Posted on 01/19/2006 6:12:41 PM PST by calpilot
Studies Find Abortions Have Long-Term Adverse Effects By Louise Valentine Epoch Times New York Staff Jan 15, 2006
(Jyn Meyer)
Three recent studies have shown that abortion has adverse effects on the would-be mothers' mental and spiritual health, to such an extent that some are advocating giving up this way of solving the problem of unwanted pregnancy, while others, not wanting to give up their right to choose, are advocating more counseling.
A recent five-year study released from the University of Oslo shows that the negative psychological effects following abortions last much longer than those who had miscarriages.
The study included 80 women who had abortions and 40 women who had miscarriages. All the women were given questionnaires 10 days, six months, two years and five years after the event. The tests were Impact of Event Scale (IES), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and one on their feelings about pregnancy termination.
Forty-eight percent of the women who had miscarriages suffered distress at the ten-day period versus 30 percent of those who aborted. However, the ones who had miscarriages dropped to 23 percent after six months and to 2.6 percent after five years.
Of the women who had abortions 26 percent were still suffering grief, guilt, depression, shame and denial at six months. After five years 20 percent were still distressed.
Anne Nordel Broen, who conducted the Oslo study, said that possibly those who have abortions are more anxious to begin with. Others feel that taking a life has psychological effects. The study was published in the December issue of BMC Medicine .
The Christchurch Health and Development Study tracked 1,265 children born in the 1970s in New Zealand, which included 500 girls. Of them, 205 became pregnant and 90 had abortions. Forty-two percent of the women who had abortions had experienced major depression at some time in the previous four years—almost double the rate of the other women. The ones who had abortions also experienced twice the anxiety disorders, double the alcohol abuse, triple illegal drug dependency and a higher risk of suicide.
Dr. David Fergusson conducted the Christchurch study to settle the dispute over whether women who have abortions already have psychological problems or they come as a result of having abortions.
According to Dr. Fergusson, the large number of women studied over 25 years takes into account differences in socio-economic backgrounds and family history. He said: "…it does show as with…any procedure of any form, that there are risks and benefits that need to be taken into account and to be weighed very carefully." His study was published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry .
A 1997 Study in Finland by the STAKES statistical analysis unit of Finland's National Research and Development Center for Welfare and Health, in which researchers pulled death certificates and reproductive health records of women who died within a year of a birth, miscarriage or abortion included 9,192 maternal post-abortion deaths of women aged 15–49 from 1987 to 1994. They found the risk of death within a year by suicide, homicide, accident or natural causes was four times greater in women who had abortions than in other women.
Dr. Wanda Franz, the president of National Right to Life applauded the study, "Their approach to looking at short-term and long-term effects is very important, because one of the things that we've noticed when we've looked at data in the past is that there do appear to be long term effects. These… are very rarely addressed by our own abortion advocates in this country."
Questions or comments: louise.valentine@epochtimes.com
Only if there was a gun in the home. (/sarcasm)
Yes, the little baby endures the effects of it's being aborted for many years....
Good post. I would dearly love to speak to women about this and tell them about the years of pain this terrible decision I made in my early 20's has cost me. It never goes away, and the guilt and pain is always lurking. Women who've had abortions and are honest enough with themselves and God enough to admit the terrible mistake can witness for the pro-life cause in ways that no one else can. It is our way of trying to atone. My 9 year old knows already how wrong abortion is.
Me too
You can get involved, I am, check out the web site.
Thanks for all your posts...new to the FreeRepublic, though a casual reader for nearly a year now. Couldn't agree more with all your opinions. Hope you all can patronize the Epoch Times. I e-mailed the author who told me that all contributions are voluntary. They have an impressive section on Asian affairs.
I like the comment made that less than 3% of abortions are due to a mother's health. Funny how the Pro-Choicers twist that fact to make it such a big deal when in all reality and facts, it's not. Just think of all the countless millions of aborted babies in Latin America or China, not even counting those in the US. Pretty depressing.
Yeah, but they dodged the other bullet, the link to increased chances of developing breast cancer.
When this case came down form the Supreme Court in 1973. I was only four years old, but how many people were actively involved in getting it turned down. It is really difficult to overturn something once it gets approved. Why didn't everyone just complain and actively insist that this rule not get voted for abortions. I know today people would be more active on these rulings. I would have loved to be of age in 1973 and go and battle the abortion ruling before the vote. Could you imagine millions of pro lifers out front stating our views. I think the vote would have been different. Just my opinion.
Is there a "No Sh**, Sherlock" Ping List?
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LOLOLOL!
another favorite justification is incest and rape which account for similiarly insignificant numbers of abortions.
it is primarily a matter of the mother's convenience.
Now, I'd be interested in that study.
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