Study Links Abortion to Increased Mental Health Problems
Researchers Drew the Wrong Conclusions In
New England Medical Journal Study
 

Springfield, IL (February 2, 2010) -- A study that is being reported as showing abortion doesn't increase women's mental health risks actually shows a higher rate of problems among women who have abortions compared to those who give birth, a leading expert says.

Dr. David Reardon of the Elliot Institute said the findings showed that aborting women were two to three times more likely to seek treatment for mental health problems compared to women who gave birth or who had not been pregnant.

The study's authors focused on a finding that the rate of psychiatric treatment was similar for women both before and after abortion. They concluded that the finding "does not support the hypothesis that there is an increased risk of mental disorders after a first-trimester induced abortion."

But Reardon, who has worked on more than a dozen studies finding increased mental health problems among women who abort, said the findings don't support this conclusion.

He said the two to three times higher rate of psychiatric treatment among aborting women confirms other studies finding that women who have abortions have higher rates of mental health problems compared to women who give birth. More than 35 such studies have been published in the last five years alone.

"Other studies have found that abortion is a marker for mental health problems, and this study agrees with those findings," Reardon said. "The

finding that women who have abortions are more likely to seek psychiatric treatment compared to women who give birth is consistent with previous findings."

Study Raises More Questions

One important factor not covered by the study, he said, was whether women who sought psychiatric help before abortion also sought help after abortion.

"If the same women underwent treatment both before and after abortion, it could indicate that seeking psychiatric care prior to abortion is a risk factor for mental health problems after abortion," Reardon said. "On the other hand, if the women who sought care after abortion had no previous treatment, then the problems likely began after the abortion took place, since the researchers excluded women who sought treatment prior to nine months before the abortion or birth took place."

This meant that the researchers were looking at records for only the most mentally stable women, reducing the possibility that problems among aborting women were related to their previous psychiatric history.

Limitations and Flaws

And although the study has been described as an "extremely, extremely well-done study," Reardon and other critics pointed to a number of flaws and limitations in the study design.

For example, although the researchers compared women having abortions for the first time to women giving birth for the first time, neither group was limited only  to women experiencing a first pregnancy. Women with a previous birth could be included in the abortion group, while women with a previous abortion could be included in the birth group. This means that there is no way to know if mental health problems in either group might not be caused by the previous different pregnancy experience.