NZ Women Not Receiving Full Facts on Abortions

PRESS RELEASE
A press release from Family Life International NZ

Wednesday 04 November, 2009

New study showing mental health risks of abortion is just one of several new papers showing that NZ women are not receiving the full facts about abortion.

A new study conducted by Professor David Fergusson, John Horwood and Dr Joseph Boden from Otago University, which has shown that abortion carries a risk of subsequent mental health problems for many women, is just one of several new studies highlighting the fact that women are not receiving all of the facts when they seek out an abortion in New Zealand.

In September this year a different study was published in Canada which showed that women who had an abortion in the first or second trimester had a 36% increased risk of later having a premature baby, and women who had undergone more than one abortion had a 93% risk of later having a premature baby.

The tragic truth is that New Zealand women are not informed about these, and other serious risk factors, when they seek out an abortion in this country.

“Counseling provided to women seeking out abortions is so woefully inadequate that it is practically non-existent” says Brendan Malone from Family Life International NZ.

“In the vast majority of cases, abortion ‘counseling’ in New Zealand merely consists of ticking a series of boxes, and women are very rarely, if ever, informed of the scientifically established risks that they will be exposing themselves to, and the support that is available to them to pursue alternatives to abortion.”

“One of the consistent themes our post-abortion counseling team hear time and time again from their clients is that they were never informed of all the risks and alternatives available to them prior to opting for an abortion.”

“Tragically, these same women also state that they probably would have chosen not to abort their babies had they received proper counseling about the risk factors, and the other options that were open to them.”

“Pro-abortion lobbyists in New Zealand like to throw the word ‘choice’ around, but how can we honestly claim that women choosing abortion are making a free and informed decision when they haven’t been properly advised about the risks of having an abortion, and the alternatives available to them” says Brendan Malone.

ENDS

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