SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) -- A newly-released study conducted by UC San Francisco researchers documented long-term adverse effects that unwanted pregnancies had on women's lives.
UCSF’s "Turnaway Study" found that more than 95 percent of women who chose to have abortions reported that it was the right decision for them, when interviewed over the next five years.
Those who were unable to have abortions suffered from adverse effects such as physical and mental health challenges, economic hardship, lack of support, and insecurity.
The study also found that those who received an abortion were more financially stable, set more ambitious life goals, raised children under more stable conditions, and were more likely to have a wanted child later in life.
“This study has been really important,” said Diana Greene Foster, a professor in UCSF's Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences and led the study. “It provided the evidence that was missing on the consequences of abortion access for people’s health and well-being.”
For the study, researchers followed 1,000 women from 30 centers around the country for five years.
Some women were a few days under a clinic’s gestational limit, and therefore able to receive an abortion, and some women were a few days over the limit, and therefore were denied from getting an abortion.
Women denied access to an abortion were more likely to raise the child alone, without the support of family members or partners, and were more likely to stay in contact with an abusive partner. They were also three times more likely to be unemployed. They had four times greater odds of living below the federal poverty line and were more likely to report not being able to afford basic living needs.
Foster said the national conversation about this public health issue remains stuck on ideological and political considerations.
“The debate about abortion rarely focuses on what happens to the pregnant person,” Foster said. “It’s framed as an abstract moral question in which everyone else weighs in without considering why someone would be in the circumstances where they want an abortion."
UCSF has long championed reproductive health care access, even before Roe v. Wade became law in 1973.
In a message to the UCSF community about the Supreme Court's recent ruling, Chancellor Sam Hawgood, said the ruling “stands in stark contrast to our belief that every person has a fundamental right to make their own informed decisions about their health care.”
Daniel Grossman, UCSF professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, said, "this is also an issue of basic human rights.”
“UCSF has a really important role to play. I’m really thrilled to be at an institution that is brave in this area and stands up and will be that loud, evidence-based voice for freedom of choice," Grossman said.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/kX2MoN5
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