Some Danes came out with a study which tells us that "there is not a statistically significant difference in first-time inpatient admissions and outpatient psychiatric visits before and after an abortion, concluding that it is unlikely that the abortion procedure causes mental health problems"
As you might expect, the study has major flaws. But then, somebody made a deal with the Devil, who is the father of lies. Surprised??
--These researchers used a window of 0-9 months to measure pre-abortion mental health; however, the assessment should instead have been before the pregnancies were detected. The data do indicate that rates of mental health problems are significantly higher after abortion compared to after childbirth (15.2% vs. 6.7%) and compared to not having been pregnant (8.2%).
--the authors note in the beginning of their article that previous studies lack controls for third variables, but the only third variables they consider are age and parity. There are no controls for pregnancy wantedness, coercion by others to abort, marital status, income, education, exposure to violence and other traumas, etc
--all women who had psychiatric histories more than 9 months prior to the abortion were not included in the study and there are many studies showing that these women are at heightened risk for post-abortion mental health problems
--the results follow women for only one year post-abortion or childbirth and there is plenty of evidence suggesting that the negative effects of abortion may not surface for several years.
More at the link.
As a mental health nurse with concerns about the lack of acceptance for post-abortion PTSD or depression I have been researching this topic for a while.
ReplyDelete1. With the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reporting 846,181 legal induced abortions in 2006, abortions are not rare. In fact, this is a 3% increase from 2005 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010).
2. Wisconsin alone lost 10,815 children in the reported year of 2006, 47 of these abortions were performed to girls under age 15 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010).
3. The loss of over 50 million children since 1973 has deprived our country of a valuable resource, our greatest resource. These children, many of whom now would be adults, may have been the scientists, researchers and engineers that make this country great. The Archbishop of Milwaukee, The Most Rev. Jerome E. Listecki has written “Our natural resources are gifts from God and we are all responsible for protecting them” (Wisconsin Catholic Conference, 2010).
4. Abortion hurts the mother who may not understand the consequences and suffer physically, emotionally and spiritually. Even though Post Abortion Syndrome has not been formally recognized, it exists in the narrative I hear from women and research continues to validate its existence (Babbel, S., 2010).
5. A 2006 study found that exposure to abortion increase the risk of developing significant mental health problems including depression, suicidal thoughts and illicit drug dependence (Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L.J. Ridder, E.M., 2006).
6. A 2007 study compared long term psychiatric problems with women that had local anesthetic vs. intravenous sedation during pregnancy. The research found that 1/5 of post-abortion mothers suffer with symptoms of PTSD whether administered either anesthetic (Sharain, S., 2007).