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The third principle, my favorite and the one that guides my work, is non-absolutism (anekantvada). This is the idea that a viewpoint cannot be 100 percent true; therefore, every viewpoint has to have at least some truth to it. This principle inherently encourages dialogue and harmony with other ideas, beliefs, and perspectives.
Believe it or not, everyone knows and loves someone who has had an abortion.
Some find it hard to believe, but one in four women in America has an abortion in her lifetime (the study presented the data with reference to “women”).9 That means someone you know or someone you love has had one—even if they don’t talk about it. Most people don’t believe me when I tell them this statistic, but I emphasize that if people talked about abortion more, they would definitely believe it. Abortion is very common. Not understanding how common it is has contributed to the belief that it is shameful and rare.
abortion is incredibly safe, whether you have an abortion procedure in a doctor’s office or a health center or you have an abortion with medication at home.
an abortion is safer than carrying a pregnancy to term.
In 2015, the Center for Medical Progress, an antiabortion organization, covertly filmed Planned Parenthood staff discussing the use of fetal tissue for scientific research. The videos were heavily altered to make it seem that Planned Parenthood profits from the sale of fetal tissue and put the organization under great scrutiny. David Daleiden, the main orchestrator of this scandal, was found guilty in a civil jury trial 2019. Fetal tissue can be incredibly useful for scientific research, but it has never been sold for profit or without consent from the patient.
“It’s not about being pro-choice, it’s about being pro-truth.”
Being forced to read a script of misinformation written by law-makers is unethical. It interferes with our ability as health care providers to build trust with our patients. There is no other medical procedure that requires a doctor to read a propaganda-based script that has been written by politicians.
A recent evaluation of contraceptive counseling methods in a California family planning health center found that methods like condoms, withdrawal, and vasectomy were either infrequently mentioned or framed as less preferable by the clinician.5 The larger social narrative around gender roles has led to health care providers assigning contraceptive labor to only women. This must change. It has now become my practice to discuss all methods of contraception and pregnancy intentions with everyone regardless of gender identity.
In fact, there are about four thousand fake health centers compared to the 780 real providers of abortion care.5 That means that for every one health center that provides abortion care, there are five fake clinics.
People who want an abortion don’t actively seek out these fake health centers, and when they are tricked into going to one, the centers are rarely successful in persuading the person to continue the pregnancy.
The waiting periods, mandated ultrasounds, and unscientific scripts are all founded on the assumption that patients can’t be trusted, that doctors can’t be trusted, and that politicians know best.
