Tired of all the typical abortion arguments of entitlement? I came across an article titled, "Mental Health is the New Antiabortion Battleground. But the Science is all Wrong" on The Washington Post's website which offers the public a new way to look at the abortion issue. It is becoming less of a fight over a woman's body and more about their minds.
"In the past few years, under the banner of 'a woman's right to know,' a number of states have passed laws mandating that women seeking abortions be told that going ahead with the procedure would expose them to mental health risks, including post-traumatic stress and a greater danger of suicide."
This is a strategy pro-life activists can adopt this stance--it's a political strategy. The author claims that these laws mislead women seeking an abortion because this information lacks accuracy. Research has not been able to link abortion to increased mental health problems. Citing an Oregon State University national study, the author reports their findings show that "teenagers who have an abortion are no more likely to become depressed or to have low self-esteem one year or five years later, compared with their peers who deliver."
The author claims that pro-life activists who adopt this strategy "...distorts scientific principles, even as it uses the umbrella of scientific research to advance its aims." She says there is a flaw in correlation v. causation. Her argument is based upon the assumption that women seeking abortions are,"...on average, less likely to be married or involved in an intimate relationship, more likely to be poor, and more likely to have suffered physical or psychological abuse. All these latter qualities are risk factors for poor mental health."
GET THIS. Lawmakers in Nebraska have sanctions in place that allows women to file a civil suit against the physician. She can claim that the physician did not screen her adequately for characteristics (like being poor and pregnant) that are said to lead to mental health issues after an abortion. What if you flipped it? Should women who plan on carrying out their pregnancy be screened for characteristic that would lead them to depression or other mental health issues?
AND LISTEN TO THIS. The author believes that "...the emotionally evocative stories of a minority of women can lead people to overestimate the frequency of those experiences." She gives the example of a woman's story of how she tried to kill herself by swallowing an entire bottle of pain medication after becoming very depressed after having an abortion. The author makes a bold statement stating that, "...her story drowns out the evidence that a much larger number of women feel relief following an abortion."
DOES SHE HAVE THE RESEARCH TO BACK IT UP? The author conducted a study in the 1990s with a sample size of over 400 women who sought first-trimester abortions. Her research concluded that, "...women who terminate an unplanned pregnancy report a range of feelings, including sadness and loss as well as relief." Another revelation in her study showed that, "...two years after their abortion, most women say they would make the same decision if they had it to do over again under the same circumstances."
In my opinion, I think that some her findings fail to understand correlation and causation, just as she criticizes the argument that abortions cause distress on mental health. Of course if you interview women who are 2 years from the day they made the decision to have an abortion, they are going to feel positive about it. It seems nowadays that abortions are becoming the more popular option for women who face difficult economic situations. The thought of having a baby at the time their found out they were pregnant, they probably couldn't imagine the idea of paying for a baby and all its needs. They have escaped the burden--so life seems good.
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