Mental health risks are becoming increasingly associated with women who have had an abortion.
According to Dr. David Reardon, director of the Elliot Institute, a number of studies indicate an elevated risk of suicide following an abortion. "About [one]-fourth of women who report having negative reactions to abortion will also report that they attempted suicide at least once, and suicidal thoughts are even more common," Reardon reports.
Studies from Finland indicate women who have had an abortion are six-and-a-half times more likely to commit suicide the first year after the pregnancy termination. A recent case is that of British actress Emma Beck who committed suicide in 2007 and left a note directly relating it to aborting her unborn twins. Her note read: "I should have never undergone the abortion...I want to be with my children, they need me more than anyone else in the world."
Even so, abortion proponents refuse to acknowledge the connection; and rather than using mental health as a reason to decide against the procedure, it is usually the justification for a majority of the performed abortions.
worry worried woman mom"They always can argue that...it could have been something else," the Elliot Institute director laments. "And so that's been their basic argument...that even though statistical studies show a higher rate and women themselves report abortion being the cause of suicidal feelings, they're still in denial."
Reardon says even those with the most stringent arguments against it admit there is a link between abortion and post-traumatic stress disorder. But he explains that most states with women's right-to-know laws do not adequately inform women seeking to terminate a pregnancy of the potential psychological price they might pay. Accurate information can be found on the Elliot Institute website.
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: April 16, 2010
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Illinois Federation for Right to Life
2600 State Street, Suite E
Alton, IL 62002
Phone: 618-466-4122
Fax: 618-466-4134
Web: www.ifrl.org
Illinois Federation for Right to Life
2600 State Street, Suite E
Alton, IL 62002
Phone: 618-466-4122
Fax: 618-466-4134
Web: www.ifrl.org
