Liridona Hyseni

Dawa Tsering

Deven Pritchard

Aaquila Braithwaite

Psychological Effects of Abortion on Women

Introduction

Abortion is the removal or exclusion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus, resulting in, or caused by its death. In today’s society there is a divide between “pro-choice and “pro- life”. People who are pro-choice believe that the individual, more so women, have the authority or complete control to their own reproductive system. While “pro- life” supporters believe that abortion should be illegal and the termination of the fetus or embryo is considered murder. There is also the notion that “pro-life” supporters believe that the government has the duty to preserve human life, no matter the situation or consequence. Before we restrict women and regulate what they can do their own bodies, we should think of the many reasons why women often resort to getting an abortion and what are the psychological effects it has on their mental health.

The decision to terminate an unwanted pregnancy can stem from many issues. These reasons could stem from financial issues, not being able to support and care for a child, not wanting to be a single parent or have relationship problems or simply being unprepared for motherhood. Abortions are also sometimes a last resort to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency. The psychological effects that women may face after an abortion may vary from the feelings of depression, relief, guilt, indifference, and the fear of not being able to conceive again. “Depression and fear of never conceiving again were the two dominant feelings reported by women after terminating the unwanted pregnancy” (Pourreza & Batebi, 2011, p 3).  For this case study, we will be conducting an experiment as to why those two particular emotions prevailed over all others and if age is a major factor. The two studies we decided to look at in order to determine the psychological effects on Women who abort their child, and those who are forced to carry out the pregnancy were The Turnaway Study and Decision Rightness and Emotional Responses to Abortion in the United States: A Longitudinal Study.

Method

The Turnaway Study

This experiment was done to study the effects of unplanned pregnancy on women life. Within the span of two year, from 2008 to 2010, over a thousand women were recruited from various abortion facilities around the U.S for this experiment. To get a better result, the participants were split into 3 categories. The first group comprised of women who sought an abortion up to three weeks over the gestational limit and were turned away. The second grouped consisted of women who sought an abortion up to two weeks under the facility’s gestational limit and received an abortion. Lastly, the third group incorporated women  who received an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. Interviews were then done over the phone, instead of in person. A research assistant would ask the participants a range of questions every six months. Questions covered the participants mental and physical health, employment and education. Personal questions were also asked, ranging from relationship status to contraceptive used, social support and family relationships. At the end of the experiment, roughly around 8,000 interviews were conducted from 2010-2015. The whole study was conducted within five years.

Decision Rightness and Emotional Responses to Abortion in the United States: A Longitudinal Study

Women who wanted abortions between 2008-2010 were recruited from 30 different locations throughout the United States. Selection were also based on having the latest gestational age limit within 150 miles. Two groups of women were followed prospectively for three years: women having first-trimester procedures and women terminating pregnancies within two weeks under facilities’ gestational age limits at the same facilities. Participants completed semiannual phone surveys to assess whether they felt that having the abortion was the right decision for them; negative emotions (regret, anger, guilt, sadness) about the abortion; and positive emotions (relief, happiness).

Results

In exploring the psychological health of women who did or did not get abortions, there seemed to be trends in all the cases. Looking at the results of the Turnaway Study, a Prospective Longitudinal Cohort study, a personal anecdote as well as a longitudinal Study.  There seems to be many commonalities between the studies.

The Turnaway study done by ANSIRH’s yielded results that may be somewhat shocking to some, simply because many common claims that people make about women’s mental health being ruined by abortion are not supported by the evidence. In fact, it was quite the opposite result. Women who were denied abortions tended to suffer far more than those who weren’t. These women were more likely to experience health issues included with the pregnancy, including eclampsia and death. They were also were more likely to stay in relationships with abusive partners and suffer from anxiety, loss of self-esteem and an overwhelming dissatisfaction with their life. They became less likely to have aspirational plans for the years following (Foster).

In another study done by JAMA Psychiatry the results followed the trend of the previous study. Out of 1132 eligible participants those who got abortions earlier experienced fewer negative symptoms than those who got abortions later or didn’t get abortions at all. Women who were denied abortions, similarly to the last study, tended to be more depressed, more anxious and they tended to have a lower self-esteem. Many women who were denied abortions, felt unsatisfied.

In another Longitudinal Study on the Decision Rightness and Emotional Responses to Abortion in the United States. The results bore once some similarities to the ones discussed previously. Women who decided to terminate a pregnancy felt it was the right thing to do. However, it was found that it is more difficult for women to terminate their pregnancies if they were planned. But most of the women in the study in the end felt that the termination was the right thing for them to have done and were satisfied.

A Huffpost article by Dina Zirlott is a piece that goes well with these studies. It’s titled “I Wish I’d Had A ‘Late-Term Abortion’ Instead of Having My Daughter”. Zirlott explains how her child after a year of supporting her, and being a product of an unwanted pregnancy, tragically passed away. She speaks about how negatively she felt after having an abortion and felt that, if she had terminated the pregnancy, she would’ve been more content and able to relieve herself from the psychological trauma she went through.

In analyzing the collected data from the several studies, it becomes clear to see that there are trends consistent with being denied an abortion and being able to. According to the evidence and contrary to a popular belief, women who were denied abortions overall were less healthy psychologically. They are more depressed and unsatisfied with their lives, while women who were able to get their abortions were the opposite.

Discussion

The Turnaway and Decision Rightness studies, are clarifying two myths about abortion. Both myths suggest that abortion has a negative effect on women’s psychological well being. The first one addresses the notion that abortion increases women’s risk of psychological deterioration. The second one addresses the assumption of the aftermath of abortion causing women emotional harm and eventually leading to regret. This study is significant because it provides new evidence in favor of stopping the prevention or the limitations of who has access to abortions. The assumptions were proven wrong by research that was based on interviewing and monitoring several women who experienced, or were denied abortion. Biggs et al. (2017) studied these women over the course of 5 years, and their major findings from observing them showed that those who were denied abortions suffered with mental issues, and loss of self-esteem. Rocca et al. (2015) studied women for a course of 3 years, and concluded that only women who were reluctant or planned their pregnancy were likely to regret their decision, but 99% of them did not regret it. And none of them suffered long term mental problems.

A minor finding of Biggs et al. (2017) is that a cause for women to have suffer mentally post abortion was because of a history of mental illness and/or child abuse. This implies that abortion itself is not to blame, but there are outside factors that play a role in it. Another implication this study makes states that women who are suffering from low financial stability, unhealthy relationships, and other issues, are likely to face a negative mental effect. These effects are not due to the abortion itself, but it is the carried stress that the women bring with them along with figuring out how to get the abortion. A minor study that was found in Rocca (2015) indicated that women were likely to have positive effects soon after the abortion which can enhance their cognitive abilities in terms of maturity, self-knowledge, and self-esteem. They also found that both positive and negative emotions become less intense over time after the abortion, but none of the results showed long term negative emotions. An implication that was made states that even if women were to regret their decision, it was not an illness, but a normal reaction that they would overcome with time.

In both research papers, the major limitation was the participation rate, which were not ideal for their study. In Biggs et al. (2017) their participation rate was 40% less than what they had planned, in Rocca et al. (2015) the participation rates reached as low as 80%. There is no direct statements made on future studies. However, the weaknesses of these studies were mentioned, in Biggs et al. (2017) it mentions that there may have been some variables that they did not measure, in Rocca et al. (2015) it states that their data would have been much more accurate if there was a formal way to measure emotions of people. When weaknesses faced by research is openly expressed, that itself provides a basis in which future researchers can take note of and improve their studies based on the mistakes of the previous one.

Works Cited

Biggs, M. Antonia. “Women’s Mental Health After Having or Being Denied an Abortion.” JAMA Psychiatry, American Medical Association, 1 Feb. 2017, jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2592320.

Bois, Paul. “HuffPost Feature: ‘I Wish I’d Had A Late-Term Abortion Instead Of Having My Daughter’.” Daily Wire, The Daily Wire, 13 Feb. 2019, www.dailywire.com/news/43421/huffpost-feature-i-wish-id-had-late-term-abortion-paul-bois.

Pourreza, Abolghasem, and Aziz Batebi. “Psychological Consequences of Abortion among the Post Abortion Care Seeking Women in Tehran.” Iranian Journal of Psychiatry, ijps.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijps/article/view/330.

“Research Project.” ANSIRH, 2015, www.ansirh.org/research/turnaway-study.