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Abortion Does Not Lead to Mental Health Issues, Large Study Says
Does abortion choice affect mental health?
Opponents of abortion sometimes cite “post-abortion traumatic stress syndrome” as a reason to limit a woman’s right to choose. But a new study of over a quarter million girls and women finds that having an abortion does not increase the risk of mental health issues.
Reproductive expert Robert Blum, with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, commented on the study to NPR:
“This is an extremely, extremely well done study…There is no evidence that abortion predisposes a woman to psychiatric and mental health problems.”
The research, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, looked at data on 84,620 girls and women who had first-trimester abortions, and 280,930 who had a child between 1995 and 2007. None of the women had pre-exisiting psychiatric disorders before the study started.
Women who had chosen abortions did not have an uptick in emotional problems after the abortion took place. Meanwhile, those who had a baby actually did make more visits to a psychiatrist in the year after childbirth (most likely triggered by the transition to parenthood, sleep deprivation, or postpartum depression).
One caveat: women who chose abortions did have an overall higher incidence of mental health struggles. Here’s the explanation:
In the study, abortion and mental health issues were related — women who had an abortion were more likely to be going through a difficult time or emotional struggle. But the abortion itself was not a cause of mental health problems. In other words, symptoms were equal before and after an abortion.
“There is no post-abortion trauma, post-abortion syndrome, or anything of the like,” said Blum.
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AlbertaMom commented on Jan 27 11 at 4:14 pmI think it is concerning women having abortions were more likely to have mental health struggles before the abortion. Women who went on to have abortions were almost 4 times more likely to have visited a psychiatrist than women who gave birth to living children. This should be an area of focus for health professionals in order to protect the safety and well-being of these women, and also, perhaps, reduce the number of abortions undertaken by mentally unwell patients. And though I don’t think the increase in psychiatrist visits after childbirth is surprising considering our increasing awareness about post-partum depression, I think it should be noted these women were still 1/2 as likely to visit a psychiatrist as were women who had undergone an abortion.
Angela commented on Jan 27 11 at 9:51 pm@ Albertamom- Unless these women were somehow being coerced into having abortions I’m not really sure what health professionals can ethically do to reduce the number of abortions mentally ill women have. I for one would never try and convince someone who truly doesn’t feel ready to be a mother that they should just raise the baby and hope for the best, especially if she was already struggling with mental illness. Adoption is a good option for those who wish to pursue it but it can be deeply traumatic as well. I really don’t think there is an easy option when it comes to an unwanted pregnancy.
Kristen commented on Jan 28 11 at 9:56 pmThat’s because women who have abortions are sedated with anesthesia and don’t remember a thing. I am sure if they were awake they would be messed up for the rest of their lives!
AlbertaMom commented on Jan 30 11 at 8:59 pmI agree is there is no easy option. What I’m suggesting is medical professionals ensure mental wellness screening is happening before abortions are performed to ensure the woman is healthy enough to be making this decision. If she is mentally unwell, she may regret it once she is healthy. I believe it would be unethical to perform any elective procedure of this magnitude on a mentally unwell person who may not be capable of making this decision.
D commented on Mar 12 11 at 11:04 pmI think it’s disturbing that abortion doesn’t increase mental health problems. If you’re responsible for a death, and suffer no distress afterward, your overall mental health is probably not too good.
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