THE MENTAL & EMOTIONAL EFFECTS OF ABORTION

“Twenty-eight percent of women who regret their abortions attempt suicide, and over half of these women attempt suicide more than once” according to a study by the Elliot Institute.

A study based on a national, random sample of 700 women participating in a reproductive history survey, found that of the women surveyed, those who aborted their first pregnancy were 3.9 times more likely to engage in subsequent drug or alcohol abuse than those who have never had an abortion. Women who engaged in substance abuse prior to their first pregnancy were excluded from the study. There was less than 1 chance in 10,000 that these finding could have occurred due to chance.

Abortion-related substance abuse can have a profound impact on other areas of a woman’s life, including relationship problems, job-related difficulties, health problems, and increased risk of auto accidents resulting in injuries to themselves and others.

Comparing the maternal mortality risk of childbirth to that of abortion, when proper weight is given to the increased risk of breast cancer and suicide due to abortion, and the decreased risk of ovarian cancer with full-term pregnancy, abortion is many times more hazardous to the mother in the long run than carrying a child to term.

Researchers in Norway have also found that abortion presents a more significant damaging emotional impact on women than miscarriage. The study found that women who had an abortion two years ago were more likely than women who had miscarriages to be suppressing thoughts and feelings about the death of the baby.

Overall, the study revealed that approximately 17% of 80 post-abortion women surveyed score highly on a scale measuring “avoidance” symptoms. Such symptoms include avoidance of what happened or “intrusion,” such as flashbacks or bad dreams.

The study found that 10 days after an abortion decision half of those who miscarried and nearly 30 percent of women who had abortions had negative feelings about the event. Women who had induced abortions were more likely to experience regret and feelings of “guilt and shame”. Only 3% of women who suffered from miscarriages had such symptoms showed.

Another prior study in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology of post-abortion patients only 8 weeks after their abortion, researchers found that 44% complained of nervous disorders, 36% had experienced sleep disturbances, 31% had regrets about their decision, and 11% had been prescribed psychotropic medicine by their family doctor.