Pregnancy and Abortion Myths That Absolutely Need Debunking

Introduction

Hello. It's me, GamePegasister91, writing another blog about social justice issues. Today's topic is about myths revolving around pregnancy and abortions.


The reason they need to be debunked is a matter of human rights. People deserve the right whether or not to consent to reproduction, and the use of scare tactics and myths to deter people from exercising such rights violate autonomy.

Myth 1: "The baby can feel pain in as little as 14 weeks"

The truth: Fetuses don't develop a fully-functioning central nervous system (CNS) until the third trimester. The heart develops before the brain, but it's not a functional heart until around 20 weeks into pregnancy. ¹

Myth 2: "Abortions cause depression"

The truth: There is no scientific evidence that having an abortion causes depression. The person having the abortion may feel relief or sadness depending on the circumstances, but that's not depression. However, forcing a pregnancy onto someone who does not consent can inflict trauma upon that person, which can lead to post-partum depression.

Myth 3: "Abortions go against God's Will"

The truth: Actually, there's a passage in the bible condoning abortion as a punishment for being suspected of conceiving through adultery. According to Numbers 5:11-12, the pregnant woman is taken to a priest where she is given a bitter water, most likely a concoction of ergot and bitter melon, both alkaloids with abortifacient properties. The belief was that if the woman miscarried after drinking the water, she was guilty, and if she didn't, she was deemed innocent. Can you imagine how many women were forced through something like that because their husbands were paranoid about the circumstances of the conception?

Myth 4: "Abortions are dangerous"

The truth: They can be if not done by a medical professional in a safe, medical environment. Before Roe v. Wade was implemented, women underwent dangerous endeavors to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, with great risk to their own lives. One common way was to take a coat hanger and use it to scrape out the embryo. This was very dangerous as the cervix was smaller than the hook of the hanger, the hanger wasn't the most sanitary, and the woman risked getting lacerations in the uterus. The legalization of medically induced abortions allowed for safer means of terminating a nonconsensual pregnancy.

Myth 5: "Abortions cause breast cancer"

The truth: There is no scientific link between abortions and breast cancer. A paper in 2003 has already dispelled this myth. ²

Myth 6: "Abortions are genocide"

The truth: This is really an insensitive scare tactic. If marginalized groups have higher abortion rates, it's because they're afraid of how their offspring will be treated. This is the reality they often face. Genocide actually starts with creating an "us v. them" mentality.

Myth 7: "Morning sickness means it's a boy!"

The truth: Actually, no. Morning sickness is a normal defence mechanism against potentially harmful foods. During a normal pregnancy, the human body creates hormones that suppress the immune system so it wouldn't attack the fetus. This also causes the pregnant person to be sensitive to certain foods. An extreme case of morning sickness is hyperemesis gravidarium. The absence of morning sickness slightly increases the risk of a miscarriage.


Myth 8: "Flu shots are dangerous"

The truth: Because vaccinations are meant to be a prophylactic against contagious diseases, they're under more constant and rigorous testing standards than treatment medicines. And because your immune system usually undergoes a change when you're pregnant, that makes getting the flu shot all a better idea. The flu shot reduces your chances of contracting the flu by 40-60%. ³ The nasal vaccine, however, should not be used on pregnant people. The flu is also harmful to a developing fetus.

Myth 9: "Abortions are ripping the baby from the mother!"

The truth: No, it's not. Many women who have abortions are mothers themselves. Their reasonings for having them is that they may have medical circumstances necessitating an abortion, they can't afford another child, or they simply don't want another child. Late term abortions actually make an almost indistinguishable sliver of abortions done, and are only done if the pregnant person's life was in danger.


Myth 10: "Birth control and Plan B are abortions!"

The truth: Actually, no. The point of birth control is to prevent the egg from being fertilized, usually by introducing hormones in a way that thickens the endometrium to the point of preventing sperm cells from reaching the egg. Plan B is an emergency contraceptive that is meant for cases such as rape or birth control failure and works simply by preventing a fertilized egg from implanting itself.


Myth 11: "You can tell the gender by the position!"

The truth: Nope. The position of the pregnancy is determined by the placement of the uterus. Some people's uteruses are positioned further back, so they may not appear as far along, while some are located closer to the anterior of the pelvis, which would make pregnant bellies look more obvious. Some uteruses also sit higher in the pelvis than others do, which also can make the pregnancy look higher or lower.

Citations:
1. Fetal Heart May Develop Later in Pregnancy Than Thought: https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=167987
2. Abortions and Breast Cancer: https://www.nwhn.org/abortion-and-breast-cancer-2/
3. The Flu Shot is the Best Protection Against Flu: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/pregnant.htm