{"id":2405,"date":"2015-07-15T18:10:15","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T00:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=2405"},"modified":"2016-01-22T08:09:34","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T14:09:34","slug":"new-study-between-5-and-64-of-women-regret-their-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/07\/new-study-between-5-and-64-of-women-regret-their-abortion.html","title":{"rendered":"New study: between 5% and 64% of women regret their abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

OK, that\u2019s not the claim in the actual study.<\/p>\n

The study itself, \u201cDecision Rightness and Emotional Responses to Abortion in the United States: A Longitudinal Study<\/a>\u201d as linked to by Time magazine<\/a>, among others, says that<\/p>\n

approximately 95% of women completing each follow-up interview reported that having the abortion was the right decision for them<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

and this is the figure that\u2019s being cited, repeatedly, in the media.<\/p>\n

But the data? \u00a0Women were recruited, at some point during the abortion process, were told that if they participated, they\u2019d have semi-annual interviews for three years, and they\u2019d be paid with $50 gift cards for each interview. \u00a0In all, 37.5% of the women they approached agreed to participate, and only 69% stayed with the study for all three years.<\/p>\n

This is a red flag.<\/p>\n

Yes, of course, in any such study, it can be difficult to get participants. \u00a0How many times to you stay on the line when the pollster calls, or click that \u201cyes, I\u2019ll give feedback\u201d? \u00a0But in any such study, you have to ask whether study participants are different than those who declined to participate, when it comes to the essential questions the study aims to answer.<\/p>\n

This was the case with the so-called \u20181 in 5\u2033 sexual assault study<\/a>, where it\u2019s highly likely that women who were sexually assaulted would want to participate in an anonymous study that they were told would increase awareness of the problem.<\/p>\n

And in this case: \u00a0well, imagine you\u2019re getting an abortion, but you\u2019re not happy about it. \u00a0You feel forced into it by the father, or by your parents, or you feel you don\u2019t have anywhere else to turn. \u00a0I could well imagine that you\u2019d want to run far, far away, not say, \u201csure, I\u2019ll talk to an interviewer next week, and five more times over the next 3 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

So all we can really say is this: \u00a0somewhere between 5% and, oh, say 64.375% (that\u2019s 62.5% + 5% of 37.5%) of women regret their abortion. \u00a0Which is a different story altogether.<\/p>\n

(And \u2014 a side note: \u00a0here\u2019s a piece of Orwellian terminology. \u00a0The father of the child? \u00a0Well, he\u2019s not, actually. \u00a0He\u2019s the \u201cman involved in the pregnancy,\u201d or the MIP. \u00a0Ugh.)<\/p>\n

(Another side note: \u00a0the study examined women having late-term \u201cnear-limit\u201d abortions and compared them to women with first trimester abortions. \u00a0They asked about possible reasons: \u00a043.6% of the near-limit\u00a0abortions, compared to 35% of the first trimester abortions, were due, according to the woman, to financial reasons; another 34.8% (vs. 38.6) were because it was \u201cnot the right time,\u201d meaning that at most 21.6% \u2014 and likely much fewer, or they\u2019d have shown that as a third major category of reason \u2014 were due to the serious medical reasons\/fetal deformity that\u2019s generally claimed to be the reason for all<\/strong> late-term abortion.)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OK, that\u2019s not the claim in the actual study. The study itself, \u201cDecision Rightness and Emotional Responses to Abortion in the United States: A Longitudinal Study\u201d as linked to by Time magazine, among others, says that approximately 95% of women completing each follow-up interview reported that having the abortion was the right decision for them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[198],"class_list":["post-2405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abortion"],"yoast_head":"\nNew study: between 5% and 64% of women regret their abortion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"OK, that's not the claim in the actual study. 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