One-third of U.S. women
seeking abortions get misleading information: study
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[March 01, 2016]
By Sebastien Malo
NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) -
Women in many U.S. states are given misleading information in
state-issued brochures when they seek abortions, such as
characterizations of fetal and embryonic development, according to a
study released on Monday.
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Thirty-one U.S. states require women to be given informational
packets ahead of getting an abortion in a practice known as informed
consent, according to the study by researchers at Rutgers University
in New Jersey.
Their findings come just days before the U.S Supreme Court is set to
hear arguments in its first abortion case in nearly a decade.
Looking at brochures issued in 23 of those 31 U.S. states, the
researchers said they found nearly a third of the information to be
medically inaccurate. The brochures are authored by and required by
the states.
Based on those findings, the researchers estimated that nationwide,
35 percent of women having abortions were given information
exaggerating the development of fetuses and embryos.
For example, a Wisconsin brochure said a 20-week-old fetus "may feel
pain" and a North Carolina pamphlet said fetuses between weeks 12
and 14 had fully formed lips and noses and have fingernails
beginning to form, the study said.
Such characterizations are incorrect, the researchers said.
"Misinformation is a threat to the integrity of the doctor-patient
relationship and to the medical system as a whole," said Cynthia
Daniels, the study's lead author and a professor who heads Rutgers's
Informed Consent Project.
"This study shows the problems that occur when politicians intervene
into the doctor-patient relationship," she said.
The nation's highest court on Wednesday is scheduled to hear
challenges to a 2013 law in Texas that requires doctors at abortion
clinics to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and for
clinics to meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers.
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Critics say the Texas law is unnecessary, superfluous and expensive
and creates an undue burden on women seeking abortions.
Abortion has been legal in the United States since 1973.
The study found that the U.S. states with the worst records
regarding the medical accuracy of their brochures were North
Carolina, Michigan and Kansas.
Worldwide, about three in 10 countries allow abortions on request or
for any reason, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center analysis,
although many prohibit procedures after a certain point in the
pregnancy.
(Reporting by Sebastien Malo, Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst. Please
credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson
Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking,
corruption and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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