Tuesday, April 10, 2007

The upside to abortion

How this is greeted will be as interesting as the research findings themselves.

Just published;

Christchurch Health and Development Study, Christchurch, New Zealand.

CONTEXT: Young women frequently cite concerns about the effects of unplanned pregnancies on future life course outcomes, including education, employment and relationships, as reasons for seeking abortion. There is relatively little evidence as to whether abortion leads to improved life course outcomes for young women who choose this option. METHODS: Data from 492 women participating in a 25-year longitudinal study of a New Zealand birth cohort were used in regression models that examined the relationship between pregnancy and abortion history prior to age 21 and selected social and economic outcomes at ages 21-25. RESULTS: Compared with young women who became pregnant before age 21 but did not seek an abortion, young women who had an abortion had significantly better outcomes on six out of 10 measures spanning education, income, welfare dependence and domestic violence. Adjustment for confounding factors indicated that most of these differences were explained by family, social and educational characteristics that were present prior to pregnancy. Nonetheless, even after adjustment for confounding factors, young women who had abortions had higher levels of subsequent educational achievement than those who became pregnant but did not have abortions. CONCLUSIONS: Abortion may mitigate some effects of early unplanned pregnancy. However, further study of its potential risks and benefits is needed so that women can make fully informed decisions as to whether to terminate unintended pregnancies.


I have always been pro-choice. Particularly in respect of teenagers. Most women will become mothers at some point in their lives. Ideally it should happen when she is mature enough to parent, is in a stable relationship and is financially capable of raising the child. Having a child as a teenager very often means the mother never attains any of those prerequisites despite continuing to produce babies.

4 comments:

Nigel Kearney said...

I'm pro-choice too but the study is badly flawed.

First, it begs the question by assuming that the interests of the child are irrelevant. If you don't assume that, then the aborted child is obviously a lot worse off because it's dead.

Second, the proper comparison is surely between abortion and adoption, not between abortion and having an unplanned child.

Third, maybe the choice to have an abortion was because the women had prospects of future success, not the other way around.

Lindsay Mitchell said...

Nigel

This is an observational health study about the outcomes for girls who experienced a teenage pregnancy. For their purposes the interests of the child are irrelevant.

Re your second point, adoption is now rare enough that I doubt they would have a had a subject, or enough, who would fit the bill.

Re your third point, for those who decided to have a abortion, if they had proceeded with the birth their life outcomes may still have been significantly better than the girls who didn't, due to educational prospects, family support, etc. But that is supposition.

mojo said...

I would have thought that the process of making a decision of such enormity would immediately and necessarily elevate educational achievement as a goal, the necessary motivation and unwavering sense of direction - be it as the preferred ordained alternative or as a means of reducing the enormity of the act, or both.
Similarly I am sure motivation to achieve educationally can be enhanced by an enforced impoverished lifestyle, providing the requisite skills for learning but limiting access to further education and then selectively providing the opportunity for some to further achieve.
Aha, perhaps we are on to some causal relations here ... however in either case the end does not justify the means .. it does not necessarily make the decision 'right.'

Anonymous said...

Having read his comments, I am wondering on what terms Nigel K considers himself to be "pro-choice". He sounds more anti-choice to me.

regards,
Michael.