Essay: Mental Illness and Abortion: Investigating the Societal Injustice of Long-Term Mental Health Risks



University of Detroit Mercy

Abortion: A Societal Injustice on Mental Health

Issue Brief Paper

Isabel Chism

SOC 1000

Professor West Smith

5 December 2018

According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute (year), over twenty-six million legal abortions are conducted each year worldwide. The pro-life argument is often criticized for being religiously based, but there are many underlying reasons for the pro-life perspective including a startlingly high-risk for long term issues and effects on a woman’s mental health after an abortion. This information must be brought to the public’s attention, as mental health issues are an extremely prevalent issue in today’s populations, especially in young women.

Curley and Johnson (year) discuss in their paper “The Characteristics and Severity of Psychological Distress After Abortion Among University Students” the possible detrimental psychological outcomes of abortion on women. Mental health issues after induced abortion are specifically known as PAD (psychological stress after abortion). This category of mental illness was established to highlight the symptoms and long-term psychological effects on women after receiving an abortion. It is not a surprising fact that victims of abortion undergo mental health issues after receiving an abortion; the bond of a mother and child is a scientific phenomenon that is unlike any other, no matter how small the child was at termination. A startling and unfortunate find is the extent of these psychological issues long after an abortion. In a study discussed in the article by Curley and Johnson, these symptoms of PAD lasted in women for an average of 3 years after the abortion.

In addition to Curley and Johnson’s findings, Steinberg and Lawrence (year), noted anxiety and other mood disorders after abortion.  The increased incidence of anxiety and mood disorders highlight the elevated risk of mental health concerns after abortion.   Further, these authors also noted an increase in substance abuse in women after abortion that compounded the anxiety and mood disorders. It was unclear if the substance abuse was independent of the anxiety and mood disorders. Nonetheless, the increased incidence of substance abuse further compounds the risk of mental health concerns after abortion.  

The literature related to increased risk of mental health concerns, such as PAD, anxiety, mood disorders and substance abuse, supports the need for education on post-abortion mental health risks in both pregnancy crisis centers and women’s health clinics. Further research and policy initiatives related to education need to be developed in an effort to assist women at greatest risk of having abortions followed by changes to their mental health.  Importantly, it has been noted that women who choose to have an abortion may already have preexisting mental health issues (reference needed), This further illustrates the need for improved education for health care professionals to improve care for women who have had an abortion and increase awareness regarding the risk for mental health concerns in this population.  In addition, women should be educated in an effort to proactively address the increased risk of mental health concerns after abortion.  

The distinction between spontaneous abortion effects and induced abortion effects must also be also evaluated and considered. An article published in the Psychosomatic Medicine Journal, “Psychological impact on women of miscarriage versus induced abortion: A 2- year follow-up study” (reference-author/year) addressed this distinction. In some cases, mothers who have a miscarriage during their pregnancy have chosen to have the baby. In these situations, you could infer that the grief and post-traumatic stress would be greater on this mother than on a woman after having an abortion. But this is not found to be the case. Conversely, it was found that the long term, psychological effects on women from an induced abortion are greater than the long-term effects on women who had a miscarriage, spontaneous abortion (reference-author/date). This is important to articulate because it shows the specific psychological effects of guilt that an induced abortion may have on a woman. This follow up study further stressed the need for increasing abortion risk education for health care facilities that provide pregnancy crisis/women’s health services. Women need to not only be informed of the potential long-term risks on their mental health, but also be educated on the other options available to them. There are many pregnancy centers that will take in mothers that need financial and/or emotional assistance. It has been found that many family planning centers do not educate their patients on the alternatives to terminating their pregnancy (reference).

Through the review of the literature, I learned that the specific PTSD disorder for women after undergoing an abortion is called PAD, psychological distress after abortion. This is an important step in preventative abortion education that gives emotional trauma resulting from abortion a specific name.  I also learned the probability of developing an anxiety or substance abuse disorder is increased after an abortion. The long-term effects on the woman after an abortion are greater than if she were to have a miscarriage, a situation where more often than not, the mother has chosen to keep the child.

Abortion is an injustice on society that kills millions each year. It causes many negative lifelong effects on women including anxiety disorders, PTSD, depression, and substance abuse disorders. It is no longer a pro-life vs. pro-choice issue rather it is now a mental health issue. Although the burden of an unwanted life is taken off their shoulders, some women may now face years of post-traumatic stress, flashbacks, guilt, anxiety, and depression. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, mental illness rates were higher in women (21.7%) than in men (14.5%) (NIMH 2016). A whole 7.2% higher! Mental health awareness, reform, and treatment must be made a priority, including PAD victims. PAD must be made a public health care priority; not only for the prevention of abortions, but to also help women in the aftermath of an abortion in their time of anxiety and pain.

References

Broen, Anne Nordal, et al. “Psychological Impact on Women of Miscarriage versus Induced Abortion; A 2-Year Follow-up Study .” Psychosomatic Medicine, vol. 66, no. 2, Mar. 2004, pp. 265–271.

Curley, Maureen, and Celeste Johnston. “The Characteristics and Severity of Psychological Distress After Abortion Among University Students.” The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, vol. 40, no. 3, July 2013, pp. 279–293.

“Mental Illness.” National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness.shtml.

Steinberg, Julia R, and Lawrence B Finer. “Examining the Association of Abortion History and Current Mental Health: A Reanalysis of the National Comorbidity Survey Using a Common-Risk-Factors Model .” Social Science & Medicine , vol. 72, no. 1, Jan. 2011.