{"id":239357,"date":"2021-02-11T10:38:45","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T16:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=239357"},"modified":"2021-02-11T01:16:01","modified_gmt":"2021-02-11T07:16:01","slug":"abortion-chain-lies-women-psychological-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-chain-lies-women-psychological-risks\/","title":{"rendered":"Abortion chain lies to women about abortion’s psychological risks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Live Action News has previously reported on the Whole Woman’s Health abortion facility chain and its long list of health violations dating back years<\/a>, as well as some the deceptive information it lists on its website<\/a> regarding abortion. Adding to this list is the chain’s claim that women are unlikely to suffer emotional or mental effects after an abortion. The chain has the following information on its website<\/a>, aimed at women considering abortion:<\/p>\n

Serious, long-term emotional problems after an abortion are rare. They are about as uncommon as they are after giving birth. If there are issues, they are more likely to happen to people who have to end a pregnancy because of health reasons, or people who have a history of mental health problems.<\/em><\/p>\n

Whole Woman\u2019s Health assures women coming in for abortions that they are unlikely to experience mental health problems afterwards. But what does the research say?<\/p>\n

High dropout rates plague many studies which claim women suffer no ill effects<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are some studies that show only a small percentage of women suffer from depression or regret after abortion. But these studies have major methodological flaws and are nearly all based on questionnaires. These questionnaires are given right after the abortion, and then again a few weeks or months later. Few of the studies follow women very long, which means they may miss emotional problems that develop years later. Many post-abortive women describe regret surfacing years or even decades after their abortions.<\/p>\n

Another problem with these studies is that large numbers of women drop out of them between the first and subsequent questionnaires.<\/p>\n

For example, one study that was widely reported found that only<\/a> 1.4% of women suffered post-abortive symptoms two years after their abortions.\u00a0But 50% of the original sample dropped out of the study, even though women were paid to participate.<\/p>\n

A researcher involved in a different study, Dr. Hanna Soderberg, found that<\/a>\u00a0\u201cfor many of the women, the reason for non-participation seemed to be a sense of guilt and remorse that they did not wish to discuss.\u201d\u00a0Soderberg\u2019s study found that 60% of post-abortive women suffered emotional distress after their abortions. For 16% of women, this distress was classified as \u201csevere.\u201d Seventy percent of the women said they would not<\/em> choose abortion again.<\/p>\n

The problem of a high participant dropout rate affects seems to be an issue with every study based on questionnaires, which found a low rate of post-abortive mental health problems.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Four reasons why the abortion \u2018Turnaway Study\u2019 should not be trusted<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Abortion and suicide<\/strong><\/p>\n

Studies also show a link between abortion and suicide. Two studies, based on medical records in Finland, show that women who had abortions were 6-7 times more likely<\/a> to die by suicide than women who gave birth.\u00a0Since these studies only covered the first year after the abortions, it is possible these numbers are higher.<\/p>\n

A British study found that women who aborted were 225% more likely<\/a> to attempt suicide than women who gave birth.\u00a0The situation is even worse for teenagers, who are 10 times more likely<\/a> to attempt suicide if they had an abortion.\u00a0That particular study covered a period of only six months.\u00a0Yet another study found a 154% higher suicide rate<\/a>\u00a0for women who have abortions.<\/p>\n

Another\u00a0more recent study<\/a> divided post-abortive women into those who aborted \u201cwanted\u201d and \u201cunwanted\u201d pregnancies. It found that women who aborted \u201cunwanted\u201d pregnancies \u201chad a 94% higher risk of subsequent suicidal thoughts than women without a history of abortion.\u201d They were also 270% more likely to abuse alcohol after their abortions. About 5.3% of these women developed an addiction to drugs. Among those who aborted “wanted” pregnancies, 15.8% developed drug addictions.\u00a0Rates of depression and mental illness were elevated in both groups of women. However, rates of mental illness among those who aborted wanted pregnancies were higher.<\/p>\n

A recent study of testimonies posted online found that<\/a> among women who took the abortion pill:<\/p>\n