Abortion and Mental Health
The post below states that a study has determined that abortion did not result in a group of women being more likely to seek mental health care. It's probably worth reminding people that the pro-life movement opposes abortion not primarily because of any possible deleterious effect on women's health but because of the unjustified taking of a human life. There are many side issues with abortion, and what it does to women's long-term mental health is certainly worth discussing.
As for the study, it has been criticized by, among others, Priscilla Coleman, a professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Bowling Green State University. She notes that the study's cohort of women who underwent abortion had an abnormally high rates of mental health problems prior to the study. That that number didn't increase much (even though women who did not get pregnant or who did not have abortions showed lower rates of mental health problems) could be due to any number of factors which were not considered, she writes:
First, the measure of pre-abortion mental health is likely high (more than 3 times greater than prior to birth, 14.6% vs. 3.9%), because many of the women were probably in the midst of abortion decision-making when they experienced their first psychiatric visit. This high rate of pre-abortion mental health problems is construed to indicate that women who choose abortion will often experience mental health problems based on factors other than the procedure.
In fact, the women in the sample are quite unlikely to fall into this “vulnerable” category since none of the women included in the study had any history of psychological diagnoses prior to 9 months before the abortion. 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%).
There's more criticism here, but just thought Ricochet readers should be aware that the study is facing some criticism.
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Jun '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
It looks like there is much wrong with this study to threaten its validity - sample selection for one, as noted above. Another thing one should consider is length of depression. Many women experience postpartum depression which subsides when hormones return to normal levels. When you have a new baby, your life changes drastically. All changes and transitions involve some stress but having a child often results in high stress situations under little sleep.
Depressive symptoms and anxiety from an abortion last for much longer, decades even, and may not appear until years after the abortion. The residual depression from abortion lingers for a very long time, and manifests at various stages of life.
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
I think a long range study of this sort is in order, but probably will never be funded. How about checking in with all these women 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, 25 years after the childbirth/abortion? Those might be some interesting numbers.
Oct '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
To be blunt and forgive one here, study after study provides what...
The choice to terminate a pregnancy does induce traumatic consequences. There can be no question in that regard.
As the father of a rape victim, thankfully such a proceedure was not needed to complicate matters in the recovery.
There are truly consequences in making such a choice and they can weigh heavily.
With all due respect, such personal choices are hard enough and should never have entered politics or escalated into the realm of public debate...
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
wilber forge:
With all due respect, such personal choices are hard enough and should never have entered politics or escalated into the realm of public debate...
You are absolutely correct. I really hesitate, as a rule, to jump into these conversations. I feel the pain deeply for women who have had abortions for any and all reasons. I cannot imagine the pain of your child and, of course, the pain of the parents. So sorry that such a horrible crime occurred, wilber forge. I really swing back and forth about how to discuss abortion. However, I am in a particularly dark and cynical place after seeing this video yesterday. Perhaps you all saw the news stories. But it is the total lack of love of these people -- and the people who fund such places -- that causes me some real anger. Hard to get past that, sometimes, but thanks for reminding me of something I essentially agree with, abortion is a very, very difficult topic to write/talk about.
Dec '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
When I saw this a few days ago, I dismissed it, because of obvious flaws. I also knew it would be used as ammunition by the "Pro Choice" folks, but just accepted that as intended. And typical.
Although long term post-analysis would help to "ground truth" this paper, the more meaningful effort would be a seriously random sample group, then from which was drawn two sub-groups to examine. This paper didn't even pretend to use the most basic practices taught to students, to randomize samples.
The groups they used were practically self-selecting and in no way randomized by accepted methods. This paper used self-selecting cohorts. Basically, this was a scientific-sounding analysis of an internet poll. There was a time when this paper would have been ridiculed within the scientific community as an anecdote.
Oct '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
I disagree. I would instead say that there's much unaddressed in methodology to question the veracity of the conclusions. I do not think the NEJM would be in the business of publishing invalid studies after the vaccination-autism issues of the past years. The linked article itself said:
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. Many studies have been deemed inadequate based on only one of these variables not being accounted for (see APA Task Force Report, 2008), yet the study design was considered adequate to merit publication in the NEJM.
Pardon the semantics but I think the distinction is important.
Oct '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
Thank You.. And Yes, have seen the current albeit hideous updates on the subject.
Comming from an era, truly before your time, when the rule of the day was "Back Alley" abortions and the use of coathangers at home was common.
Wish one like to conclude with some positive note, save the human condition is what it is...
A connundrum to the last degree...
Edited on Feb 2, 2011 at 5:52pmDec '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
a professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Bowling Green State University
This isn't even proof that this person graduated high school.
May '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
Ursula Hennessey However, I am in a particularly dark and cynical place after seeing this video yesterday. Perhaps you all saw the news stories. But it is the total lack of love of these people -- and the people who fund such places -- that causes me some real anger.
This is not exactly the first time that Planned Parenthood has been caught covering up crimes.
May '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
wilber forge: With all due respect, such personal choices are hard enough and should never have entered politics or escalated into the realm of public debate... · Feb 2 at 4:38pm
With all due respect, politics and public debate are precisely where such matters belong: Does abortion entail the taking of a human life or not?
May '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
Paul is right. The killing of a human being is never a strictly personal matter.
Regarding mental health, rape is no excuse for an abortion. I sympathize -- I can't know the courage such a woman needs to accept the truth -- but my reasoning is very simple:
It is never acceptable for one person to kill another merely to preserve one's own psychological well-being.
Wounds can heal. Death cannot be undone.
There are numerous examples of women who lovingly raise their children born of rapists. But such women can also offer their children for adoption. Either option undoubtedly can cause the mother tremendous emotional pain. But what is pain in comparison with life?
We do not kill people to spare other people emotional pain. Mothers do not have a right to kill their children for any reason other than self-defense in the most literal sense.
If a mother's very survival is likely at risk, only then does the mother have a moral right to choose whether or not to kill her child. In modern society, with C-sections and other medical innovations, cases like that are nearly non-existent.
Oct '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
I had a friend who got an abortion. She was fed the liberal pro-abortion line her whole life.
The next morning, she realized she had killed her baby.
She ended up going to college to earn a good living, and wants lots of kids. You can imagine I view studies like this with skepticism. Has anyone read testimonials from women, who talk about how much abortion didn't affect them? They're freakish; the women were obviously affected by it.
Oct '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
Ursula Hennessey
You are absolutely correct. I really hesitate, as a rule, to jump into these conversations. I feel the pain deeply for women who have had abortions for any and all reasons. I cannot imagine the pain of your child and, of course, the pain of the parents. So sorry that such a horrible crime occurred, wilber forge. I really swing back and forth about how to discuss abortion. However, I am in a particularly dark and cynical place after seeing this video yesterday. Perhaps you all saw the news stories. But it is the total lack of love of these people -- and the people who fund such places -- that causes me some real anger. Hard to get past that, sometimes, but thanks for reminding me of something I essentially agree with, abortion is a very, very difficult topic to write/talk about. · Feb 2 at 4:50pm
To be fair, Planned Parenthood did call the cops. These sorts of video can backfire, since occasionally both sides will be doing a sting operation.
Nov '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
Aaron Miller: Paul is right. The killing of a human being is never a strictly personal matter.
It is never acceptable for one person to kill another merely to preserve one's own psychological well-being.
Aaron, do human beings, in your view, derive their inviolable right to life from being human beings or from being people?
I ask because humans beings are arguably not people, or not fully people, very early in their lives. For example, is a recently conjoined sperm and egg as much a person as an adult human being is? Many would dispute this. However, a recently conjoined sperm and egg (from human beings) is indisputably a human being.
The problem with basing the right to life on personhood per se is that, say, adult chimps, who often recognize themselves in the mirror, arguably have more of the properties of personhood, than a human fetus does.
But basing the right to life on humanness has problems of its own. Suppose someone produced a human-chimp chimera--something which may not be technically impossible. Would the chimera have the right to life? What level of chimp-human genetic mix would afford it such a right?
May '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
Aodhan
I ask because humans beings are arguably not people, or not fully people, very early in their lives. For example, is a recently conjoined sperm and egg as much a person as an adult human being is? ...
Speaking philosophically, I find the attempt to treat personhood as a collection of characteristics rather than a nature, strange and artificial. It strikes me as an instance of what Kierkegaard called "unclean cleverness"--a means of rationalizing away truth, because we do not like the moral demands the truth imposes on us.
Human beings are persons.
A woman is or isn't pregnant. She may be in an early or late stage of pregnancy, but there is no middle ground between the two conditions.
As I said on an earlier thread, the tiniest zygote, being the natural offspring of a reproductive act of a male and female person is very plainly a person—not a potential person, but a real, actual, utterly unique and irrepeatable, living being, whose being is the being of a human person.
To kill that person, because we don't want responsibility for it, is a terrible moral crime.
Edited on Feb 3, 2011 at 3:44amMay '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
Aaron Miller:
It is never acceptable for one person to kill another merely to preserve one's own psychological well-being.
I agree with this, Aaron. But I would add that since human persons are essentially moral beings, it's not even possible to preserve one's psychological well-being by killing a baby.
Killing an in utero baby can solve some real problems. It might provide some relief of very real distress (and for this reason compassion is often in order for young women who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy, tempted to resort to abortion). But what could be worse for the human soul than having a crime like that on its conscience? (It's there, objectively, haunting us, whether we're conscious of it or not; whether we "feel guilty" or not.)
I pray that each and every woman so suffering finds her way to God and His infinite mercies!
Sep '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
The assumption that a study could be designed and conducted that would produce any reliable results on the stated premise is absurd. I realize that the allure of grant money accounts for its existence; what I can’t fathom is why anyone who is not being paid to do so would waste their time reading it.
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
katievs
Aaron Miller:
It is never acceptable for one person to kill another merely to preserve one's own psychological well-being.
... I would add that since human persons are essentially moral beings, it's not even possible to preserve one's psychological well-being by killing a baby.
Killing an in utero baby can solve some real problems. It might provide some relief of very real distress (and for this reason compassion is often in order for young women who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy, tempted to resort to abortion). But what could be worse for the human soul than having a crime like that on its conscience? (It's there, objectively, haunting us, whether we're conscious of it or not; whether we "feel guilty" or not.)
I pray that each and every woman so suffering finds her way to God and His infinite mercies!
This last line is all I feel capable of doing. I leave it to others more well versed than I. Writing about this issue -- keeping in mind all I have read, heard firsthand, know as a parent, felt after being told my child would have a disability -- somehow seems .... unfair, incomplete, incorrect.
Jun '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
katievs
Aaron Miller:
It is never acceptable for one person to kill another merely to preserve one's own psychological well-being.
I agree with this, Aaron. But I would add that since human persons are essentially moral beings, it's not even possible to preserve one's psychological well-being by killing a baby.
Killing an in utero baby can solve some real problems. It might provide some relief of very real distress (and for this reason compassion is often in order for young women who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy, tempted to resort to abortion). But what could be worse for the human soul than having a crime like that on its conscience? (It's there, objectively, haunting us, whether we're conscious of it or not; whether we "feel guilty" or not.)
I pray that each and every woman so suffering finds her way to God and His infinite mercies! · Feb 3 at 3:41am
I LIKE this 100+ times.
Jun '10
Re: Abortion and Mental Health
The only time people want to distinguish human beings from persons is when they support killing them or abusing their human rights in other ways.
It's nonsense.