The Presence and Consequences of Abortion Aversion in Scientific Research Related to Alcohol Use during Pregnancy
Abstract
:1. Background
2. Shift from Recommendation of Abortion to Non-Acknowledgement of Abortion as an Outcome of Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancy
2.1. Early Recommendation of Abortion
2.2. Disappearance of Abortion Recommendation
2.3. Non-Acknowledgment of Abortion as a Possible Outcome
3. Concern that Abstinence Messages Lead to Terminations of Otherwise Wanted Pregnancies
4. Presumption of Abortion as Negative Pregnancy Outcome
5. Implications
6. Conclusions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Sokol, R.J.; Delaney-Black, V.; Nordstrom, B. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. JAMA 2003, 290, 2996–2999. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- O’Leary, C.M.; Bower, C. Guidelines for pregnancy: What’s an acceptable risk, and how is the evidence (finally) shaping up? Drug Alcohol Rev. 2012, 31, 170–183. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sayal, K.; Heron, J.; Golding, J.; Alati, R.; Smith, G.D.; Gray, R.; Emond, A. Binge pattern of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and childhood mental health outcomes: Longitudinal population-based study. Pediatrics 2009, 123, e289–e296. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- May, P.A.; Gossage, J.P.; Marais, A.S.; Hendricks, L.S.; Snell, C.L.; Tabachnick, B.G.; Stellavato, C.; Buckley, D.G.; Brooke, L.E.; Viljoen, D.L. Maternal risk factors for fetal alcohol syndrome and partial fetal alcohol syndrome in South Africa: A third study. Alcohol Clin. Exp. Res. 2008, 32, 738–753. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Strandberg-Larsen, K.; Gronboek, M.; Andersen, A.M.; Andersen, P.K.; Olsen, J. Alcohol drinking pattern during pregnancy and risk of infant mortality. Epidemiology 2009, 20, 884–891. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Popova, S.; Lange, S.; Probst, C.; Gmel, G.; Rehm, J. Global prevalence of alcohol use and binge drinking during pregnancy, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Biochem. Cell Biol. 2018, 96, 237–240. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Popova, S.; Lange, S.; Probst, C.; Gmel, G.; Rehm, J. Estimation of national, regional, and global prevalence of alcohol use during pregnancy and fetal alcohol syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Glob. Health 2017, 5, e290–e299. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Popova, S.; Lange, S.; Probst, C.; Parunashvili, N.; Rehm, J. Prevalence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders among the general and Aboriginal populations in Canada and the United States. Eur. J. Med. Genet. 2017, 60, 32–48. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Prevention. Alcohol consumption among pregnant and childbearing-aged women—United States, 1991 and 1995. MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 1997, 46, 346–350. [Google Scholar]
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alcohol use among women of childbearing age—United States, 1991–1999. MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 2002, 51, 273. [Google Scholar]
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alcohol use among pregnant and nonpregnant women of childbearing age—United States, 1991–2005. MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 2009, 58, 529–532. [Google Scholar]
- Zhao, G.; Ford, E.S.; Tsai, J.; Li, C.; Ahluwalia, I.B.; Pearson, W.S.; Balluz, L.S.; Croft, J.B. Trends in health-related behavioral risk factors among pregnant women in the United States: 2001–2009. J. Womens Health 2012, 21, 255–263. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Denny, C.H.; Acero, C.S.; Naimi, T.S.; Kim, S.Y. Consumption of alcohol beverages and binge drinking among pregnant women aged 18–44 years—United States, 2015–2017. MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 2019, 68, 365–368. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Roberts, S.C.M.; Thomas, S.; Treffers, R.; Drabble, L. Forty years of state alcohol and pregnancy policies in the USA: Best practices for public health or efforts to restrict women’s reproductive rights? Alcohol Alcohol. 2017, 52, 715–721. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Burris, S.; Ashe, M.; Levin, D.; Penn, M.; Larkin, M. A transdisciplinary approach to public health law: The emerging practice of legal epidemiology. Annu. Rev. Public Health 2016, 37, 135–148. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Roberts, S.; Mericle, A.; Subbaraman, M.; Thomas, S.; Treffers, R.; Delucchi, K.; Kerr, W. State policies targeting alcohol use during pregnancy and alcohol use among pregnant women 1985–2016: Evidence from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Women Health Issues 2019, 29, 213–221. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Subbaraman, M.S.; Thomas, S.; Treffers, R.; Delucchi, K.; Kerr, W.C.; Martinez, P.; Roberts, S.C.M. Associations between state-level policies regarding alcohol use among pregnant women, adverse birth outcomes, and prenatal care utilization: Results from 1972 to 2013 Vital Statistics. Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. 2018, 42, 1511–1517. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Subbaraman, M.S.; Roberts, S.C.M. Costs associated with policies regarding alcohol use during pregnancy: Results from 1972–2015 Vital Statistics. PLoS ONE 2019, 14, e0215670. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Woodruff, K.; Roberts, S.C.M. “Alcohol during pregnancy? Nobody does that any more”: State legislators’ use of evidence in making policy on alcohol use in pregnancy. J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs 2019, 80, 380–388. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Golden, J. “A tempest in a cocktail glass”: Mothers, alcohol, and television, 1977–1996. J. Health Politics Policy Law 2000, 25, 473–498. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Paltrow, L.M. The war on drugs and the war on abortion: Some initial thoughts on the connections, intersections and effects. Reprod. Health Matters 2002, 10, 162–170. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Guttmacher Institute. Last Five Years Account for More than One-Quarter of All Abortion Restrictions Enacted Since Roe; Guttmacher Institute: New York, NY, USA, 2016. [Google Scholar]
- Levels, M.; Sluiter, R.; Need, A. A review of abortion laws in Western-European countries. A cross-national comparison of legal developments between 1960 and 2010. Health Policy 2014, 118, 95–104. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Abortion USA. Available online: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(89)92869-9 (accessed on 4 May 2019).
- McKeegan, M. The politics of abortion: A historical perspective. Womens Health Issues 1993, 3, 127–131. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Joffe, C. What will become of reproductive issues in Trump’s America? Reprod. Health Matters 2017, 25, 1287826. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Weitz, T.A. Rethinking the mantra that abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare”. J Womens Hist. 2010, 22, 161–172. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Merriam-Webster. Definition of Aversion; Merriam-Webster: Springfield, MA, USA, 2019. [Google Scholar]
- Armstrong, E.M. Conceiving Risk, Bearing Responsibility: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the Diagnosis of Moral Disorder; The Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, MD, USA, 2003; p. 277. [Google Scholar]
- Warren, K.R.; Hewitt, B.G. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: When science, medicine, public policy, and laws collide. Dev. Disabil. Res. Rev. 2009, 15, 170–175. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Golden, J.L. Message in a Bottle: The Making of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome; Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA, USA, 2005; p. 232. [Google Scholar]
- Jones, K.L.; Smith, D.W. The fetal alcohol syndrome. Teratology 1975, 12, 1–10. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Beyers, N.; Moosa, A. The Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. S. Afr. Med. J. 1978, 54, 575–578. [Google Scholar]
- Majewski, F.; Fischbach, H.; Peiffer, J.; Bierich, J.R. Interruption of pregnancy in alcoholic women (author’s transl). Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. 1978, 103, 895–898. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Armstrong, E.M.; Abel, E.L. Fetal alcohol syndrome: The origins of a moral panic. Alcohol Alcohol. 2000, 35, 276–282. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- CFR. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations; CFR: New York, NY, USA, 2018; CFR 45, Part 46, Subpart B, 46.204. [Google Scholar]
- Floyd, R.L.; Decoufle, P.; Hungerford, D.W. Alcohol use prior to pregnancy recognition. Am. J. Prev. Med. 1999, 17, 101–107. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Green, P.P.; McKnight-Eily, L.R.; Tan, C.H.; Mejia, R.; Denny, C.H. Vital Signs: Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancies—United States, 2011–2013. MMWR. Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 2016, 65, 91–97. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 3 Million US Women at Risk for Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancy; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Atlanta, GA, USA, 2016. [Google Scholar]
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alcohol and Pregnancy: Why Take the Risk? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Atlanta, GA, USA, 2016. [Google Scholar]
- Crawford, C. Dissecting the CDC’s Advice to Avoid Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancies; AAFP News: Leawood, KS, USA, 2016. [Google Scholar]
- Cunha, D. The CDC’s Alcohol Warning Shames and Discriminates Against Women; Time Magazine: New York, NY, USA, 2016. [Google Scholar]
- Donnelly, T. The CDC’s New Alcohol Guidelines for Women, Updated for Men. Available online: http://brokelyn.com/cdc-alcohol-guidelines-for-a-violent-man/ (accessed on 13 June 2019).
- Golden, J. Women and Alcohol: Let’s Talk About the Real Problem. Available online: http://nursingclio.org/2016/02/06/women-and-alcohol-lets-talk-about-the-real-problem/ (accessed on 29 March 2017).
- ACOG. Prenatal Development: How Your Baby Grows During Pregnancy; ACOG: Washington, DC, USA, 2018. [Google Scholar]
- CFR 45, Part 46, Subpart B, 46.202. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Available online: https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=83cd09e1c0f5c6937cd9d7513160fc3f&pitd=20180719&n=pt45.1.46&r=PART&ty=HTML#se45.1.46_1201 (accessed on 13 June 2019).
- National Right to Life. When does Life Begin? National Right to Life: Washington, DC, USA, 2019. [Google Scholar]
- Roberts, S.C.M.; Thompson, K.M. Estimating the Prevalence of United States Women with Alcohol-exposed Pregnancies and Births. Womens Health Issues 2019, 29, 188–193. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Diekman, S.T.; Floyd, R.L.; Decoufle, P.; Schulkin, J.; Ebrahim, S.H.; Sokol, R.J. A survey of obstetrician-gynecologists on their patients’ alcohol use during pregnancy. Obstet. Gynecol. 2000, 95, 756–763. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ammon Avalos, L.; Kaskutas, L.A.; Block, G.; Li, D.K. Do multivitamin supplements modify the relationship between prenatal alcohol intake and miscarriage? Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 2009, 201, 563.e1–563.e9. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Jacobson, S.W.; Carter, R.C.; Molteno, C.D.; Stanton, M.E.; Herbert, J.S.; Lindinger, N.M.; Lewis, C.E.; Dodge, N.C.; Hoyme, H.E.; Zeisel, S.H.; et al. Efficacy of maternal choline supplementation during pregnancy in mitigating adverse effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on growth and cognitive function: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Alcohol Clin. Exp. Res. 2018, 42, 1327–1341. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- May, P.A.; Gossage, J.P. Maternal risk factors for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: Not as simple as it might seem. Alcohol Res. Health 2011, 34, 15–26. [Google Scholar]
- May, P.A.; Hamrick, K.J.; Corbin, K.D.; Hasken, J.M.; Marais, A.S.; Blankenship, J.; Hoyme, H.E.; Gossage, J.P. Maternal nutritional status as a contributing factor for the risk of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Reprod. Toxicol. 2016, 59, 101–108. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Roberts, D.E. Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty; Vintage: New York, NY, USA, 1999. [Google Scholar]
- Schedler, G. Does society have the right to force pregnant drug addicts to abort their fetuses? Soc. Theory Pract. 1991, 17, 369–384. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kolata, G. Woman in abortion dispute ends her pregnancy. N. Y. Times Web. 1992, A10. [Google Scholar]
- Hennelly, M.; Yi, J.; Batkis, M.; Chisolm, M.S. Termination of pregnancy in two patients during psychiatric hospitalization for depressive symptoms and substance dependence. Psychosomatics 2011, 52, 482–485. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- O’Leary, C.M.; Heuzenroeder, L.; Elliott, E.J.; Bower, C. A review of policies on alcohol use during pregnancy in Australia and other English-speaking countries, 2006. Med. J. Aust. 2007, 186, 466–471. [Google Scholar]
- Lipson, A.H.; Webster, W.S. Response to letters dealing with warning labels on alcoholic beverages. Teratology 1990, 41, 479–489. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Koren, G. Drinking and pregnancy. CMAJ 1991, 145, 1552–1554. [Google Scholar]
- Koren, G.; Koren, T.; Gladstone, J. Mild maternal drinking and pregnancy outcome: Perceived versus true risks. Clin. Chim. Acta 1996, 246, 155–162. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Todorow, M.; Moore, T.E.; Koren, G. Investigating the effects of low to moderate levels of prenatal alcohol exposure on child behaviour: A critical review. J. Popul. Ther. Clin. Pharmacol. 2010, 17, e323–e330. [Google Scholar]
- Carson, G.; Cox, L.V.; Crane, J.; Croteau, P.; Graves, L.; Kluka, S.; Koren, G.; Martel, M.J.; Midmer, D.; Nulman, I.; et al. Alcohol use and pregnancy consensus clinical guidelines. J. Obstet. Gynaecol. Can. 2010, 32, S1–S2. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- ACOG. Committee opinion no. 473: Substance abuse reporting and pregnancy: The role of the obstetrician-gynecologist. Obstet. Gynecol. 2011, 117, 200–201. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Avery, M.R.; Droste, N.; Giorgi, C.; Ferguson, A.; Martino, F.; Coomber, K.; Miller, P. Mechanisms of influence: Alcohol industry submissions to the inquiry into fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2016, 35, 665–672. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- McCambridge, J.; Mialon, M. Alcohol industry involvement in science: A systematic review of the perspectives of the alcohol research community. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2018, 37, 565–579. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- McCambridge, J.; Mialon, M.; Hawkins, B. Alcohol industry involvement in policymaking: A systematic review. Addiction 2018, 113, 1571–1584. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Roberts, S.C.M.; Avalos, L.A.; Sinkford, D.; Foster, D.G. Alcohol, tobacco and drug use as reasons for abortion. Alcohol Alcohol. 2012, 47, 640–648. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- O’Leary, C.M. Alcohol and Pregnancy: Do Abstinence Policies Have Unintended Consequences? Alcohol Alcohol. 2012, 47, 638–639. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kesmodel, U.S.; Urbute, A. Changes in drinking patterns, attitudes towards and knowledge about alcohol consumption during pregnancy in a population of pregnant Danish women. Alcohol Clin. Exp. Res. 2019, 43, 1213–1219. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Armstrong, M.A.; Kaskutas, L.A.; Witbrodt, J.; Taillac, C.J.; Hung, Y.Y.; Osejo, V.M.; Escobar, G.J. Using drink size to talk about drinking during pregnancy: A randomized clinical trial of Early Start Plus. Soc. Work Health Care 2009, 48, 90–103. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gerdts, C.; Dobkin, L.; Foster, D.G.; Schwarz, E.B. Side effects, physical health consequences, and mortality associated with abortion and birth after an unwanted pregnancy. Womens Health Issues 2016, 26, 55–59. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Foster, D.G.; Biggs, M.A.; Ralph, L.; Gerdts, C.; Roberts, S.; Glymour, M.M. Socioeconomic outcomes of women who receive and women who are denied wanted abortions in the United States. Am. J. Public Health 2018, 108, 407–413. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Roberts, S.C.M.; Biggs, M.A.; Chibber, K.S.; Gould, H.; Rocca, C.H.; Foster, D.G. Risk of violence from the man involved in the pregnancy after receiving or being denied an abortion. BMC Med. 2014, 12, 144. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Raymond, E.G.; Grimes, D.A. The comparative safety of legal induced abortion and childbirth in the United States. Obstet. Gynecol. 2012, 119, 215–219. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Berglas, N.F.; Johns, N.E.; Rosenzweig, C.; Hunter, L.A.; Roberts, S.C.M. State and local health department activities related to abortion: A web site content analysis. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 2018, 24, 255–262. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhang, B.; Nian, Y.; Palmer, M.; Chen, Q.; Wellings, K.; Oniffrey, T.M.; Yu, T.; Huang, L.; Fan, S.; Du, Y.; et al. An ecological perspective on risk factors for repeat induced abortion in China. Sex. Reprod. Healthc. 2018, 18, 43–47. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Taft, A.J.; Powell, R.L.; Watson, L.F.; Lucke, J.C.; Mazza, D.; McNamee, K. Factors associated with induced abortion over time: Secondary data analysis of five waves of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. Aust. N. Z. J. Public Health 2019, 43, 137–142. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Martino, S.C.; Collins, R.L.; Ellickson, P.L.; Klein, D.J. Exploring the link between substance abuse and abortion: The roles of unconventionality and unplanned pregnancy. Perspect. Sex. Reprod. Health 2006, 38, 66–75. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Massaro, L.T.S.; Abdalla, R.R.; Laranjeira, R.; Caetano, R.; Pinsky, I.; Madruga, C.S. Alcohol misuse among women in Brazil: Recent trends and associations with unprotected sex, early pregnancy, and abortion. Braz. J. Psychiatry 2019, 41, 131–137. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Tran, N.T.; Clavarino, A.; Williams, G.M.; Najman, J.M. Life course outcomes for women with different alcohol consumption trajectories: A population-based longitudinal study. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2016, 35, 763–771. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Dong, Y.; Zhang, H.; Wang, Y.; Tao, H.; Xu, S.; Xia, J.; Huang, W.; He, H.; Zaller, N.; Operario, D. Multiple abortions and sexually transmitted infections among young migrant women working in entertainment venues in China. Women Health 2015, 55, 580–594. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Keenan, K.; Grundy, E.; Kenward, M.G.; Leon, D.A. Women’s risk of repeat abortions is strongly associated with alcohol consumption: A longitudinal analysis of a Russian national panel study, 1994–2009. PLoS ONE 2014, 9, e90356. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Abdala, N.; Zhan, W.; Shaboltas, A.V.; Skochilov, R.V.; Kozlov, A.P.; Krasnoselskikh, T.V. Correlates of abortions and condom use among high risk women attending an STD clinic in St. Petersburg, Russia. Reprod. Health 2011, 8, 28. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
© 2019 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Roberts, S.C.M. The Presence and Consequences of Abortion Aversion in Scientific Research Related to Alcohol Use during Pregnancy. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 2888. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16162888
Roberts SCM. The Presence and Consequences of Abortion Aversion in Scientific Research Related to Alcohol Use during Pregnancy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16(16):2888. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16162888
Chicago/Turabian StyleRoberts, Sarah C.M. 2019. "The Presence and Consequences of Abortion Aversion in Scientific Research Related to Alcohol Use during Pregnancy" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 16: 2888. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16162888