Mental Health

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 12, 2006

London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A British pro-life group placed advertisements in six women's magazines there to gather the experiences of women who had abortions and find out their reaction to their decision years down the road. More than 82 percent of the women who responded indicated they deeply regretted their abortion decisions.

Some 248 women replied to the ads sponsored by the group LIFE between April and early July.

Just 26 said they had a few or no regrets about their abortions, including one 74 year-old woman who had three abortions in the 1960s and 70s and another who had aborted twins.

Of that small group of women, they indicated they had no other alternative than the abortion or said it was the "right thing" at that moment in their lives. Still, many said they would not want to do it again. Nine other women said they were undecided about their abortion experiences.

However, 204 of the 248 women said they deeply regretted their abortions.

LIFE asked 96 women in a follow-up survey whether they would have gone through with the abortion had they known the medical and emotional problems abortions can cause. Sixty-four of the women answered no and most very emphatically.

Virtually all of the women said that women considering abortions should be given more information on potential problems. Most said they were only told there would be an inordinate amount of bleeding but were given little or no counseling or information.

The survey found some of the women who had abortions had severe problems afterwards, including 14 who had seriously contemplated or attempted suicide, 15 who had developed alcohol addictions, and three who had severe eating disorders.

Five confessed to abusing drugs, several had emotional breakdowns and another four said they got pregnant again quickly to have "atonement" babies.

LIFE reported that most women reported the kind of post-abortion syndrome issues abortion advocates routinely deny, including anger, shame, guilt, self-hatred, loss of confidence, nightmares, flashbacks, and the pain of anniversaries.

Some of the comments from women who regretted their abortions included: "it completely ruined my life", "I felt crippled, crucified, stupid, insane," "I felt dirty and ashamed," "I'm totally grief-stricken, I want my baby and I feel like a monster," "it was the worst mistake of my life... I cry all the time," "every baby I see I yearn for the one I got rid of."

Most of the women surveyed said they were treated poorly by abortion facility staff.

They talked about being treated "like cattle," "conveyor-belted" and "pushed by bossy nurses."

"They described the bleak atmosphere of waiting rooms and abortion clinics, and how they were often crying when they came round from the anesthetic," LIFE reported.

One woman talked about having an abortion with the mifepristone abortion drug. She discussed how she gave birth to her dead baby at a gas station and flushed the baby's body down the toilet.

Women's abortion regrets did not seem to vary based on how long ago they had the abortion.

A 61-year-old had had her abortion in 1970 and still feels "very guilty and sad"; another 30 years on and [has] never stopped grieving." Some of the women had their abortion less than a year ago and already have strong negative emotional reactions.

Women's Mental Health Declines After Abortion While Childbirth Helps

Elliot Institute; July 26, 2000

Springfield, IL -- Women who undergo abortions are at greater risk for mental health problems in subsequent years, according to a new study presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society (APS) held this June in Miami Beach, Florida.

The study looked at California women who received state funded medical care and who either had an abortion or gave birth in 1989. Researchers examined the women's medical records for up to six years afterwards and found that women who had undergone abortions had significantly higher mental health claims than women who had given birth. Women who had abortions were more than twice as likely to have two to nine treatments for mental health as women who carried to term.

According to the authors, Dr. Priscilla Coleman, a psychology professor at the University of the South and Dr. David Reardon, director of the Elliot Institute, "the data presented in this report suggest that when compared to birth, abortion is associated with a significantly greater risk for psychological disturbance among low income women."

Reardon said that the study avoided many problems that have plagued other post-abortion studies in the past, such as small sample sizes and a limited time frame. "Most other studies have only followed women for a
few months at most," Reardon said. "However, the few long-term studies that have been done shows that many women's problems don't start cropping up until at least a year or so after the abortion, often when they reach
the expected due date of the child or the anniversary of the abortion itself. By examining a larger period of time, this study was able to get a broader look at the association between abortion and subsequent mental health problems."

Yet another new study that presented at the APS conference by researchers from the University at Albany in New York found that teens who had children were as well or better adjusted than teens who did not have children. Compared to their non-parenting peers, the teen moms in the study had fewer mental disorders, reported less stress, were less likely than their peers to engage in denial as a coping strategy, were less dependent on social support and reported greater satisfaction with the support they did receive.

"These two studies clearly contradict the popular notion that abortion benefits women in general and teens in particular," said Reardon. "Giving birth to a child is a naturally maturing experience. By contrast, abortion increases the risk of subsequent psychological problems, including a six fold higher risk of substance abuse as reported in one of our previous studies."

Citations:

Coleman, P. K., & Reardon, D. (June, 2000). "State-funded abortions vs. deliveries: A comparison of subsequent mental health claims over six years." Poster presented at the American Psychological Society, 12th Annual Convention, Miami, FL.

Hanna, D. R., Lowe K. A., Leslie F. H. (June, 2000) "Pregnancy, coping strategies and stress: Are teenage mothers really more at-risk?" Poster presented at the American Psychological Society, 12th Annual Convention,
Miami, FL.

-- The Pro-Life Infonet is a daily compilation of pro-life news and information. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe" to: infonet-request@prolifeinfo.org. Infonet is sponsored by Women and Children First (http://www.womenandchildrenfirst.org). For more pro-life info visit http://www.prolifeinfo.org and for questions or additional information email ertelt@prolifeinfo.org

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