Abortion, Parenthood, and Mental Health

[Puppycow]

Have you ever heard the argument used by anti-abortion folks that women who have abortions often live to regret it? Or that they are likely to develop depression or other mental health issues?

Well, now a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has looked at the issue and found that, actually, there is much increased likelihood of mental health problems among women who have abortions, but there is a significant increase in mental health problems among who give birth.

So women are more likely to live to regret giving birth than they are to live to regret having an abortion.

Parenthood, Not Abortion, Linked to Mental Illness

 

[sgtbaker]

Have you ever heard the argument used by anti-abortion folks that women who have abortions often live to regret it? Or that they are likely to develop depression or other mental health issues?

Well, now a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has looked at the issue and found that, actually, there is much increased likelihood of mental health problems among women who have abortions, but there is a significant increase in mental health problems among who give birth.

So women are more likely to live to regret giving birth than they are to live to regret having an abortion.Parenthood, Not Abortion, Linked to Mental Illness

I would be careful about the statement that I highlighted. It clearly states that it is likely the hormonal shift, lack of sleep, and stress caused by the first year of the child's life. It really doesn't insinuate that they live to regret it because they are not infants forever. As I would tell any mother, stressing out in the first year, it gets way better.

 

[Rufo]

The study says nothing about regret, but it's good to see that abortions don't appear to cause mental health problems. I'd guess the idea comes from the reactions of women who miscarry, which can have a serious impact on their psychological well-being. Of course, conflating miscarraige and abortion is a mistake.

Actually studying who regrets their choice would be difficult. Many parents would probably not admit, even to themselves, if they regretted having a child once the child is born.

 

[jayh]

There is a danger that this discussion is allowing the anti-choice groups to frame the discussion.

Abortion, both the stressful actions leading up to it and and possibly reservations afterward, is a stressful situation. There may well be problems associated with it, as there would be to many other life issues that are thrust upon us, accident, illness, battlefield experiences to military people as well as civillians, etc. But the false dichotomy is that one can simply turn off the situation. No the situation is there, and there may well be only a choice between two bad options.

Statistics on mental after effects in themselves don't provide any real help with the situation.

 

[sadhatter]

I love when someone says something obvious as if it is some kind of revelation ( the people you are referencing op, not you. ) of course abortion is going to put you through the ringer mentally, it is a big decision. Trying to use this as some kind of way to say " abortion is bad." is just silly.

Any big choice is going to cause a lot of stress, from when and who to marry, to what house to buy. Some people will deal well with the stress, some won't. This is no more evidence against abortion than it would be evidence to not marry or buy a house.

I mean i could make , literally the same argument for buying a house. " If you buy the house now, you won't have to spend the rest of your life regretting it. Don't worry about if you can pay, or what the repairs or going to be like, don't worry about how the cost and location will effect your life. Those are just things that come with the territory. The real thing that is going to haunt you, is spending every day of the rest of your life wondering if you made the right decision. Think of knowing this house will never be yours, all the things you could have loved about it , you will never get to experience."

 

[Safe-Keeper]

Have you ever heard the argument used by anti-abortion folks that women who have abortions often live to regret it? Or that they are likely to develop depression or other mental health issues?

Giving birth to, and raising, a boy or girl you're not ready for can't be very good for your mental or physical health either.

 

[sadhatter]

Giving birth to, and raising, a boy or girl you're not ready for can't be very good for your mental or physical health either.

And people with crappy lives tend to flock to religion. It is a win win situation for them. Why on earth wouldn't they oppose abortion? A crappy unready mother gives them an almost assured 2 new members.

 

[Tatyana]

I would like to see a control group of the same number of women who had no previous mental illness and hadn't given birth or had an abortion as a control group in this study.

 

[Aepervius]

@OP, I am not surprised. When I remember how I was as a kid, you have got to be mad to give birth to one like me, or anyway once the kid reach teenagehood, your sanity is pretty much shot.

 

[I Ratant]

I would like to see a control group of the same number of women who had no previous mental illness and hadn't given birth or had an abortion as a control group in this study.

.
I'd like to see that control group.
"Straightening up their hair is all they ever do
Why don't they straighten up the mess that's inside?"
.
Professor Higgins, in "My Fair Lady", the documentary with Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn....

 

[I Ratant]

Thinking back over the years, many of my lady friends have had abortions... from teenagers in high school to bi-polar sufferers on lithium.

 

[Mark6]

Have you ever heard the argument used by anti-abortion folks that women who have abortions often live to regret it? Or that they are likely to develop depression or other mental health issues?

Even if it is true, I suspect it is very much culture-influenced. In Soviet Union abortion was main method of birth control for most women, simply because all other birth control devices (like everything else material) were always in short supply. Many women had several abortions every year, for years, and thought nothing of it. I am not saying this is a good thing, but it suggests that post-abortion depression is not a universal or fundamental condition.