Posted on 11/27/2004 9:07:27 AM PST by topher
Recent Poll Reveals Most Americans Think Abortion Hurts Women
CHICAGO, November 26, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A recent nationwide survey conducted by Wirthlin Worldwide has found that a majority of Americans believe that abortion is "almost always bad" for women. The findings reflect the earlier findings of an Elliot Institute poll, which found that a majority of Americans believe abortion makes women's lives worse.
The poll of 1,001 Americans, conducted on behalf of Americans United for Life, found that 61 percent felt that "abortion is almost always a bad thing for a woman," whereas only 23 percent said it was almost always a good thing.
Of 64 percent who said they knew someone personally who had had an abortion, 55 percent felt it was "generally a negative experience" based on their observations of the women, whereas 40 percent felt the experience was a positive one for the women.
The Elliot Institute poll, conducted in December 2002, found that only 16 percent believed abortion generally makes women's lives better; 52 percent felt it made women's lives worse.
The Elliot Institute poll also established that 80 percent of Americans felt that women experienced moderate to severe emotional effects from abortion, with 74 to 90 percent of Americans saying that women were not fully informed of this risk beforehand. Even the most "pro-choice" respondents believed that women were not fully informed of the risks associated with abortion.
"These findings show that American's eyes are being opened to the fact that abortion harms women, often from personally seeing a woman struggle with the aftermath of abortion," Elliot Institute director Dr. David Reardon said. "They also underscore the importance of efforts to educate the public on the risks of abortion--efforts that are apparently already taking hold with Americans."
See U.S. Newswire
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=39116
There is a major SCAM at the CDC that deaths due to abortions in subsequent childbirths are not reported correctly.
They are reported as deaths due to child birth when in fact they are deaths due to injuries from abortion.
This was reported on Father Frank Pavone's Gospel of Life this past week on EWTN. Mark Crutcher of Life Dynamics was the guest.
Also on this TV show was the story of an abortionist who had the woman screening patients to ask if minors had informed their parents or married women their husbands. The reason here was that this abortionist knew that these minors and married women would not report sexual abuse -- which was occurring at this Indiana abortion clinic.
Time to throw Roe vs Wade out...
Ping!
"16 percent believed abortion generally makes women's lives better"
Just goes to show you that at least 16% of a given population will believe ANYTHING. Yikes!
It hurts the baby also!
I'm wondering, of the 16%, how many were males?... There might be selfish motives at work in viewing abortion as good for women, improving whose life?
abortion is "always bad" for the children...
Abortion is like any other murder. You could kill your mean husband, wife, acquaintance, too. That would get rid of the problem right then. That is how abortion is. Only it is legal murder. But it is still killing, killing your own child. Many of these women about 20 years later are suffering from deep depression. Maybe that is the reason for the surge in antidepressants these days. Some become suicidal. Locally, there is a pastor dealing with all these depressed women. About twenty years later, when they are no longer stupid teenagers, they become very depressed over the abortion. They have a twelve step program for these women. It is very sad. The abortionist does not counsel these women, does not warn them that the abortion may cause depression later. That would cause the woman to opt out of the procedure and the doc. would make no money. Some of these women never have a child after the abortion, for many reasons. Some can't, some just don't. And that would have been their only child. There are many hurts that women suffer caused by abortions. The guilt is killing them. It is so sad.
Ping!
Reminds when Norma Corvey converted in 1995, that there was a woman who did not want an abortion in Dallas, TX. But she had a broken arm, and her boyfriend was forcing her to have the abortion.
The prolifers got a restraining order on the boyfriend, and the woman had her baby.
I still don't know if the boyfriend gave her the broken arm, but I have always suspected that he might have broken her arm. I guess I would be frightened of such a person. Sad what some women have to go through because of Planned Parenthood & company.
Women Need More Mental Health Treatment After Abortion, New Study Finds
Springfield, IL -- Six months after her abortion, Jane had a mental breakdown. When she later delivered a healthy son, unresolved grief over her abortion contributed to severe post-partum psychosis. "I remember wanting to throw him out the window of the hospital room," she later told her therapist.
A study published in the most recent issue the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry reveals that both the early and delayed psychiatric episodes experienced by Jane are significant risks associated with abortion. By examining Medi-Cal records for 173,000 low-income California women, the research team compared the rate of psychiatric outpatient treatments for women who had abortions versus those who carried to term. To control for differences in prior psychological health, they excluded all women who had any psychiatric care for a year prior to their pregnancy outcome.
Women were 63 percent more likely to receive mental care within 90 days of an abortion compared to delivery. In addition, significantly higher rates of subsequent mental health treatment persisted over the entire four years of data examined. Abortion was most strongly associated with subsequent treatments for neurotic depression, bipolar disorder, adjustment reactions, and schizophrenic disorders.
Dr. Priscilla Coleman, the study's lead author, said that the study design was an improvement over previous studies because it relied on medical records rather than on surveys of women contacted at an abortion clinic.
"Most studies of mental health status after an abortion rely on small groups of women—usually less than 300—and face high drop out rates of 50 percent or more," said Coleman, a professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. "By looking at medical claims for a large group of women, we were able to capture a more accurate picture of the differences between abortion and childbirth."
Another of the study's authors, Dr. David Reardon, said, "Our results are likely to underestimate the true difference in psychological treatments because the information on obstetric histories was incomplete. Since many of the women classified as ‘childbirth only' actually had prior abortions which we did not know about, this would most likely dilute our findings."
Last January, another study by Reardon, the director of the Springfield, IL based Elliot Institute, was published in the prestigious British Medical Journal. Examining a large national sample of women, it revealed that women who abort are at higher risk of severe clinical depression than women who carried unintended pregnancies to term.
Reardon is the co-author with Dr. Theresa Burke of a new book, Forbidden Grief: The Unspoken Pain of Abortion in which Jane's experience, summarized above, is included as part of a comprehensive review of post-abortion reactions. (See www.forbiddengrief.com). Forbidden Grief was recently highlighted as the book of the week selection by radio talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger.
Reardon believes the results these recent studies underscore a key message of Forbidden Grief: "We need to expand outreach and referrals into post-abortion counseling programs. There are many women who have great difficulty coping with the emotional stress following an abortion. Without help, and especially the understanding of loved ones, they will be more vulnerable to self-destructive behavior and other psychological disorders."
Public interest in the health effects of abortion was last raised in 1989 Surgeon General Koop reviewed the research on abortion at the request of President Reagan. Koop concluded that all the studies done up to that point was so methodologically flawed that no firm conclusions could be drawn about abortion's risks or benefits.
In a letter to the outgoing president, Koop recommended that a major federally funded longitudinal study of abortions health risks was the only way to secure definitive answers. His proposal for a major study died in the Democratically controlled congress, however, when abortion advocates argued that the appeal for such research was politically motivated and a waste of tax payer dollars.
Reardon hopes the results of recent studies will rekindle the effort to make the investigation of abortion's health effects a priority of the government's National Institutes of Health. "The government has ignored this problem for decades," Reardon says, "largely at the behest of population control groups which are more concerned about protecting abortion than protecting women. I believe women deserve better. They deserve to know the true relative risk associated with abortion. If the government had acted on Koop's recommendation, we would have had definitive answers by now."
Even without a definitive longitudinal study, the research published since 1989 has consistently revealed that women who abort are at higher risk of subsequent substance abuse, suicide, depression, and mental illnesses. During the time that knowledge of abortion's risks has grown, Reardon says, not a single study comparing abortion to delivery of an unintended child has shown that abortion is associated with better mental or physical health. These facts lead Reardon to insist that, "While abortion may still be defended on political grounds, it can no longer be defended on medical grounds."
###
Citation to study: Coleman PK, Reardon DC, Rue VM, Cougle JR. "State-funded abortions vs. deliveries: A comparison of outpatient mental health claims over five years." American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2002, Vol. 72, No. 1, 141–152.
The lobby group and political figures that promoted (the myth of) "our world is overpopulated, we will run out of food, we will run out of water, there will not be enough space for everyone" used women and destroyed babies.
Had absolutely nothing to do with woman's rights. Just sold as such.
Half the people entering abortion clinics die.
Be a hero, save a whale, save a baby, go to jail.
A couple of bumper stickers I've seen.
I think the abortion situation would be resolved if every mother to be were required to have an ultrasound before aborting. I had trouble and required an ultrasound at 10 weeks with my daughter. She cracked me and the ultrasound technician up! She would kick her little feet and turn to one side, then kick again and go to her other side. They are people.
Ping.
I am left to wonder how bad it is for the unborn.
"Abortion was most strongly associated with subsequent treatments for...bipolar disorder..."
My sister-in-law had two abortions when she was a teenager. (Maybe the second one she was older, it was before I knew her and it is not discussed except in very hushed and hurried tones in the family. I'm not even 100% sure hubby knows all this.) She never had any children subsequently. She developed pretty severe bi-polar disorder and ended committing suicide. Obviously this was devastating to the entire family. Even if the abortions didn't CAUSE the mental disorder I have not doubt that if she had two children (or even one, since the fathers were different, again if I've got the details right), she would have tried a whole lot harder to get and stay mentally healthy.
So, you know, abortion it's ALL bad. I hope know one is really surprised that most Americans realize this. People, in general, aren't geniuses, but they're not morons either. I don't know why the elites keep thinking we are.
Bernard Nathanson's Silent Scream is tough to watch -- even if it is only about 10 to 15 seconds of film that shows the silent scream.
The seasoned veteran who did the abortion also did editing, and physically sick during the editing.
There are much tougher abortions filmed that I have not seen, but maybe I should.
They should show Silent Scream to educate parents and teenagers, as well as young women.
www.abortionNO.org [CBR] has a much more graphic and newer version.
The Hard Truth has been replaced by the Harder Truth. VHS tapes are available at:
CBR Store or http://www.abortionNO.org/store.html
[CBR = Center for Bio-Ethical Reform].
I like both of those.
Indeed it does. Indeed it does. In fact, it KILLS the baby.
"Describing himself as 100 percent pro-life with "no exceptions," Peroutka, a lawyer by profession, explained his plan to WorldNetDaily.
Peroutka claims that, despite the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, abortion is "already against the law."
"What is lacking is really a commitment to end abortion, not the tools and the ability to do it," he told WND.
To end abortion "immediately," he said, the president would simply have to declare the personhood of the unborn from the moment of conception. The executive branch, which holds the law-enforcement function of government, could then enforce that personhood through the U.S. attorneys, he says.
After making the declaration of personhood, Peroutka explains, he would then appoint new U.S. attorneys throughout the nation, as did President Clinton upon entering the presidency.
"U.S. Attorneys could be appointed who understood that the unborn child is a person under the Fifth Amendment and shall not be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process," he said. "So I believe that it is doable on Day 1."
The candidate says the new government lawyers would then "prosecute those who would deny that personhood," such as operators of abortion clinics.
The personhood declaration could be accomplished, he said, through an executive order."
DROP any anti-third party bias and rude answers and could someone please answer this question honestly: Is Peroutka right here??? He's a lawyer, you think he ought to know.
Any legal scholars here please give your opinion if this is possible. THANKS!
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.