Study: Abortion increases suicide and depression risk (There is no credible evidence that women who terminate an unwanted first pregnancy are at a higher risk of depression, researchers say. )

October 1, 2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4379422.stm

Abortion depression link queried

There is no credible evidence that women who terminate an unwanted first pregnancy are at a higher risk of depression, researchers say.

A recent US study had suggested having an abortion increased significantly a woman's chance of suffering depression. But the authors of a British Medical Journal work looking at 1,247 women say pre-existing mental health might be a better predictor of depression risk. Anti-abortion lobbyists maintain abortions are psychologically damaging.

Research should focus on how to prevent and ameliorate the effect of unwanted childbearing

The study authors

The latest study looked at US women who aborted or delivered an unwanted pregnancy. It showed that the women who opted for a termination reported less depression than those who chose to carry on with the unwanted pregnancy. However, this might have been down to differences in education and income between the two groups, because the women who went for abortions tended to be more affluent than those who did not, it said. They also tended to have fewer children already - large families have been linked to increased risk of depression before. Unwanted pregnancies "This suggests that if the goal is to reduce women's risk of depression, research should focus on how to prevent and ameliorate the effect of unwanted childbearing, particularly for younger women," said the researchers. Professor Nancy Russo, from Arizona State University, and her colleague Sarah Schmiege from the University of Colorado, said the difference between their results and the previous US study that did find a link between abortion and depression might be down to the way the studies were carried out.

We hope society will one day see abortion as the grave denial of a basic human right that it undoubtedly is

Society for the Protection of Unborn Children

In the previous study, the researchers looked at women with unintended pregnancies, which could have included some that were wanted although unplanned. In the current study, Professor Russo made sure they only included women who said the pregnancy was unwanted. The follow-up period between pregnancy and depression assessment ranged from four to 10 years. Debate About 30% of pregnancies in Britain are unplanned, it is estimated. Last year, there were 185,400 abortions in England and Wales. Only 1% of the abortions, 1,900 in total, were carried out under grounds that the child would be born disabled. Dr Michael Jarmulowicz, of The Guild of Catholic Doctors, questioned the latest study's findings. He said the evidence suggesting that abortion increases the risk of suicide or self-harm attempts, as well as depression and a possible increased risk of death from all causes, was much stronger. A spokesman from the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said: "Our counselling service deals with many women who have had abortions, and their feelings of remorse and sorrow are 100% genuine and deeply painful. "Even if abortion did no emotional or physical harm to women, it would still be wrong because it always takes an innocent, defenceless human life. "We hope society will one day see abortion as the grave denial of a basic human right that it undoubtedly is."

Very few women return for post-abortion counselling and this is because they made the best decision for them at the time

British Pregnancy Advisory Service

Sophie Corlett, of the mental health charity Mind, said: "While any distressing life event has the potential to affect an individual person's mental health, this study supports earlier research that abortion, as opposed to bringing to term an unwanted pregnancy, does not increase the risk of later depression. "Mind would welcome attention to the support needs and work/education opportunities for all women who experience unwanted pregnancies, whatever the outcome might be." A spokeswoman from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which provides abortions to women in Britain, said: "From our experience, abortion does not cause depression, as long as a woman has discussed all her options and made a fully informed decision. "Very few women return for post-abortion counselling and this is because they made the best decision for them at the time and see no need to talk to a counsellor." Julia Millington of the ProLife Alliance said: "The problems that lead women to opt for abortion - financial hardship, abusive men, social stigma - are still not being properly addressed. Real 'choice' would give women the freedom and support to feel that abortion is neither the only nor good solution that the pro-abortion lobby suggests."

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Misty

09/30/06 18:44:56

Health and Healing; Armageddon or New Age

Study: Abortion increases suicide and depression risk

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATHStudy: Abortion increases suicide risk13-year examination also finds higher rate of accidents, homicide

Posted: December 2, 20052:41 p.m. Eastern

Women who have an abortion face a 248 percent greater risk of suicide, accidental death or homicide in the following year, according to a newly released 13-year Finnish study. The survey also found the suicide rate among women who had an abortion was six times higher than for women who had given birth in the prior year and double that of women who had miscarriages.

The study was conducted by Finland's National Research and Development Center for Welfare and Health and published in the European Journal of Public Health. The researchers studied data from the years 1987 to 2000 on all deaths among women of reproductive age, 15 to 49. While the risk of death among women who had given birth in the prior year was lowest, death from suicide, accidents and homicide was highest among women who had an abortion in the previous year. Women who had been pregnant had less than half the death rate of women who had not been pregnant. The risk of death for women who had suffered a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy did not noticeably differ from women who had not been pregnant. The findings confirm other studies carried out in the United States, as well as Finland, that showed an increase in the death risk of women who have abortions. In 1997, a government-funded study in Finland found that women who had abortions were 3.5 times more likely to die the following year than women who had given birth. Furthermore, researchers looking at death records linked to medical payments for birth and abortion for 173,000 California women discovered there was a 62 percent higher chance of death for aborting women than delivering women over the eight-year period that was examined. The study also found that the increase in the risk of death was from suicides and accidents. It showed a 154 percent higher risk of death from suicide and 82 percent higher risk of death from accidental injuries. The main author of the California study, David Reardon, said record-linkage studies like this one are key to getting an accurate picture of pregnancy associated mortality rates. "In most cases, coroners simply have no way of knowing that the deceased recently had an abortion, which is why these new record-linkage studies are so important," Reardon said. Government health officials in Finland found in a recent study that 94 percent of maternal deaths involving abortion could not be identified by merely looking at a death certificate. This discovery applies to the data published by the Centers for Disease Control in the U.S. Also, previous studies draw links between women who get abortions and an increase in substance abuse, anxiety, sleep disorders, suicidal thoughts, psychiatric illness, relationship problems and risk-taking behavior, which could easily lead to death by suicide or accident.

Beyond that, authors of the new Finland study suggested there might be common risk factors between having induced abortion and dying from accidental injury. They called on medical professionals to be aware of these risks. "Women seeking abortions should be informed that abortion is associated with significant physical and mental health risks, and it also deprives them of numerous physical and mental health benefits associated with childbirth." Reardon said. He added, it's "especially important for health care providers to be aware of these risks and the risk factors which identify those women who are at highest risk.Providing women with the resources to help them resolve emotional issues relating to past abortions will not only increase their well-being but may possibly save their lives," he said.

Previous stories: Studies denying abortion-cancer link debunked Abortion survivor's speech aborted High court hears key abortion case

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATHStudy: Abortion raises risk of depressionResearcher believes results could undermine basis of laws

Posted: January 3, 20061:00 a.m. Easternhttp://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48160

A new study finds women who have an abortion in their youth raise the risk of developing depression, anxiety and other mental health problems. The researchers tracked 1,265 children from birth in the 1970s in New Zealand in the Christchurch Health and Development Study, the Herald Sun newspaper of Melbourne, Australia reported.

Among the women in the study who had an abortion, 42 percent at age 25 had experienced major depression at some stage during the previous four years. That's nearly double the rate of those who had never been pregnant. The researchers said the risk of anxiety disorders also increased by a similar degree, the Melbourne paper reported. The implications of the results are significant for public policy, said the study's leader David Fergusson, as lawmakers and activists debate whether abortion increases psychological distress or alleviates it. Fergusson said the results could undermine the legal basis for access to abortion in jurisdictions in Australia and elsewhere that make abortion legal only if the pregnancy threatens the woman's physical or mental health. The study also found women who had at least one abortion were twice as likely to abuse alcohol and three times as likely to be dependent on illicit drugs. About 41 percent of the 500 women in the study had pregnancies, with 90 abortions among them.

As WorldNetDaily reported in December, a 13-year study in Finland found women who have an abortion face a 248 percent greater risk of suicide, accidental death or homicide in the following year. The survey also found the suicide rate among women who had an abortion was six times higher than for women who had given birth in the prior year and double that of women who had miscarriages. The study was conducted by Finland's National Research and Development Center for Welfare and Health and published in the European Journal of Public Health. The researchers studied data from the years 1987 to 2000 on all deaths among women of reproductive age, 15 to 49. Previous stories: Study: Abortion increases suicide risk Studies denying abortion-cancer link debunked Abortion survivor's speech aborted High court hears key abortion case