Jesus frigging Christ. Those pictures alongside the 'girls who aborted' stories are ridiculous. It's not at all surprising to me that the pro-choice websites give both sides of the story, encouraging girls to either have the baby if they want or abort if they want. Anti-choice sites, on the other hand, only give one side of the story. That's where the concept of CHOICE comes in. Why are they so slow catching onto that?

And the whole crap about 'abortion is permanent' - no shit Sherlock. That is the point. Do they mean to imply that giving birth isn't permanent, too, no matter if they put it up for adoption or not? Grr. Teenwire is a much better site.

Wait, you have to pay for a top spot? I always thought it was based on number of links, like Googlebombing.

teen pregnancy
teen abortion
abortion

I saw an ad for CPCs on the subway today. If I'd had appropriate writing material and tape I would have put a sign over it that said "LIARS" - really I would. (Though I guess they at least had the decency to advertise "alternatives to abortion.")

Hmm, only "teen abortion" brings up TeenBreaks. (second result, at the moment) The other two bring up government and health sites, for the most part.

I'm not sure how this site is giving "misleading" information. Pictures are pictures; these aren't doctored. I think it is far worse for women to get abortions never having understood how the procedure works, or what stage of development her fetus is at.

I've met women who had abortions not knowing all of the facts and who are horrified when they learn them. When laws mandating ultrasounds and explanations of abortion procedures in abortion clinics are proposed, they are often fought against tooth and nail. If abortion isn't wrong, why the fear of information? I thought that was the whole point of "informed consent." The consent part is important, yes, but so is the informed.

Women are smart, and every single one deserves to be fully informed about her decision. Why is this so threatening?

Furthermore, how many have actually been to a pregnancy center? Refusing to belief what she constantly read on pro-choice websites, one of my fathers high school students had the courage to volunteer with a group to paint the women's shelter run by our local PC. Once there, she learned that the liars were, in fact, those who condemn PCs based on the minority that are run poorly and receive media attention. For the record, some abortion clinics are run poorly (little to no sterilization, improper disposal of fetal tissue, etc.) But this doesn't taint abortion clinics in the mind of pro-choicers. A bit of a double standard, if you ask me.

*believe*

I've met women who had abortions not knowing all of the facts and who are horrified when they learn them.

Yeah, right. What exactly are they horrified by?

When laws mandating ultrasounds and explanations of abortion procedures in abortion clinics are proposed, they are often fought against tooth and nail.

This is because these laws are used for guilting women into NOT having the abortion they had decided was right for them. Women who are pregnant and looking to end their pregnancies (and even those who aren't) are in a vulnerable position and shouldn't be made to feel guilty for exercising their free choices.

If abortion isn't wrong, why the fear of information?

If abortion is wrong, why do you people try so hard to manufacture guilt in women?

I thought that was the whole point of "informed consent." The consent part is important, yes, but so is the informed.

As long as the information is medically accurate and not trying to force anyone's decision, I have no problem with this. These guilt trips are often exaggerated and misleading, so the information is wrong and therefore all you're accomplishing is misinformed consent.

Furthermore, how many have actually been to a pregnancy center?

From a commenter here at Feministing who has ACTUALLY BEEN TO A PREGNANCY CENTER:

"In reality, you have up until the day before birth if you want to have an abortion," she said. "Sick as it is, the baby is partially given birth to and then its brain collapsed."

This is patently a lie.

"Well, there are always risks to abortions, and unfortunately, we don't have the numbers because abortion is such a lucrative industry, so the numbers aren't given out to us." (Uh - really lucrative, right? Tell that to guys like Dr. George Tiller, who have been shot at, his clinics burned down just to save women's lives).

I also know of people who work in these clinics who face daily verbal abuse and threats. They're working there for more than just a paycheck, they're working to give women a safe alternative to giving birth.

She went on to explain that the risks of abortion are plentiful, to include deaths, in that abortions are sometimes performed by those who aren't doctors and that even the "abortion pill" might be harmful because it leaves the fetus inside sometimes.

Yes, there are definite risks from abortion. However, I bet if you asked about risks from pregnancy (which also includes death), they will suddenly not "have the information on that."

"They say that after taking the pill, there might be some discharge. In reality, it's the baby," she said.

No. It's a fetus.

"Some women want to look at the baby before they go through the process, I don't know why," she said.

Another risk for abortions, she said, is that sometimes, the abortion is "incomplete," thus women will suffer from complications. Even if they are rushed to the hospital, they won't likely tell the doctors about the abortion, out of embarrassment, and might die as a result.

While complications from any medical procedure may happen, hypothesizing about women who MIGHT DIE AS A RESULT is overreaching.

"Because deep down inside, she knows it's the killing of a baby, and doesn't want to admit that fact," she said. "No one wants the stigma of having killed your child."

I know plenty of women who are up front about their abortion experiences. You can read plenty here on this very website.

A bit of a double standard, if you ask me.

It's not the people who are criticizing PC's that are actively trying to limit my reproductive choices.

Theogirl, I am all for getting the right information and making an informed choice. But anti-choicers somehow want to use any means, deceptive or not, to get what they want, especially playing on two factors: the 'yuck factor' and 'sentimental factor'. Pictures of bloody fetuses don't disturb me much more than watching someone get a nose job (highly gross), or, indeed, watching a birth. You could probably put people off any medical procedure by showing them disturbing photos. And anyhow, the pictures you see, whilst not exactly doctored, are often blown up massive so that an inch-long fetus looks the same size as a baby. As for the dangers, this has all been said before, but why do you continue to emphasise the dangers of abortion when the dangers of pregnancy and birth are much worse? Ah, but we know why. It's because any method of putting a woman off terminating her pregnancy is seen as justified. And as for substandard care in some clinics, unfortunately that's to be expected across the board of medical care. How about all the substandard care for pregnant women and women in labour? It doesn't put people off.

To anyone anti-abortion reading this, I'd like to say that the second factor, the 'sentimental factor' should really be dropped if the anti-abortion camp wants to get anywhere. The language used is just bizzare, it's like they come from another planet or something. It's all things like, 'then I found Jesus, who walks with me and has helped me heal my scars', 'girls who've had abortions always feel guilty and ashamed and cut themselves off from the world'. For the record, every time I read 'jesus' in any of these stories, I stop reading.
The reason it's biased is that there are NO positive stories of abortion or sex, NO negative stories of adoption or giving birth. We all know different things are for different people. I admire the teenWIRE stories because they show this. One 15 year-old says 'keeping the baby was the right choice for me'. Another says that having an abortion was the right choice. The language is unsentimental and it sounds realistic.

I wonder if someone sent their positive abortion story to teenbreaks whether they'd publish it?

Anyone who's had an abortion, why don't we try that and see what happens? I'm genuinely curious to know.

How is Google to blame here? Reminds me of when people were concerned that the first hit for "jew" was an anti-Semitic site called "Jew Watch". (It's since fallen to #3, accompanied by an apologetic note from Google).

This is a great post, Seneca. I'm curious about where you got the additional information on Rosetta Foundation and their budget for Google - good detective work!

I've actually done some research on this, and I refer to sites like this one as "cloaked" sites because they intentionally disguise their real political agenda. That's a big problem, especially for young people looking for information. They're easily duped by these sites, and that's the point really: to trick people rather than offer them facts. (And yes, it does work - more about that on my blog.)

And, dr.dog, I do think that Google is implicated in this sort of thing. Google is not likely to put up a similar apologetic note on other sites without huge amounts of public pressure.

The fact is, information and misinformation online are politically contested. Those who teach Internet literacy that stops at "look at the URL" need to get more sophisticated about such things.

I have had an abortion that many would consider horrendous. At 20 weeks I aborted a feotus that was recognisable as a baby. How do I know, because quite simply I say it. This was a mistake and they sometimes happen. I DO NOT blame the Dr's or the nurses involved. It was an accident and not something that can always be planned for. But far from becoming anti-abortion, I am truly thankful that there are Doctor's, nurses, health professionals and social workers who understand that sometimes young boys and girls make mistakes. Why, often because they are or were not sufficiently educated about how to NOT GET PREGNANT.

SEX EDUCATION is vital if we are to reduce the number of women who have to make a pretty tough decision because lets be honest, there is very little real choice. Abortion is hardly a choice when the alternative is not that great.

At 15 or 30 there is very little guarantee that the MALE will be around to help. Usually the WOMAN has to cope with any decision alone. Sole parenthood is HARD, and possibly even harder today where people often do not live near family and even when they do, we no longer have a large family of uncles and aunts and siblings to help.

SOLE PARENTS are ALONE and now that I am a sole parent of a beautiful girl I would not advocate it as a lifestyle choice. But at least at 36 years of age I had the maturity to make the decision.

As a 15 year old I did NOT.

I have never regreted my decision to abort but I have often asked myself if my decision to have my daughter and be a sole parent was such a wise choice. Until mothers are better supported, education and childcare is accessible, and return to work options made 'mother' friendly, will abortion be a real choice and not just the last resort of the desperate and informed woman who know that the being a sole mother is far from wonderful.

Finally I would like to thank all the doctors and nurses and others who work to make abortion available, and who support us in what can be a difficult decision.