The Hard Cases: New Facts, New Answers
Women victimized by sexual assault deserve our full support. They are asking legislators for a chance to tell their side of the story. Studies show that most do not want abortion. Those who aborted report that it only increased their trauma. Those who didn't abort had no regrets about carrying their pregnancy to term.
Better outcomes among women who don't abort.
In the only major survey ever conducted of women who became pregnant through sexual assault:
70% had their babies, and none regretted their decision.
78% of those who aborted regretted the abortion and said that abortion was the wrong solution.1
Women impacted by assault-related pregnancy petition for Congressional hearings.
Studies indicate abortion makes a traumatic situation even worse. An Ad Hoc Committee of Women Pregnant by Sexual Assault has put together a Petition to Congress and State Legislators to request hearings on this issue (www.unchoice.info/pdf/hardcases.htm ).
Assault victims are often coerced into and further traumatized by abortion.
A survey of women who've had a sexual assault pregnancy revealed that many only aborted because they felt pressured, and that abortion only increased their grief and trauma.1
Assault victims often report that someone else made the abortion decision for them. The pressure to abort can escalate to violence or even murder.2
Teens have been taken to clinics for forced abortions and returned to their rapists.1
64% of women surveyed after abortion report feeling pressured into abortion.3
(For research, headlines and stories of coercion and abortion-related violence, download "Forced Abortion in America," and other resources and fact sheets at www.unchoice.info/resources.htm.)
Assault cases have a higher risk of complications.
The more difficult the circumstances prompting abortion, the more likely a woman will suffer severe post-abortion problems.4
Sexual assault is a known risk factor for post-abortion problems.4 Other risks of abortion include:
31% of women suffer health complications after abortion.
65% suffer symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which they attribute to abortion.
Death rates from all causes are higher after abortion.
Suicide rates are 6-7 times higher for women who had abortions vs. those who gave birth.5
For further information:
Victims and Victors: Speaking Out About Their Pregnancies, Abortions, and Children Resulting From Sexual Assault includes research and testimonies from women who had sexual assault pregnancies. Order from Acorn Books: 1-888-412-2676.
Download a free copy of our "Hard Cases: New Facts. New Answers" Booklet — including the above fact sheet — at www.unchoice.info/resources.htm.
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Citations
1. Reardon, Makimaa & Sobie, Victims and Victors: Speaking Out About Their Pregnancies, Abortions and Children Resulting from Sexual Assault (Springfield, IL: Acorn Books, 2000) 19-22.
2. See the report "Forced Abortions in America" at www.unchoice.info/resources.htm
3. VM Rue et. al., "Induced abortion and traumatic stress: A preliminary comparison of American and Russian women," Medical Science Monitor 10(10): SR5-16, 2004.
4. Reardon, "Abortion Decisions and the Duty to Screen," J. Contemporary Health Law and Policy 20(1):109, Winter 2003.
5. See the "Research and Key Facts" booklet at www.unchoice.info/resources.htm for the source of these statistics.
[The Elliot Institute News, Post-Abortion Research, Vol. 6, No. 8 — July 27, 2007, http://www.AfterAbortion.Info]