Discredited Scientific Claims Promoted by Texas Health Department

Discredited Scientific Claims Promoted by Texas Health Department

In December 2016, the Texas Department of State Health Services published a booklet for women considering abortion, which contains several assertions that have been disproved by scientific studies. For example, the booklet indicates that women who give birth (rather than have an abortion) are “less likely to develop breast cancer in the future,” and that “[r]esearch indicates that having an abortion will not provide you this increased protection against breast cancer.” However, that claim has been debunked in a number of scientific studies, leading the American Cancer Society to conclude that there is no evidence of “a cause-and-effect relationship between abortion and breast cancer.”

The booklet also states that “babies develop the ability to feel pain while in the womb” and indicates that the Texas legislature banned abortion after 20 weeks due to “consideration of the potential for fetal pain.” However, peer-reviewed medical studies have found that fetal pain is likely not felt until 30 weeks into pregnancy.