pamphlet.
Posted by Allan Erickson 
GOODNESS WORLD LIFE BLOG 