Abortion does not improve the mental health of women experiencing unwanted pregnancies but increases their risk of further problems, according to a new study.
A study conducted at the Department of Psychological Medicine of the University of Otago in Christchurch found that abortion had no therapeutic value in reducing the mental health risks.
Instead, the evidence suggests that abortion may be associated with an increased risk of some mental health problems.
Professors David Fergusson, John Horwood, and Joseph Boden examined eight recent New Zealand studies that looked at levels of anxiety, depression, alcohol misuse, illicit drug use/misuse, and suicidal behavior in post-abortion women compared to those who carried their pregnancies to term.
“The growing evidence suggesting that abortion does not have therapeutic benefits cannot be ignored indefinitely, and it is unacceptable for clinicians to authorise large numbers of abortions on grounds for which there is, currently, no scientific evidence,” the researchers concluded.
The study titled “Does abortion reduce the mental health risks of unwanted or unintended pregnancy? A re-appraisal of the evidence” [1]
was published in the April edition of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.
The Christchurch research confirms a number of other studies — including previous studies conducted by these researchers — that found links between abortion and higher mental health risks.
A meta-analysis of 22 studies, published in 2011 in the British Journal of Psychiatry, revealed that women who had undergone an abortion experienced an 81 percent increased risk of mental health problems, predominantly substance abuse and suicidal behavior. It included 877,181 participants over a 14-year period, between 1995 and 2009
The study also revealed that nearly 10 percent of the incidence of all mental health problems was shown to be directly attributable to abortion.
The UK’s Royal College of Psychiatrists warned in 2008 that women should be counseled on the possible risk to their mental health before undergoing an abortion.