Towards a better understanding of abortion misinformation in the USA

A review of the literature

Datos Bibliográficos

ID15098486
AutoresAlison J Patev (0000-0001-8814-0259, Virginia Commonwealth University, autor de correspondencia), Kristina B Hood (0000-0003-4817-9882, Virginia Commonwealth University)
Año2021
Volumen23
Número3
Páginas285-300
Fecha de publicación2021-03-04
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCulture Health & Sexuality (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1369-1058 • E-ISSN: 1464-5351
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691058.2019.1706001
PMID32202213
OpenAlexW3012590553
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas19
Referencias citadas38

Roughly 20% of women in the USA will seek an abortion during their lifetimes. As abortion is a medical procedure, individuals seeking abortion services must have access to accurate medical information. Inaccurate information about abortion, known as abortion misinformation, adversely affects knowledge about abortion, and may impair informed decision-making. Abortion misinformation has received limited attention in psychological and health research. This review summarises current findings on abortion misinformation from studies of adults in the USA, examines which forms of misinformation are most common, and assesses prominent sources of abortion misinformation. A narrative, integrative approach was adopted focussing on nine articles. Findings suggest that first, inaccurate beliefs about abortion exist among many samples of US adults, including inaccurate connections between abortion and breast cancer, infertility and negative mental health outcomes. Second, abortion misinformation comes from a variety of informational sources, which may render efforts to prevent it challenging. Summarising and extending knowledge of abortion misinformation may be useful first steps to better understanding this phenomenon and may ultimately aid in reduction of abortion misinformation among individuals living in the USA

Abortion · Computer security · Internet privacy · Misinformation · Pregnancy · Computer Science · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Medicine · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Contraception · Social Psychology