Politics & Government
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The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having—or Being Denied—an Abortion
"If you read only one book about democracy, The Turnaway Study should be it. Why? Because without the power to make decisions about our own bodies, there is no democracy." -Gloria Steinem
The "remarkable" (The New Yorker) landmark study of the consequences on women's lives-emotional, physical, financial, professional, personal, and psychological-of receiving versus being denied an abortion that "should be required reading for every judge, member of Congress, and candidate for office-as well as anyone who hopes to better understand this complex and important issue" (Cecile Richards).
What happens when a woman seeking an abortion is turned away? To answer this question, Diana Greene Foster assembled a team of scientists-psychologists, epidemiologists, demographers, nurses, physicians, economists, sociologists, and public health researchers-to conduct a ten-year study. They followed a thousand women from across America, some of whom received abortions, some of whom were turned away. Now, for the first time, Dr. Foster presents the results of this landmark study in one extraordinary, groundbreaking book.
Judges, politicians, and pro-life advocates routinely defend their anti-abortion stance by claiming that abortion is physically risky and leads to depression and remorse. Dr. Foster's data proves the opposite to be true. Foster documents the outcomes for women who received and were denied an abortion, analyzing the impact on their mental and physical health, their careers, their romantic relationships, and their other children, if they have them. Women who received an abortion were better off by almost every measure than women who did not, and five years after they receive an abortion, 99 percent of women do not regret it.
As the national debate around abortion intensifies, The Turnaway Study offers the first thorough, data-driven examination of the negative consequences for women who cannot get abortions and provides incontrovertible evidence to refute the claim that abortion harms women. Interwoven with the study findings are ten "engaging, in-depth" (Ms. Magazine) first-person narratives. Candid, intimate, and deeply revealing, they bring to life the women and the stories behind the science.
Revelatory, essential, and "particularly relevant now" (HuffPost), this is a must-read for anyone who cares about the impact of abortion and abortion restrictions on people's lives.
The "remarkable" (The New Yorker) landmark study of the consequences on women's lives-emotional, physical, financial, professional, personal, and psychological-of receiving versus being denied an abortion that "should be required reading for every judge, member of Congress, and candidate for office-as well as anyone who hopes to better understand this complex and important issue" (Cecile Richards).
What happens when a woman seeking an abortion is turned away? To answer this question, Diana Greene Foster assembled a team of scientists-psychologists, epidemiologists, demographers, nurses, physicians, economists, sociologists, and public health researchers-to conduct a ten-year study. They followed a thousand women from across America, some of whom received abortions, some of whom were turned away. Now, for the first time, Dr. Foster presents the results of this landmark study in one extraordinary, groundbreaking book.
Judges, politicians, and pro-life advocates routinely defend their anti-abortion stance by claiming that abortion is physically risky and leads to depression and remorse. Dr. Foster's data proves the opposite to be true. Foster documents the outcomes for women who received and were denied an abortion, analyzing the impact on their mental and physical health, their careers, their romantic relationships, and their other children, if they have them. Women who received an abortion were better off by almost every measure than women who did not, and five years after they receive an abortion, 99 percent of women do not regret it.
As the national debate around abortion intensifies, The Turnaway Study offers the first thorough, data-driven examination of the negative consequences for women who cannot get abortions and provides incontrovertible evidence to refute the claim that abortion harms women. Interwoven with the study findings are ten "engaging, in-depth" (Ms. Magazine) first-person narratives. Candid, intimate, and deeply revealing, they bring to life the women and the stories behind the science.
Revelatory, essential, and "particularly relevant now" (HuffPost), this is a must-read for anyone who cares about the impact of abortion and abortion restrictions on people's lives.
Editorial Reviews
"A remarkable piece of research.... The Turnaway Study will be understood, criticized, and used politically, however carefully conceived and painstakingly executed the research was. Given that inevitability, it's worth underlining the most helpful political work that the study does. In light of its findings, the rationale for so many recent abortion restrictions-namely, that abortion is uniquely harmful to the people who choose it-simply topples."
-The New Yorker
"Foster's findings are particularly relevant now, as the coronavirus pandemic, the economic downturn and ongoing efforts to restrict abortion access have made the procedure even more difficult for many to obtain."
-The Huffington Post
"The Turnaway Study provides definitive evidence that abortion access strongly enhances women's health and well-being, whereas denying abortion results in physical and economic harm. Based on a ten-year investigation, the book combines engaging, in-depth stories of women who received and were denied abortion care along with study data from 50 peer-reviewed papers published in top medical and social science journals."
-Ms. magazine
"Required reading for anyone concerned with reproductive justice."
-Kirkus, starred
"If you read only one book about democracy, The Turnaway Study should be it. Why? Because without the power to make decisions about our own bodies, there is no democracy. There is no freedom and justice without reproductive freedom and justice."
-Gloria Steinem
"Dr. Foster brings what is too often missing from the public debate around abortion: science, data, and the real-life experiences of people from diverse backgrounds. Dr. Foster's book offers the first in-depth look at the impact of being denied abortion on mental and physical health, economic wellbeing, relationships, and families. This should be required reading for every judge, member of Congres...
-The New Yorker
"Foster's findings are particularly relevant now, as the coronavirus pandemic, the economic downturn and ongoing efforts to restrict abortion access have made the procedure even more difficult for many to obtain."
-The Huffington Post
"The Turnaway Study provides definitive evidence that abortion access strongly enhances women's health and well-being, whereas denying abortion results in physical and economic harm. Based on a ten-year investigation, the book combines engaging, in-depth stories of women who received and were denied abortion care along with study data from 50 peer-reviewed papers published in top medical and social science journals."
-Ms. magazine
"Required reading for anyone concerned with reproductive justice."
-Kirkus, starred
"If you read only one book about democracy, The Turnaway Study should be it. Why? Because without the power to make decisions about our own bodies, there is no democracy. There is no freedom and justice without reproductive freedom and justice."
-Gloria Steinem
"Dr. Foster brings what is too often missing from the public debate around abortion: science, data, and the real-life experiences of people from diverse backgrounds. Dr. Foster's book offers the first in-depth look at the impact of being denied abortion on mental and physical health, economic wellbeing, relationships, and families. This should be required reading for every judge, member of Congres...
Readers Top Reviews
Margaret R. AllisonS
Everyone needs to read this book. I'm on page 51 after receiving it today and I'm leaving my house to buy a new highlighter. Well written smart book about the realities people face around abortion. Gut wrenching to hear what happens when women are denied the right to choose what happens to their bodies.
A. Katzman
This book is brilliant. It's highly readable and at times even funny (yes, funny!). I think that no matter your politics on abortion that you will find something valuable in this book. In our time of great suffering, division and lies, this book which is grounded in facts, is a source of light.
K. Jones
This should be required reading before anyone opens their mouth on this subject. It would be the perfect place to start a conversation about making abortion unnecessary, which should be everyone’s goal. “Safe, legal and RARE.” No one *likes* abortion and no one wants to need one. Instead of judging each other, woman (along side men who truly love and respect them) should work together to support each other. *Please*, my sisters, don’t be fooled. Wake up and realize that the politics surrounding this subject have nothing to do with babies or abortion. The bottom line is really all about controlling woman and relieving us of those pesky things called human rights and that silly desire for equality.
JDD
Should be required reading for ALL Americans, especially for Christians and men. Grow up, America. And stay OUT of our personal lives. Republican aka American Taliban hypocrisy has NO place in this country.
Deborah
Finally, some well designed scientific data about the effects of abortion. This is a report on a variety of measures from a study comparing the effects on women and their children on being able to get an abortion with a similar group who wanted an abortion but were unable to access it to better delineate what effects the abortion had compared to other factors associated with being in the situation of wanting to have an abortion. This is an improvement over comparing a general group of women giving birth to those who got an abortion because the groups are different to begin with. In this study the groups were very similar at the beginning. I used to review articles for scientific journals and I could see no evidence of bias. The portion on mental health effects is consistent with my clinical experience as a psychiatrist for 40 years. I hope people can read about a study without preconceived ideas that abortion must be harmful when the study does not support that. The book is well written and alternates between a discussion of the data on each topic with interviews with women talking about their abortion or having to have the child, which gives a human face to the study. The findings were reasonable easy to follow, although a few of the figures were confusing. I hope people who are curious about the physical, mental, and economic effects of abortion on women and their children vs. being denied, as well as those curious about the reasons the women want an abortion and why they waited so long, will read this book. I highly recommend it.
Short Excerpt Teaser
Amy AMY
I just couldn't imagine starting over and doing it all again. I would be depriving my first child by having to support a second one.
I was born in Texas, and I lived there with my mom and my dad. My mom worked in a nursing home. My dad was a mechanic. They divorced when I was a little kid. My parents are remarried and have their own families now. So we're still here in Texas.
When my parents got divorced, it really wasn't the best time for a kid. So I don't really remember a whole lot other than my grandparents, who had a farm. You know, there was lots of animals. But my parents were both very good parents. I can remember they were good.
My husband and I, we've been together since high school. We had just got married when I became pregnant. When we found out that I was pregnant with our first child, our only child, I was 17, and we had considered adoption. Well, we had picked out a family, and she actually went there for about two weeks until we changed our mind. We had thought, you know, if we couldn't give her the life that she deserved, then we'll give somebody else the opportunity to. We had signed the papers and everything that we were supposed to do. And she was with the family. It was so sad. I tried to separate the postpartum blues from my own emotions. And then I realized it's not postpartum. This is our child. We need to get her back and raise her even if we have to struggle or we have to sacrifice different things. We'll make it work. So we got her back.
We were just living the American dream and just living one day at a time and trying to raise a daughter the best we could. We talked about having more kids when our daughter was younger. My husband would say, "You know, we should have one more." And first I was like, "Yeah, well, when she's four." And then I was like, "Okay, when she's five or when she's six or when she's seven." And then it just became-there's really no point in starting over. She's in school and there was no time, no room, no money, no nothing for an extra mouth to feed. Every marriage has its challenges. Was it anything out of the ordinary? No. We were just like any other married couple, I guess.
I was living with my husband and my daughter when I became pregnant again. At that time I was coaching figure skating and my daughter was ten. I was working, and living life, and stuff happens and there you are. We have to make decisions.
We weren't struggling, but we had recently bought a house. My daughter was a figure skater, which was quite expensive. It was a good chunk of money each month to do that. And we were planning to send her to a private school. I felt like I wanted to give one kid everything that I possibly could. I couldn't fathom giving two children all the things that I wanted to be able to give one.
When I found out I was pregnant again, I had mixed emotions. I was kind of scared, like, okay, what are we going to do? Sad because I already knew that I never wanted any more children.
My husband was-he had mixed emotions as well. He couldn't believe that it had happened, because even though we had the one child, she was pretty much a miracle baby because my husband cannot have children, and here we were expecting another. When he was a teenager, my husband had a medical issue. And when he got finished with his surgeries, they told him the likelihood for him to have any children would be slim to none. So our first one was a surprise because we never thought that he would ever be able to have children. So when we found out that I was pregnant the second time, it was a lot to deal with.
I remember I told my husband on his birthday that I was pregnant. And he had asked me, he said, "Well, what are we going to do?"
So, on this new pregnancy, we already knew what the options were. We already knew that adoption wasn't going to work. That just wasn't in our blood. So we looked at the route of the abortion. And that just fit our plan better. When I went to my doctor, who I'd been seeing for the past ten years, she knew that I never wanted any more children, so she gave me a pamphlet, and I had to call and set up an appointment.
There were some protesters outside the clinic. There weren't very many, and it didn't faze me. I knew what I wanted to do, and I'm a pretty strong-willed person. So they weren't going to change my mind. But I guess if some people were uncertain about their decision, then it could have affected them. But I just went on in. In the clinic, I was super nervous. One, you don't want to see anybody that you know. So you just hold your head down and just get through it. We saw all types of different people there. But the staff was wonderful....
I just couldn't imagine starting over and doing it all again. I would be depriving my first child by having to support a second one.
I was born in Texas, and I lived there with my mom and my dad. My mom worked in a nursing home. My dad was a mechanic. They divorced when I was a little kid. My parents are remarried and have their own families now. So we're still here in Texas.
When my parents got divorced, it really wasn't the best time for a kid. So I don't really remember a whole lot other than my grandparents, who had a farm. You know, there was lots of animals. But my parents were both very good parents. I can remember they were good.
My husband and I, we've been together since high school. We had just got married when I became pregnant. When we found out that I was pregnant with our first child, our only child, I was 17, and we had considered adoption. Well, we had picked out a family, and she actually went there for about two weeks until we changed our mind. We had thought, you know, if we couldn't give her the life that she deserved, then we'll give somebody else the opportunity to. We had signed the papers and everything that we were supposed to do. And she was with the family. It was so sad. I tried to separate the postpartum blues from my own emotions. And then I realized it's not postpartum. This is our child. We need to get her back and raise her even if we have to struggle or we have to sacrifice different things. We'll make it work. So we got her back.
We were just living the American dream and just living one day at a time and trying to raise a daughter the best we could. We talked about having more kids when our daughter was younger. My husband would say, "You know, we should have one more." And first I was like, "Yeah, well, when she's four." And then I was like, "Okay, when she's five or when she's six or when she's seven." And then it just became-there's really no point in starting over. She's in school and there was no time, no room, no money, no nothing for an extra mouth to feed. Every marriage has its challenges. Was it anything out of the ordinary? No. We were just like any other married couple, I guess.
I was living with my husband and my daughter when I became pregnant again. At that time I was coaching figure skating and my daughter was ten. I was working, and living life, and stuff happens and there you are. We have to make decisions.
We weren't struggling, but we had recently bought a house. My daughter was a figure skater, which was quite expensive. It was a good chunk of money each month to do that. And we were planning to send her to a private school. I felt like I wanted to give one kid everything that I possibly could. I couldn't fathom giving two children all the things that I wanted to be able to give one.
When I found out I was pregnant again, I had mixed emotions. I was kind of scared, like, okay, what are we going to do? Sad because I already knew that I never wanted any more children.
My husband was-he had mixed emotions as well. He couldn't believe that it had happened, because even though we had the one child, she was pretty much a miracle baby because my husband cannot have children, and here we were expecting another. When he was a teenager, my husband had a medical issue. And when he got finished with his surgeries, they told him the likelihood for him to have any children would be slim to none. So our first one was a surprise because we never thought that he would ever be able to have children. So when we found out that I was pregnant the second time, it was a lot to deal with.
I remember I told my husband on his birthday that I was pregnant. And he had asked me, he said, "Well, what are we going to do?"
So, on this new pregnancy, we already knew what the options were. We already knew that adoption wasn't going to work. That just wasn't in our blood. So we looked at the route of the abortion. And that just fit our plan better. When I went to my doctor, who I'd been seeing for the past ten years, she knew that I never wanted any more children, so she gave me a pamphlet, and I had to call and set up an appointment.
There were some protesters outside the clinic. There weren't very many, and it didn't faze me. I knew what I wanted to do, and I'm a pretty strong-willed person. So they weren't going to change my mind. But I guess if some people were uncertain about their decision, then it could have affected them. But I just went on in. In the clinic, I was super nervous. One, you don't want to see anybody that you know. So you just hold your head down and just get through it. We saw all types of different people there. But the staff was wonderful....
