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AS AN obstetrician-gynaecologist trained to rely on the best scientific evidence to diagnose and treat my patients, and as a professional who performs abortions, I’ve witnessed many examples of personal moral beliefs trumping scientific evidence. But these days, individuals’ personal beliefs are also being trumped – by the ideologies of powerful institutions. These pressures can produce abuses of science and self-censorship, even among doctors and scientists.
One of the most insidious examples of scientific abuse is the belief that abortion is psychologically damaging. A proposed law in South Dakota would ban most abortions on the grounds that “an abortion subjects the…
