Abortion Rights Debate 'Shifting' To Procedure's Possible Mental Effects, Wall Street Journal Reports

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 13 Aug 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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The "cultural battle" over abortion is "shifting" to the possible mental health effects of the procedure, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the Journal, the American Psychological Association this week at an annual conference in Boston is expected to release a comprehensive report reviewing 20 years of published research on the mental health effects of abortion. Both abortion-rights supporters and opponents agree that mental health issues could affect abortion policy "for years to come," and both sides hope to use the APA report "to their advantage," according to the Journal.

APA declined to comment until its final report is released at the conference. Reviewers who have seen the drafts but not the final report said the drafts are "exhaustive but ambiguous" -- stating that some women who have abortions, including teens and younger women, might have higher rates of emotional distress. However, a recent draft concluded that adult women seeking first-trimester abortions, which constitute the majority of procedures, do not have any greater risk of mental health conditions than other women. APA previously has stated it supports access to safe, legal abortion, saying it is crucial to women's mental health.

According to the Journal, it is difficult to quantify possible mental health effects of abortion in part because many studies rely on women who self-report their abortion histories, and it is unclear how an appropriate control group would be set up. In addition, it is difficult to determine whether women who are depressed following an abortion are depressed because of the abortion itself or other factors, such as relationship issues.

Abortion-rights opponents have cited studies suggesting that women who have had abortions are at higher risk of anxiety, depression and substance abuse to argue that governments should restrict abortion to protect women's mental health. The U.S. Supreme Court cited similar reasoning in upholding a federal ban on so-called "partial-birth" abortion, and South Dakota also used similar reasoning in a new mandate that abortion providers must tell women seeking abortion they are putting themselves at risk for psychological distress and suicide. Advocates in South Dakota also are using the argument to promote a broad abortion ban that state voters will consider in November, the Journal reports.

Abortion-rights supporters have said that such logic is the equivalent of the government warning women against giving birth because of the possibility of postpartum depression, the Journal reports. Supporters of abortion rights acknowledge that some women who undergo abortion might regret the decision but that there is no proof abortion leads to serious mental illness or that women would be better off if they continued unintended pregnancies.

Supporters of abortion rights have said studies suggesting abortion is harmful to mental health are methodologically flawed. They also are hoping the new APA report says abortion is safe for mental health, the Journal reports. "I would hope it would say that there is no convincing empirical evidence that abortion is a significant cause of psychiatric illness," Nada Stotland --president of the American Psychiatric Association, which is not associated with APA -- said.

Abortion-rights opponents have said that the report focuses on women who do not have mental health problems following abortion instead of warning women seeking the procedure and abortion providers about the possibility of mental distress. Priscilla Coleman, a researcher at Bowling Green State University whose work has been cited by abortion-rights opponents, said that at least 10% to 20% of women who have abortions experience prolonged mental health problems following the procedure. "We're not doing women any favors by hiding this," Coleman said.

A study conducted by David Fergusson, a professor at the University of Otago in New Zealand, attempted to control for variables that could affect the findings, including family stability, education level and self-esteem. Fergusson followed 139 women who self-reported abortions for 25 years. The study found that women who received an abortion were more likely to experience mental health problems than women who continued a pregnancy or who never became pregnant. Despite the findings, Fergusson said it is too early to "draw strong conclusions either way." He added that there could be benefits to abortion, such as allowing women to finish school, get a better job or build fulfilling relationships. Fergusson said he hopes the upcoming APA report will provide some clarity on the issue but that it will be difficult. Both abortion-rights supporters and opponents "have been able to reconstruct the same evidence to meet their agendas," Fergusson said (Simon, Wall Street Journal, 8/12).

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