From the Leader in Post-Abortion Research
Vol. 8, No. 1 -- Jan. 19, 2009
The UnChoice Campaign: TheUnChoice.com
New Study Finds Father's Support Plays Key Role in Abortion
Women More Likely to Experience Alcohol Abuse, Violence After Abortion
A new study published in the International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction has found that the relationship between women and their partners and the level of support provided by the father are important factors in whether or not the woman aborts.1
The study, headed by Prof. Priscilla Coleman of Bowling Green State University, was based on a survey of low-income women undertaken at various hospitals around the country. The women involved had all become pregnant within 18 months of delivering a child and either aborted the second pregnancy or carried to term. Participants were asked about drug and alcohol abuse, their relationship with the child's father and difficulties raising their first child.
The study found that women who felt they could not rely on their partner to help in caring for the child were more likely to have an abortion. They also found that women who had undergone an abortion were over three times more likely to report heavy alcohol use and twice as likely to report cigarette smoking.
Other studies have found that women who have had abortions have higher rates of subsequent substance abuse, suicide, anxiety disorders, depression, and other problems compared to women who carried to term. A recent study published by Coleman found that abortion was linked to higher rates of mental health disorders that included panic disorder, panic attacks, agoraphobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder and major depression.
In the current study, women whose first child had medical problems or who had difficulty raising a child did not have a higher abortion rate, the researchers found.
"The results clearly suggest that women who feel the first child's father has not assumed enough parental responsibility and/or lacks the ability to contribute to their efforts to raise the child, are reluctant to bear another child," they wrote.
They also noted that women who had an abortion were more likely to report subsequently being slapped or kicked by the child's father, suggesting that stress after abortion was leading to an increase in domestic violence.
Support From Others is Important, Other Studies Show
Other surveys of post-aborted women have also found that the level of support and the attitudes of those around them, both in personal and professional relationships, play a role in determining whether or not an abortion takes place.
A survey of women who had abortions, published in the Medical Science Monitor, found that 64 percent of American respondents reported feeling pressured to abort by others and more than 80 percent said they weren't given enough information to make a decision about abortion. And a survey of women in post-abortion support groups found that more than 83 percent said they would have continued the pregnancy if they had been given more support from others.
Women themselves have also shared stories of feeling that they had no choice but to abort. They describe a range of circumstances that can lead to unwanted abortions, including lack of support or resources to have the baby; pressure or threats from those around them; inadequate and deceptive counseling about alternatives, fetal development and abortion risks; and even violence.
One woman shared her story of being kicked out of the house by her parents when she became pregnant as a teen:
They told me to leave the house and forget that I was their daughter.
My father sent several messages urging me to have an abortion. I refused. But as I began to feel more desperate, I shut down my feelings ... functioning more like a surreal observer than someone in control.
When a woman's partner or family would wish her to continue the pregnancy, however, they may also be mislead by information that suggests it would be too difficult to have a child or that there are no other options but abortion. Pro-life advocates say that awareness of the harm abortion can cause their loved one and the availability of resources and options is needed so that women and teens are able to get the support they need for themselves and their unborn children.
The authors of the current study stressed that more attention should be paid to women's relationships with those around them, suggesting that because abortion is framed as a "private women's issue," researchers and social scientists have been hesitant to look at how relationships with others affect pregnancy outcome.
They also called for more resources and alternatives for women facing crisis pregnancies, and offered specific suggestions for professionals working with women in vulnerable situations.
"If the father is psychologically and/or physically unavailable, counselors can assist women in identifying other sources of support within and outside the family ..." they wrote. "Inquiries about a history of prior or current substance abuse and education efforts regarding documented substance abuse risks associated with [abortion] ought to be conveyed."
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For more information on this and other studies examining the impact of abortion on women, download our free Recent Research fact sheet.
Citations
1. PK Coleman et. al., "Predictors and Correlates of Abortion in the Fragile Families and Well-Being Study: Paternal Behavior, Substance Abuse and Partner Violence," International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, DOI 10.1007/s11469-008-9188-7, Published Dec. 31, 2008.
Covering Up For Sex Trafficking
Abortion Industry's Failure to Report Sex Crimes May Also Hide Human Trafficking
–Experts Say Victims of Sex Trafficking Are Often Forced To Abort
As part of an ongoing effort by pro-lifers to expose abortion clinics’ abetting of sex crimes, more Planned Parenthood affiliates have been caught on tape apparently trying to cover up cases of sexual abuse and statutory rape.
Pro-life groups in California, North Carolina and Indiana have conducted undercover investigations in which women posed as minor girls and told abortion clinic staff members that they had been impregnated by adult men. The pro-lifers then secretly recorded the Planned Parenthood staff apparently either ignoring evidence of a crime or telling the girl to lie about her age in order to conceal the abusive situation.
In one case, a nurse was recorded as saying, “Okay, I didn’t hear the age [of the man]. I don’t want to hear the age.” In another case, a pro-life group in North Carolina released video footage of a Planned Parenthood staff member telling a “girl” who said she was having sex with her mother’s boyfriend that this was illegal, but then told her that the man could buy the morning-after pill for her. Students for Life of America, which recorded the conversation, says they could not find any evidence that Planned Parenthood reported the case to authorities as required by state law.
Critics say that while these newest cases are drawing attention to what happens behind closed doors—or over the phone—at abortion businesses across the country, this is not a new problem.
There have also been lawsuits and criminal cases in a number of states in which girls and teens were taken for abortions by older men, given abortions with no questions asked and then returned to the abusive situation.
For example, in 2002 a judge found a Planned Parenthood affiliate in Arizona negligent for failing to report a case in which a 13-year-old girl was impregnated and taken for an abortion by her 23-year-old foster brother. Planned Parenthood did not notify authorities until the girl returned six months later for a second abortion. A lawsuit alleged that the girl was subjected to repeated abuse and a second abortion because Planned Parenthood failed to notify authorities when she had her first abortion. The girl's foster brother was later imprisoned for abusing her.1
Forced to Abort: Victims of Sex Trafficking
These cases are especially troubling in light of a recent report on sex trafficking that appeared on MSNBC.com. The report said that victims of sex trafficking are often forced into abortion if they become pregnant.2
Last year, Consuelo Carretto Valencia pleaded guilty to trafficking women and girls from Mexico and forcing them to work in the sex industry. Investigators said Valencia was the head of a prostitution ring in which the victims were “compelled to perform sex acts 12 hours a day and subjected to beatings, rapes and forced abortions.”
Federal investigators said that sex trafficking in the U.S. likely generates more than $9.5 billion a year and that it goes on in “nearly ever Amercian city and town.” A State Department report released in 2008 said that most victims of human trafficking are women and girls and that 70 percent of them are trafficked for sexual purposes.
According to experts, most women and girls who are victims of sex trafficking are lured to the U.S. from other countries with the promise of good jobs, then forced into prostitution. Many speak little or no English and are afraid to go authorities or try to escape because they are victims of intimidation, brain-washing and physical violence.
All the more reason why the current “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy at abortion businesses needs to come to an end. The Elliot Institute’s model bill would hold abortion businesses liable for failing to screen for coercion and for performing abortions when there is evidence that the woman or girl is being forced or coerced into abortion. This could help identify women and girls who are victims of sexual predators or human trafficking and would stop providing perpetrators with an easy way to cover up and continue their crimes.
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For more information on the Elliot Institute's model bill to stop coerced and forced abortions, click here.
Citations
1. “Planned Parenthood Found Negligent in Reporting Molested Teen's Abortion,” Pro-Life Infonet, Dec. 26, 2002.
2. Alex Johnson and Cesar Rodriquez, “Sex slavery: Living the American Nightmare,” MSNBC.com, Dec. 22. 2008. Accessed on 12/22/08.
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