Debunking the debunking...

Rather than continue to troll my college classmate's Facebook page, I'd like to take this opportunity to refute the Planned Parenthood of Northern New England's recent blog post, "Debunking Abortion Myths, in Honor of Roe".

my comments in red.

1.Emergency Contraception (EC) is an abortifacient.
Well, no, not by design, but the drug manufacturer does admit that theoretically it could act as one and no study has definitively proven that it can't work that way.

2. Women use abortion as a form of birth control.
"Actually, 54 percent of women who have abortions had used a contraceptive method (usually the condom or the pill) during the month they became pregnant. Birth control methods fail, and inconsistent contraceptive use, as well as life changes, contribute to unplanned pregnancy. "

Strictly speaking, contraceptives are not birth control. They are conception prevention. Abortion is the action that prevents birth. It is the second line of "defense" in avoiding having a baby. When contraceptives fail, abortion is the final answer.

3. Abortion causes post-traumatic stress and other mental health disorders.
“the best scientific evidence indicates that the relative risk of mental health problems among adult women who have an unplanned pregnancy is no greater if they have an elective first-trimester abortion than if they deliver the pregnancy.”

a. "first-trimester abortion" what about second- third-trimester?
b. Tell that to these people.

4. Women who have abortions will never be mothers.
No, women who have abortions already were mothers.

5. Abortion causes breast cancer.
They cite a 1997 study that denies the link between abortion and breast cancer, but ignore more recent studies, including a federally funded study published in the April 2009 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, as well as a Chinese study that indicates a 17% higher risk for breast cancer among women who have had abortions.

6. Making abortion illegal will stop women from having them.
Well, probably not, just as rape, theft, murder and assault being illegal have not stopped those occurrences, but no one seems to be on the "let's make them legal" bandwagon.

7. Pro-choice means pro-abortion.
You're for choosing what, again?

8. All Planned Parenthood does is abortions.
I'm told that the two PPNNE facilities my classmate works with do not do abortions. But what about this article saying that abortions will be at all PP regional affiliates by 2013?

9. Women who have abortions can’t get pregnant, or will have a harder time conceiving.
a. Again, get it done early and you won't have any side effects!
b. Again, tell it to these ladies.

10. Women having abortions are young, irresponsible women who can’t be bothered to take birth control.
"Women of all ages have abortions for many reasons..."
Oh, well that makes it all right.