Abortion and Women: Pro-Choice Myths

To pro-choice advocates, abortion is a sacred right, freeing women from their bonds of oppression. Because this is the position that many of them defend, abortion must only be seen as liberating and empowering. Women who ‘shout their abortions’ are celebrated, while women who try to speak out about how their abortions have devastated them are brutally shut down. For those of us who have done pro-life outreach, it can be frustrating to respond to the allegations that we are trying to control women, take away their freedom, and force them to have children, because pro-choice logic is a rabbit hole containing a alternative reality. 

“Abortion does not cause breast cancer!” They cry out triumphantly. “It’s been proven!”

“Abortion doesn’t damage women psychologically! The vast majority of women feel only relief!” another might claim.

“1 in 3 women have an abortion in their lifetime, abortion is so common. We need to end the stigma!” university students declare as their professors nod in agreement.

There are so many myths underlying the pro-choice position when it comes to how abortion affects women. In our apologetics we focus on the pre-born child because abortion is not primarily wrong because it hurts women, it is wrong because it kills an innocent human being. However, that doesn’t mean that abortion doesn’t hurt women, or that we shouldn’t be aware of just how devastating abortion can be to those who have them.

Abortion does cause psychological damage, increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer, and it is certainly not safer than pregnancy and childbirth. How do we respond to pro-choice myths? In our next blog series, we hope to address many of these pro-choice fabrications.