Abortion: What You Need To Know

Forget pro-life and pro-choice, this episode is pro-facts.

Abortion is so taboo. People don’t talk about abortions they’ve had. Doctors don’t talk about abortions they’ve given. But it's happening a lot. Almost a million abortions happened in the US in 2014. So, what actually happens in an abortion, can the fetus feel pain and what are the risks?  To find out we visit an abortion clinic in Texas and talk to Dr. Amita Murthy, Dr. Lisa Harris, Dr. Bhavik Kumar, and Dr. Diana Greene Foster. This episode is not about being pro-choice or pro-life, but pro-facts.

Credits:This episode has been produced by Heather Rogers, Wendy Zukerman, Ben Kuebrich, Shruti Ravindran and Rachel Ward. Kaitlyn Sawrey is our senior producer. We’re edited by Annie Rose Strasser.  Fact Checking by Michelle Harris and Ben Kuebrich. Extra help with production and editorial from Alex Blumberg and Jorge Just. Music production and original music written by Bobby Lord. Thanks to Lola Pellegrino, Ronnie Shankar, Dr. Diane Horvath-Cosper, Rachel Jones, Elizabeth Nash, Dr Yoon-Jin Kim, Delma Limones and Gilda Sedgh. Also thanks to Katie Bishop and Reverend David Gushee.

Our Sponsors:There is no sponsor! Weirdly we couldn’t find any companies were like ‘hey yeah we want to advertise on an episode about one of the most controversial issues in America’. So… you should be our sponsor! Support quality journalism that isn’t afraid to tackle controversial topics. Become a Gimlet Member for $5 a month to support our shows and receive exclusive perks like early access to new show pilots, an invite to our member Slack, first notice about Gimlet events, and for our annual members, your choice of a newly redesigned Gimlet t-shirt (we recommend the Science VS design).

Further Reading:

• CDC Statistics on Abortion
• Guttmacher Institute Report on Abortion
• The Turnaway Study - Women’s Mental Health and Well-being 5 Years After Receiving or Being Denied an Abortion
• Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists - The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion
• Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists - Fetal Awareness

There are a lot of fads, blogs and strong opinions, but then there’s SCIENCE. Science Vs is the show from Gimlet Media that finds out what’s fact, what’s not, and what’s somewhere in between. We do the hard work of sifting through all the science so you don't have to. This season we tackle alcohol, fasting diets, DNA tests, race and the fertility cliff.