There are lots of ideas out there about abortion, and many of the common stories you will hear are simply not true. Here we debunk some of the common myths about abortion so that you can start to gather the facts:
1. MYTH: Abortions are dangerous.
FACT: Abortion is one of the safest and most common surgical procedures performed in Canada. Having an abortion is 4-10 times safer than delivering a baby, even for a healthy woman. Medical abortions using Mifegymiso are now also available in Canada up to nine weeks gestational age, and are also very safe.
2. MYTH: Abortion will make you infertile or give you breast cancer.
FACT: A safe medical or surgical abortion will NOT affect your future fertility. This myth probably comes from the time when women had to have illegal and unsafe abortions because they didn't have access to safe abortion. These unsafe abortions often led to major complications including infection, bleeding, infertility or death. An abortion is a well-run health facility, overseen by a trained health professional, is very safe and should have have any long-term impact on your health, including your fertility.
The supposed connection between abortion ad breast cancer is pure fiction used to scare women - there is no connection whatsoever.
3. MYTH: Women who have abortions suffer from regret and guilt
FACT: It is a fact that most women who have abortions have to make a difficult decision in an imperfect world. Many women may regret having gotten pregnant in the first place, or having a pregnancy that they can't keep, but they are making the decision that is best for them at that time in their lives. In fact, most women feel relief ather their abortion and feel that a terrible burden has been taken off of their shoulders.
4. MYTH: Women are tricked into having an abortion
FACT: This is a common zinger from the anti-choice activists, who say: if only women know the truth - you're going to be a mother! - they wouldn't have an abortion after all. The idea that grown women are like gentle lambs, being tricked into abortions by evil and manipulative abortionists, is patently absurd, and nothing could be further from the truth. Women seek abortions because they can't or don't want to have a baby and they know exactly what they are doing. In fact the majority women who have an abortion are already mothers, and don't feel ready to have another child for a whole variety of reasons.
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