NationStates Jolt Archive

This issue comes up from time-to-time and I thought I'd highlight both the expert consensus and the new report by the American Psychological Association.

• Based on the best scientific evidence currently available, there is no credible evidence that abortion, in and of itself, causes mental health problems for most women. To the contrary, the best evidence is that abortion does not cause any mental health problems for women.

• The major professional mental health associations have long been in agreement on this point, which was recently reaffirmed in a major report from the American Psychological Association (APA).

i. An August 2008 report by the APA Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion, the most current and authoritative review of its kind, concludes that “the best scientific evidence indicates that the relative risk of mental health problems among adult women who have an unplanned pregnancy is no greater if they have an elective first trimester abortion than if they did deliver the pregnancy.” link (big pdf) (http://www.apa.org/releases/abortion-report.pdf)


ii. As long ago as 1989, the APA came to a very similar conclusion, when it found that legal abortion “does not pose a psychological hazard for most women.”


iii. The “postabortion traumatic stress syndrome” that abortion foes claim is widespread is not recognized by either the APA or the American Psychiatric Association.

linky (http://www.guttmacher.org/media/evidencecheck/2008/10/08/Advisory_Abortion_Mental_Health_2008.pdf) (pdf), link (http://www.apa.org/releases/abortion-report.html)

In before the APA is declared a liberally biased partisan think tank of babykillers.

Yeah, in a country that hands out anti-depressants like we're all a bunch of kids on Halloween you expect people to believe that something like an abortion doesn't cause women mental issues when a co-worker not saying hi one morning can cause a mental breakdown? Bullshit, I'm inclined to believe that Americans are looking for any excuse to be depressed and whether there is empirical evidence to support the situation or not, we're always looked for an excuse to be downers. Marines who floated in the Gulf for three weeks while the Army stormed across the Desert in 1991 are still experiencing trauma from that ordeal yet someone getting an abortion while a mob shouts "baby killer!" at them from 20 feet away supposedly isn't effected?

I have never heard this actually being claimed :confused:

Yeah, in a country that hands out anti-depressants like we're all a bunch of kids on Halloween

I don't know from all the bitching I hear there seems to be little source

I have never heard this actually being claimed :confused:



I don't know from all the bitching I hear there seems to be little source

Yeah I know, we whine about everything and every little problem is a life or death struggle, for fifteen minutes until a new problem arises, and there's so little in the way of real evidence to show why Americans are so depressed. People in the most malarial and aids stricken parts of Africa are happier than Americans so it's ludicrous to say that this doesn't cause depression when it would seem even a change of the wind causes anxiety attacks.

People in the most malarial and aids stricken parts of Africa are happier than Americans so it's ludicrous to say that this doesn't cause depression when it would seem even a change of the wind causes anxiety attacks.

actually iirc Denmark is the happiest place on Earth so I guess beer is the answer

In before the APA is declared a liberally biased partisan think tank of babykillers.

The APA is a liberally biased partisan communist think tank of baby killers.

Yeah I know, we whine about everything and every little problem is a life or death struggle, for fifteen minutes until a new problem arises, and there's so little in the way of real evidence to show why Americans are so depressed. People in the most malarial and aids stricken parts of Africa are happier than Americans so it's ludicrous to say that this doesn't cause depression when it would seem even a change of the wind causes anxiety attacks.

Actually there has been quite a bit of research around this, and the answer would appear to be expectation and perceived injustice. People believe they should be rich and happy, so when life fails to live up to this they suffer more anxiety and depression than someone who has much lower expectations. In many way, it's the celebrity culture and "American Dream" combined with relatively low social mobility and dramatic richness gaps that contribute to the problem.

The important bit you missed is

there is no credible evidence that abortion, in and of itself, causes mental health problems for most women.

The actual act of abortion does not have mental effects, being threatened and abused by anti-abortion activists or related social pressure/family rejection may cause issues. But that's not the fault of abortion, that's the fault of anti-abortion fuckwits*.




* Edit: This is not an insult to people who object to abortion on moral grounds but one to the people who will actively abuse and threaten those women who do through with the procedure or the doctors doing it. I have no respect for people who claim to be "pro-life" whilst actively threatening and endangering the lives of others.

This issue comes up from time-to-time and I thought I'd highlight both the expert consensus and the new report by the American Psychological Association.



While I don't doubt that this is true, I feel compelled to point out that this doesn't cover massive guilt, regret and fuck knows caused by societal factors (particularily the 'Baby killer' brigade).

Yeah, in a country that hands out anti-depressants like we're all a bunch of kids on Halloween you expect people to believe that something like an abortion doesn't cause women mental issues when a co-worker not saying hi one morning can cause a mental breakdown? Bullshit, I'm inclined to believe that Americans are looking for any excuse to be depressed and whether there is empirical evidence to support the situation or not, we're always looked for an excuse to be downers. Marines who floated in the Gulf for three weeks while the Army stormed across the Desert in 1991 are still experiencing trauma from that ordeal yet someone getting an abortion while a mob shouts "baby killer!" at them from 20 feet away supposedly isn't effected?
You're so meeeeaaaaaan! Boo-hoo-hoo, etc, etc.

I have never heard this actually being claimed :confused:



I don't know from all the bitching I hear there seems to be little source

Me neither, probably an American thing they made up a bit like all the nonsense they put about about chastity campaigns.

This issue comes up from time-to-time and I thought I'd highlight both the expert consensus and the new report by the American Psychological Association.

• Based on the best scientific evidence currently available, there is no credible evidence that abortion, in and of itself, causes mental health problems for most women. To the contrary, the best evidence is that abortion does not cause any mental health problems for women.

• The major professional mental health associations have long been in agreement on this point, which was recently reaffirmed in a major report from the American Psychological Association (APA).

i. An August 2008 report by the APA Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion, the most current and authoritative review of its kind, concludes that “the best scientific evidence indicates that the relative risk of mental health problems among adult women who have an unplanned pregnancy is no greater if they have an elective first trimester abortion than if they did deliver the pregnancy.” link (big pdf) (http://www.apa.org/releases/abortion-report.pdf)


ii. As long ago as 1989, the APA came to a very similar conclusion, when it found that legal abortion “does not pose a psychological hazard for most women.”


iii. The “postabortion traumatic stress syndrome” that abortion foes claim is widespread is not recognized by either the APA or the American Psychiatric Association.

linky (http://www.guttmacher.org/media/evidencecheck/2008/10/08/Advisory_Abortion_Mental_Health_2008.pdf) (pdf), link (http://www.apa.org/releases/abortion-report.html)

I am all about abortions but I believe in ptss. I have seen it among women that I know who bravely had their abortions. I do not put a lot of stock in science's ability to recognize a lot of maladies that are gender specific. For example I 100% know that blue balls exists yet you have a lot of blue balls deniers in the medical community. Also, supposedly the female orgasm was denied by medical folks for years (not that orgasm are a malady).

There has to be some pretty darn good reasons not to have an abortion. I do not think that ptss is a good reason to avoid one's abortionly duties.

Given enough time, I'm sure that we can associate mental illness with any sort of everyday activity or procedure that one must undergo. Besides, sanity it overrated.

While I agree with the study in that I don't believe a post-traumatic stress response can be gotten from an elective procedure, I do believe that there is a host of other mental health issues that can be related on occasion to such a procedure. Especially if someone is pressured or coerced into that procedure. Depression, resentment, anger and trust issues all come to mind. Then again many women, perhaps most, have no problems, issues or regrets at all.

I can't comment on all the research and such. I can only go off of my experiances of two ex-girlfriends who have had abortions; well one was and ex-fiance but I digress.

Both women I knew decided on their own. I would support them either way and did say I had no problem being a father but could understand if they didn't want to go through with it. As I am here you know the results.

Anyway, in both instances, the days after the procedure they were crying on and off for a few weeks. One would burst into tears when she saw a baby or young child. The other just became introverted and didn't go out much after that.

As an aside, one was pretty religious and the other was raised in a fairly conservative family so that could be it.

Again, just based off of personal experiances which I personally don't want to go through again as a guy. (and yes, we used protection...but condoms are not 100% effective...though in a perfect world they SHOULD be :( )

I can't comment on all the research and such. I can only go off of my experiances...which I personally don't want to go through again as a guy.

These women went from having a specific hormonal arrangement in their bodies as their bodies geared up for childbirth. It's a complicated biochemical process that takes 40 weeks or so. When it is spontaneously interrupted, the hormonal changes to get back to some sort of normal equilibrium can be difficult. This is simply biochemistry, as far as I know, with only short terms effects. Not psychology, with long terms effects. But I'm not a doctor, so....

While the thread is still short, so far all the people who feel the need to say that there is emotional/psychological trauma/severe stress associated with abortion, are actually pointing to trauma/stress that has causes OTHER than the abortion procedure.

Since the OP is talking about anti-choice claims that abortion itself causes emotional/psychological trauma/severe stress, these caveats seem off the mark.

While the thread is still short, so far all the people who feel the need to say that there is emotional/psychological trauma/severe stress associated with abortion, are actually pointing to trauma/stress that has causes OTHER than the abortion procedure.

Since the OP is talking about anti-choice claims that abortion itself causes emotional/psychological trauma/severe stress, these caveats seem off the mark.

Can you really seperate the two given that a part of the abortion procedure is the aftermath?

Can you really seperate the two given that a part of the abortion procedure is the aftermath?
It has not been established that the emotional problems occur after the procedure.

One poster offered examples of a very religious woman and of a woman raised in a conservative family. Both of those would have had reason to experience emotional stress/trauma about abortion before, during and after, but not caused by the procedure itself.

Also, if a woman has an abortion and then feels bad about it, that also can have causes independent of the procedure itself. She may have been uncertain going in, and afterward wish she had not done it. Or she may feel bad about the circumstances that made a very difficult and unpleasant decision necessary -- especially if she would have carried the pregnancy if her circumstances had been different.

There is nothing here that suggests the procedure itself causes the trauma/stress, which is the anti-choice claim in their arguments that abortion is bad for women.

See, my experience has been as follows: This issue comes up during abortion debates in which anti-choicers try to claim that women are just shirking their pregnancy responsibilities even though pregnancy is easy, healthful and without undue burden. This is countered by pro-choicers who mention both the financial burdens of pregnancy and the health toll it takes on women. Among the common negative effects of pregnancy are post-partum depression or post-partum psychosis, which stem from hormonal changes directly caused by the pregnancy itself. When those conditions are brought up to show that pregnancy is really not all that easy or safe, anti-choicers try to counter it by claiming that abortion also directly causes depression and psychological trauma, just like pregnancy can.

Only it doesn't. Negative emotional states may accompany abortion, but they are not caused by the abortion procedure itself.

Can you really seperate the two given that a part of the abortion procedure is the aftermath?

If it stemmed directly from abortion, the only way to avoid it would be not having an abortion. In these scenarios, other options appear...

OK, thank you for the comments so far. Nonetheless, I need to correct the record on a few points.

1. Although the first bullet point in the OP said abortion "in and of itself" don't read too much into that. The subsequent bullet points are deliberately not so limited.

2. The APA study (the 91 pages of which I don't expect anyone else to read) DID consider ALL factors related to having an abortion, including social pressure, negative backlash, anti-choice comments, etc. All of these things can and do negative impact a woman that has an abortion, but similar things also impact a woman that bears a pregnancy to birth.

3. Let me repeat the main finding of the APA study: "[T]he best scientific evidence indicates that the relative risk of mental health problems among adult women who have an unplanned pregnancy is no greater if they have an elective first-trimester abortion than if they deliver that pregnancy."' Thus, the point is NOT that women never suffer any emotional or mental impacts from abortion just that such impacts are no more significant than those that occur with an unplanned pregnancy carried to birth.

4. The APA study also clarifies:

To say that women in general do not show an increased incidence of mental health problems following a single abortion, however, does not mean that no women experience such problems. Abortion is an experience often hallmarked by ambivalence, and a mix of positive and negative emotions is to be expected (Adler et al., 1990; Dagg, 1991). Some women experience beneficial outcomes, whereas others experience sadness, grief, and feelings of loss following the elective termination of a pregnancy. Some women experience clinically significant outcomes, such as depression or anxiety. However, the TFMHA reviewed no evidence sufficient to support the claim that an observed association between abortion history and a mental health problem was caused by the abortion per se, as opposed to other factors. As observed throughout this report, unwanted pregnancy and abortion are correlated with preexisting conditions (e.g., poverty), life circumstances (e.g., exposure to violence, sexual abuse), problem behaviors (e.g., drug use), and personality characteristics (e.g., avoidance style of coping with negative emotion) that can have profound and long-lasting negative effects on mental health. Differences in prevalence of mental health problems or problem behaviors observed between women who have had an abortion and women who have not may be primarily accounted for by these preexisting and ongoing differences among groups.

5. I do think that the anti-choice lobby's rhetoric harms women and is something of a self-fulfilling prophecy when it comes to women having a negative reaction to an abortion. Nonetheless, it appears such factors do not cause a significant amount of harm to those who have abortions.

I think these points respond to most of the comments made so far. :wink:

post birth depression aint a myth tho.