Posted on 06/12/2002 8:34:51 AM PDT by LarryLied
A woman is suing the NHS over the psychological trauma she claims to have suffered after having an abortion.
She had the operation four years ago but, after giving birth to a son two-and-a-half years later, began to experience feelings of guilt and self-hatred and was on the brink of a nervous breakdown.
The unnamed woman, who is in her mid-twenties and works for the NHS, said medical staff should have warned her about the adverse effects of having an abortion.
"It was just very frightening. It just felt what I was doing was wrong," she has told the BBC.
"I felt as soon it was done, I knew, 'What a mistake'.
"I was denying it for years, for about three years I was trying to put it to the back of my mind as much as possible."
She succeeded quite well in putting it at the back of her mind for a few years, but could not do it forever, she said, adding: "The feelings all flooded back again three years later, after I'd had my son."
She felt she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown so contacted her GP for help, four years after the operation.
Before the abortion, she was seen by the GP and the surgeon and talked through possible physical side effects, but "there was no warning of any psychological effects", she said.
Dr Gillian Penny, chairman of the guidelines development group of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said women did not usually suffer psychological problems unless they were already disturbed before the abortion.
Clinical research provides a growing body of scientific evidence that having an abortion can cause psychological harm to some women. "Women who report negative after-effects from abortion know exactly what their problem is," observed psychologist Wanda Franz, Ph.D., in a March 1989 congressional hearing on the impact of abortion. "They report horrible nightmares of children calling them from trash cans, of body parts, and blood," Franz told the Congressional panel. "When they are reminded of the abortion," Franz testified, "the women re-experienced it with terrible psychological pain ... They feel worthless and victimized because they failed at the most natural of human activities -- the role of being a mother."[106]
The emergence of chemical abortion methods poses a new possibly more devastating psychological threat. Unlike surgical abortions, in which women rarely see the cut up body parts, women having chemical abortions often do see the complete tiny bodies of their unborn children and are even able to distinguish the child’s developing hands, eyes, etc. [107] So traumatic is this for some women that both patients and researchers involved in these studies have recommended that women unprepared for the experience of seeing their aborted children not take the drugs. [108] Long-term psychological implications of this experience have not been studied.
Researchers on the after-effects of abortion have identified a pattern of psychological problems known as Post-Abortion Syndrome (PAS). Women suffering PAS may experience drug and alcohol abuse, personal relationship disorders, sexual dysfunction, repeated abortions, communications difficulties, damaged self-esteem, and even attempt suicide. Post-Abortion Syndrome appears to be a type of pattern of denial which may last for five to ten years before emotional difficulties surface. [109]
Now that some clinicians have established that there is an identifiable patterns to PAS, they face a new challenge. What is still unknown is how widespread psychological problems are among women who have had abortions. A Los Angeles Times survey in 1989 found that 56% of women who had abortions felt guilty about it, and 26% "mostly regretted the abortion."[110] Clinicians’ current goal should be to conduct extensive national research studies to obtain data on the psychological after-effects of abortion.[111]
With the growing awareness of Post Abortion Syndrome in scholarly and clinical circles, women with PAS can expect to receive a more sensitive appreciation of the suffering that they endure. Fortunately, a growing network of peer support groups of women who have had abortions offers assistance to women who are experiencing emotional difficulties.
Many post-abortive women have also been speaking out publicly about their own abortion experiences and the healing process they went through.. Women or family members seeking information about this particular outreach can contact American Victims of Abortion, 419 7th Street, NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C., 20004.
Previous Page | Next Page | Reference Page | Abortion Some Medical Facts
Talk about covering his a$$.
When a woman starts suffering problems of a psychological sort after an abortion, she often attributes it to other things. And doctors like this Penny will do their utmost to never allow their patients' abortions have anything to do with their depression, feelings of worthlessness, poor judgment, alcholol and drug abuse, suicidal thoughts. No, these abortion advocates will make sure that women who dare to equate their psychological problems with abortion were just screwed up messes to begin with.
Once a sane person has had a child and holds it in her arms, see sees what she has destroyed. Only then do they realize the innocent life (lives) they've taken. The damage cannot be undone.
I hope this woman wins this case, but the minions in favor of death and population control are many. She'll have a big fight on her hands.
Then maybe it would be in the best interest of those considering abortion to see a babys developement from start to finish, and show them videos of an abortion in progress. A trip to a hospital maternity ward to see what the child may look like if she were to decide to let it live.
That way, the woman would be psychologically prepared for what she is about to do.
The concern about post-abortion depression would be slightly eliminated.
"Rights" of the woman are being denyed by not educating them on the entire process and what they're actually agreeing to do.
We're already familiar with that line of reasoning over here, Gillian. We call it the "nuts and sluts" defense. Sorry, we're not buying it.
Ah, yes - but there IS hope and healing.
.I have seen the miracle of women helping other women recover from Post Abortion Sybdrome.
It's not easy, but armed with love and "The Truth" is is possible.
Bump for Womens Crisis Pregnancy Centers!!
This doctor is either in complete ideological denial, or she is flat out lying. It is well established that a large percentage of women who have abortions experience sadness, guilt, and sometimes severe mental anguish. They may imagine things like hearing the missing baby crying in the night. This is true more or less regardless of religious beliefs, or whether they have given the matter much thought beforehand. But the only places you will see such studies is in professional journals or pro-life newsletters, because the media have regularly suppressed all such information for ideological reasons.
In a way, it's surprising that the Guardian is giving any publicity at all to this lawsuit, even unfriendly publicity.
Doesn't this statement scream for psychological testing before the abortion?? If the woman is not stable enough for an abortion then she should not be a candidate for one.
Pray for GW and abortionist victims
And if she was told, does anyone think it would have made a difference?
Other questions I would wonder about in this case include: (1) Is the lawsuit itself a manifestation of irresponsibility and an attempt to blame someone for a decision that she doesn't want to take responsibility for?; and, (2) To what extent is she unwittingly using the lawsuit as a way of trying to resolve the symptoms of the trauma that she placed her baby (and herself) through? That is, is this an attempt to apply a "greenback poltice" to her damaged psyche?
I'd always like to see abortion providers sued but this is not a clean cut case.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.