EmilyMoreton

LA12Q4
05/20/2016

AbortionandMentalIllness
In1970,thewomanattheheartofRoev.WadeNormaMcCorvey,ayoungwoman
wholivedinTexasbecamepregnantwithherthirdchild.Shewantedanabortion,butthey
wereillegalinTexas.SoJaneRoe,asshewouldcometobecalledincourt,foundtwoyoung
lawyerstochallengethelaws.Theylosttheirinitiallycourtbattles,butappealedallthewayto
theUnitedStatesSupremeCourt.Andin1973,theSupremeCourtruled72inRoesfavor,
negatingtheabortionlawsin46states.JaneRoe,neverhadtheabortion,givingherbabyup
foradoptioninstead.NormaMcCorveycameto
deeplyregretherdecisiona
ndherpartin
overturningabortionlaws.Fordecadessince,shehasbeenacommittedwarriorintheprolife
movement.GlennBeck(emphasisadded)

Theissueofabortionisandalwayswillbeahotbuttontopicthatusuallyelicitsa
strongresponsefororagainst.Recentlythenewsaboutacollectionofundercover
videosaddedmorefueltothealreadylargefire.TheCenterforMedicalProgress
conductedayearlongundercoverinvestigationshowingPlannedParenthood
executivesmakingdealstosellbodypartsofabortedbabies.(CenterforMedical
Progress)Afterthe1973SupremeCourtdecisioninRoevs.Wade,abortionbecamea
weaponinthepoliticalarena.Sincethen,abortionisapivotalpointformanyvotersto
voteonewayoranother.ProChoiceandProLifeactivistsalikethrowinflammatory
allegationsacrossthedividehopingtoprovethattheyarerightandtheotheriswrong.

Ithascreatedaclimateoffear,shame,guiltandregretforthewomenwhohavetoface
theheartbreakingdecision.Somestudiessaythatmostwomenfeelguiltandregret
overtheirabortion.However,thereareprobablyjustasmanystudiesouttherethat
claimtheoppositesomewomenarehappieraftertheyhavehadanabortion.Howcan
womenfindanswersaboutabortionthattheycanlivewith?Whatisthetruthaboutguilt
andregretwhethertheykeptthebabyornot?Howdoesfaithandfamilyupbringing
affectthewomansdecisionorhowshecopesafterwards?
Itisdifficulttofindtruthfulandconcreteinformationabouttheemotional
wellbeingafterawomandecidestohaveanabortion.Thereisaboatloadofeasily
accessibleinformationaboutabortioningeneral.Thedifficultylieswithinthewoman
decidingwhatsiteorheadlinetoclickon.Googletheterm,abortionand72,000,000
matchescomeupinlessthan10seconds.Nowonderwomenwhoareseekingout
informationareoverwhelmed.Statisticalinformationaboutemotionalimpactscouldbe
compromisedduetostigmaorpossibleinsecurities.Bothadvocacygroupsskewand
bendresultsinordertofurthertheirownagendassodistrustissomethingtoconsider.
ProChoiceadvocatesclaimthatthestudiesshowemotionalwellbeingis
improvedbecausethewomannotlongerhastoworryaboutthestressesofbringingup
ababy.Awomanwithanunwantedpregnancyisaslikelytohavementalhealth
problemsfromabortionassheisfromgivingbirth.PlannedParenthoodissueda
statementattemptingtodiscredittheideathatthatmentalissueandabortionare
connected.Anyassociationbetweenmultipleabortionandmentalhealthproblemmay
beduetocooccurringfactorscircumstances,conditions,andbehaviorsthatmay

predisposeawomantobothmultipleunwantedpregnanciesandmentalhealth
problems.Basically,PlannedParenthoodblamedthewomanhavingapriorissuewith
mentalhealth.(PlannedParenthood)Ifawomanisseekinganswersforwhatshe
shoulddoitisalarmingtothinkthatmisleadinginformationmightimpactachoiceshe
wouldlaterregret.
Variousstudiesshowtheemotionalwellbeingofthewomanconsidering
abortionversuskeepingthebabyvarywidelydependingonthelengthoftimesincethe
decision,thewomanslifesituationbeforeduringandafter,thereligiousbackground,
familialsupport,previousmentalhealthissues,etc.Unfortunatelyduetotheemotional
connection,questionscouldbemisinterpreted,subjecttobias,datamanipulated,and
couldreinforcefeelingsofguilt,shame,orembarrassmentaboutthedecisiontoabortor
not.Thereisareasonwhymostwomenseekinganabortiongotogreatlengthstohide
theirabortion.
IntheBritishJournalofPsychiatryPriscillaK.Colemancompileddatafroma
comprehensivestudydonebytheAcademyofMedicalRoyalCollegesorAMRC.The
studyspannedfrom19952009regardingabortionandmentalhealthclaims,
Women
whohadundergoneanabortionexperiencedan81%increasedriskofmentalhealth
problems,andnearly10%oftheincidenceofmentalhealthproblemswasshowntobe
attributabletoabortion.(Coleman,P)

PlannedParenthooddirectlyrefutedtheaccuracyofDr.Colemansclaims.

PlannedParenthoodstatedthat,mostsubstantivestudiesinthelast30yearshave
foundabortiontobearelativelybenignprocedureintermsofemotionaleffectexcept

whenpreabortionemotionalproblemsexistorwhenawantedpregnancyis
terminated.(PlannedParenthood)TheyattemptedtodiscreditColemansfindingsciting
thatPPusedtheverysamestudyColemanusedfromtheAMRCandcametoan
oppositeconclusion.Thisclashofinterpretationsshowshowbiasandagendascanbe
astrongforceformanipulatingdata.
Thedecisiontoabortababyisextremelyseriousanddifficult.Therisks,
sideeffectsandlongtermtraumathatcanresultfromadecisionofthismagnitudeare
typicallynotpresentedorsharedaccuratelyoncethemotherisintheabortionoffice.In
factthewomanissteeredawayfromusingtermslike,babysoastofurtherthecover
upthatababyisnothingmorethantissue.Itishumannaturetowanttojustifyand
quantifydecisions.Womenwhohavefollowedthroughwithabortingtheirbabyfilltheir
mindswithanynumberofliestoeasethepaintheyaregoingthrough.Mentalillness
cansetinquicklyifthepersonisnotfacingtheirfeelingsabouttheirdecision.Religious
influenceandfamilydynamicsplayalargepartinthedecisiontoabortornot.Thereare
millionsofstoriesaboutayoungwomanbecomingpregnantandbeingafraidtotellher
parents.Theremillionsmorewomenwhoareafraidtotalkabouttheirabortion.Having
tokeepsecretsaboutsuchamajoreventcouldcausemajoremotionalinstability.
ProChoiceadvocatespreyupontheideatokeeptheabortionasecret.Nowonder
therearestronglinkswithabortionandmentalillness.
TheProLifeadvocatecoalition,LiveAction,recountsstoryafterstoryofwomen
changingtheirmindaboutabortionatthelastminuteduetosomesortofintervention.
LiveActionalsopoststheheartbreakingwarningsfromthosewhowentthroughwith

theirabortionanddeeplyregrettheirdecision.Thissortoftestimonialinformationcan
beveryhelpfulandinsightful.Ifwomenhavetoseekinformationaboutwhattodoif
theyhaveanunplannedpregnancytheyarealreadyvulnerable.Prochoicesupporters
shoutthatonlythepregnantwomanshouldbethedecisionmakerandthatitisan
outragetoinfluenceawomansdecisiontoterminate.OnceagainProchoiceadvocates
attempttoreinforcetheideathatabortionisawomansrightanditishers
alone.
The
keywordisalone.Oneoftheprimarycomplaintsfromthosewhosufferfrommental
illnessisthefeelingofbeing
alone
.Abortioncreatesanemptinessthatcanneverbe
filled.
AbortionisahighlychargedissueformostAmericans.Womenwhohavechosen
toaborttheirpregnancyhavetolivewiththatdecisionfortherestoftheirlives.Thereis
someevidencethatwomenwhodecidetoaborttheirbabyarehappieratthetime.Itis
unlikelythatthehappinessstaysforverylong.ThetrueoutcomeofRoeversusWadeis
notwidelyknown.ProChoiceadvocatestendtodismissthatpartofthestory.Itwould
beinterestingtostudythewomenwhomadetheirdecisionbecauseoftheRoeversus
Waderesult.Ultimately,womenneedaccesstodifferentformsoflegitimatesupportand
truthfulinformation.However,peoplewillseewhattheywanttosee.Wemaynever
knowthetrueimpactabortionhasonawoman.Regardlessoftheirdecision,itis
importanttohelpthosewhohavefacedpregnancytrials.Mentalillnessfromanysortof
traumaticevent,likeconsideringanabortion,isveryrealandcanbedeadly.

WorksCited
Beck,Glenn(2016,May).AbortionPartIII:RoevWade.
http://www.glennbeck.com/2016/05/12/abortionpartiiiroevwade/
CenterforMedicalProgress.InvestigativeFootage.Retrievedfromwebsite
http://www.centerformedicalprogress.org/cmp/investigativefootage/

Coleman,PriscillaK.(2011,Aug).Abortionandmentalhealth:quantitativesynthesis
andanalysisofresearchpublished19952009.BritishJournalofPsychiatry.
http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/199/3/180
LiveActionNews.Guilt.
http://liveactionnews.org/?s=guilt