{"id":45016,"date":"2014-01-10T15:43:02","date_gmt":"2014-01-10T20:43:02","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=45016"},"modified":"2016-09-08T15:40:57","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T19:40:57","slug":"slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/","title":{"rendered":"Slate admits &#8220;sonograms change minds&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12854\" alt=\"ultrasound\" src=\"\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/dreamstime_xs_19503756-300x200.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/dreamstime_xs_19503756-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/dreamstime_xs_19503756.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll never forget the sonogram I had of my now 2-year-old daughter at around 10 weeks pregnant.\u00a0From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I was ambivalent. Part of me felt certain that I wanted to have the baby. On the other hand, I struggled with the reality of rearranging my life in order to take on motherhood at age 25. I questioned every day whether I was making the right choice.<\/p>\n<p>Then I saw my 8-week-old fetus arching her back, rolling around, and extending her arms and legs in the womb. Although no one was pressuring me to \u201ckeep it,\u201d I decided on my own that I had passed the point of no return. I was continuing the pregnancy. After seeing the sonogram, I finally felt confident that it was what I wanted.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Since then, I\u2019ve listened to pro-lifers and feminists bicker back and forth about whether viewing an ultrasound has any effect on a pregnant woman\u2019s decision-making. Pro-lifers have published their own studies arguing that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lifenews.com\/2013\/02\/07\/78-of-pregnant-women-seeing-an-ultrasound-reject-abortions\/\">up to 78% of women seeking abortion change their mind when they view these images<\/a>. Feminists say that\u2019s bunk, and argue that women know exactly what they\u2019re doing when they enter an abortion clinic.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, I was surprised to see a headline on the left-leaning Slate.com that declares, \u201cA new study finds that for a small percentage of women, sonograms change minds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Slate\u2019s Katy Waldman <a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/blogs\/xx_factor\/2014\/01\/09\/ultrasound_viewing_before_an_abortion_a_new_study_finds_that_for_a_small.html\">reports on a new study<\/a> in the journal <i>Obstetrics &amp; Gynecology<\/i>, which examined patient records from an urban abortion clinic in Los Angeles. Waldman emphasizes that of the women who opted to see the sonogram (and most didn\u2019t), the vast majority still had their abortions. But for a small minority, the images seemed to confirm that they never wanted an abortion to begin with.<\/p>\n<p>Each patient seeking an abortion was asked how she felt about her choice: Those who made \u201cclear and confident\u201d replies were rated as having \u201chigh decision certainty,\u201d while those who seemed sad, angry, or ambivalent were said to show \u201cmedium\u201d or \u201clow\u201d decision certainty. (Only 7.4 percent of the women fell into the latter categories)\u2026 The women who viewed the sonograms and then backed out were all part of that 7.4 percent of women with low or medium decision certainty. For the 1.6 percent who decided not to go through with it, other factors, such as gestational age, were more salient in swaying them. (\u201cIt is the information the ultrasound scan renders &#8230; rather than the image that influences women\u2019s decision-making,\u201d the researchers write.)<\/p>\n<p>In other words, an ultrasound can provide crucial information for the woman who\u2019s still on the fence about whether to have an abortion. She might discover that she\u2019s farther along than she thought, or that her \u201cfetus\u201d is more baby-like than she imagined. Isn\u2019t it best to offer the ambivalent patient this information first, rather than go ahead and perform an abortion?<\/p>\n<p>Even Waldman says yes, although she opposes making it mandatory: \u201cFew pro-choicers would dream of denying a woman considering abortion the opportunity to peruse her ultrasound, if she wanted to.\u201d The researchers at <em>Obstetrics &amp; Gynecology<\/em> agree: \u201cpatient satisfaction and health outcomes \u2026 are enhanced when patients feel control over decisions related to their care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For some, an ultrasound image can provide the information they need to \u201ctake control\u201d and continue their pregnancies. Even where they\u2019re not required by law, clinics should at least offer women the chance to view their sonogram before making an irreversible choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ll never forget the sonogram I had of my now 2-year-old daughter at around 10 weeks pregnant.\u00a0From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I was ambivalent. Part of me felt certain that I wanted to have the baby. On the other hand, I struggled with the reality of rearranging my life in order [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":12854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Slate admits &quot;sonograms change minds&quot; - Live Action News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Slate admits &quot;sonograms change minds&quot; - Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019ll never forget the sonogram I had of my now 2-year-old daughter at around 10 weeks pregnant.\u00a0From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I was ambivalent. Part of me felt certain that I wanted to have the baby. On the other hand, I struggled with the reality of rearranging my life in order [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-10T20:43:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-08T19:40:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/dreamstime_xs_19503756.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ashley Herzog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ashley Herzog\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ashley Herzog\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/1192a6947a902cd81e96e9d6877be819\"},\"headline\":\"Slate admits &#8220;sonograms change minds&#8221;\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-10T20:43:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-08T19:40:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/\"},\"wordCount\":591,\"commentCount\":9,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/\",\"name\":\"Slate admits \\\"sonograms change minds\\\" - Live Action News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-10T20:43:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-08T19:40:57+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Slate admits &#8220;sonograms change minds&#8221;\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, &amp; Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/1192a6947a902cd81e96e9d6877be819\",\"name\":\"Ashley Herzog\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5dea00f340db82ca2ea1754b28f9e7a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5dea00f340db82ca2ea1754b28f9e7a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ashley Herzog\"},\"description\":\"Ashley Herzog is an Ohio-based writer. She is a longtime contributor to Townhall.com and has appeared on FOX News' \\\"Hannity's America.\\\" She can be reached at aebristow85@gmail.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/ashleyherzog\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Slate admits \"sonograms change minds\" - Live Action News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Slate admits \"sonograms change minds\" - Live Action News","og_description":"I\u2019ll never forget the sonogram I had of my now 2-year-old daughter at around 10 weeks pregnant.\u00a0From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I was ambivalent. Part of me felt certain that I wanted to have the baby. On the other hand, I struggled with the reality of rearranging my life in order [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2014-01-10T20:43:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-09-08T19:40:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"480","height":"320","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/dreamstime_xs_19503756.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ashley Herzog","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ashley Herzog","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/"},"author":{"name":"Ashley Herzog","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/1192a6947a902cd81e96e9d6877be819"},"headline":"Slate admits &#8220;sonograms change minds&#8221;","datePublished":"2014-01-10T20:43:02+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-08T19:40:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/"},"wordCount":591,"commentCount":9,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/","name":"Slate admits \"sonograms change minds\" - Live Action News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-01-10T20:43:02+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-08T19:40:57+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/slate-admits-sonograms-change-minds\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Slate admits &#8220;sonograms change minds&#8221;"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, &amp; Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/1192a6947a902cd81e96e9d6877be819","name":"Ashley Herzog","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5dea00f340db82ca2ea1754b28f9e7a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5dea00f340db82ca2ea1754b28f9e7a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ashley Herzog"},"description":"Ashley Herzog is an Ohio-based writer. She is a longtime contributor to Townhall.com and has appeared on FOX News' \"Hannity's America.\" She can be reached at aebristow85@gmail.com.","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/ashleyherzog\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45016"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45016"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125718,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45016\/revisions\/125718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}