Increasingly, the public conversation about abortion has
focused on reducing the need for abortion as a way to find common ground. This is an important attempt to reorient a
debate [ ... ]
Increasingly, the public conversation about abortion has
focused on reducing the need for abortion as a way to find common ground.This is an important attempt to reorient a
debate so entrenched that it arguably is no longer effective at mobilizing
needed change.
But we at AAP challenge many of the assumptions behind
abortion reduction and are not convinced it is the direction to take.For example, as Dr. Jackson and I point out
in
our
recent post on RH Reality Check, an abortion reduction agenda runs the
risk of attributing causality where it doesn't exist and oversimplifying the
reasons for-- and hence the policy
responses to -- abortion.
As women and those working closely with women deeply
understand, abortion is the result of multiple intersecting factors that
combine uniquely for each woman around her need for and ability to access
abortion care. These complexities are not beyond generalization, but demand a
nuanced approach at the program and policy level.
Like many matters of personal health and privacy, women’s
preferences for abortion care are complex. Each of us experiences the health
care system differently depending on where we live, our cultural experience, our
economic position, and who we are as individuals. When it comes to abortion, widespread stigma along with anti-abortion harassment and violence
can further shape our expectations of abortion care, narrowing our perceptions
of where and from whom we might receive this care as well as limiting our
access.
Last January, the Guttmacher Institute published its 2005
survey of abortion providers.An
exhaustive survey of all known providers of abortion care, it provides an
important picture of abortion incidence and availability where discrepancies in
reporting mechanisms between states would otherwise limit our ability to view
large scale and national trends as well as to make comparisons between
states.
Increasingly, the public conversation about abortion has
focused on reducing the need for abortion as a way to find common ground.