I don't often read Time magazine, but a few articles lately have caught my attention, and not in a good way. "Choosy moms choose caesareans" (found here) perpetuates the myth of the "maternal choice" caesarean. While the article's authors were able to find a lady who truly sprung for elective abdominal surgery to deliver her baby, such women are the exception rather than the rule. The only survey to actually ask women if they chose c-section (the Listening to Mothers survey, found here) found that many women in fact felt pressured by their doctors to undergo the surgery.  I firmly believe that a woman's informed choices around pregnancy and birth should be honored. I bet, though, that this woman's wasn't told that her risk of dying was quadrupled by choosing surgical over vaginal birth for her baby, and I bet no one discussed with her the epidemic of physician-caused prematurity that has risen along with the c-section rate (reported by the New York Times here.  Nonetheless, I'm glad the woman featured in the article had her birth choices respected by her care provider.  But, should she decide she wants a vaginal birth for her second baby, she'll likely see the tables turn.  In spite of the fact that there is evidence that VBAC is safer for moms and babies than repeat surgery, most likely this woman would be unable to find a provider who would respect her choice to VBAC. If she lived in my home state of Washington, there's be one hospital in Seattle she could go to, or she could find a midwife practicing off the radar, risking her own neck to offer women the choice to VBAC in a very hostile climate.  So, Time Magazine, where's the article supporting women's choices to birth vaginally?

I guess they were too busy writing the article undermining women's choices to terminate a pregnancy.  "Study Links Abortion and Preemies" (found here) has quite a title, but they're already backpedaling by the second sentence.  The data is from 1959 to 1966.  Roe v. Wade?  1973.  So, yes, folks, if we're talking about data from a time where abortions were illegal (and we include miscarriages as "abortions," which the study also does) then, yes, we've got a study that links abortion and premature births.  Please note:  this study does not demonstrate a link between safe, legal abortion performed by a  trained health care provider and ANYTHING.  "Women  need to be informed about these risks," says the researcher who  penned the study.  But the truth is, as Time points out, this study doesn't really say anything about  risks to women who choose abortion today.  Grr.