Legalized Abortion and the Public Health Report of a Study (1975) / Chapter Skim
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5. The Psychological Effects of Abortion
5. The Psychological Effects of Abortion
Pages 88-102
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From page 88... ...
The only data available on this subject are anecdotal materials, which, as expected, portray an illegal abortion as more traumatic than a legal one. Data are also almost nonexistent on the differential emotional impact associated with various abortion techniques or the trimester in which the abortion is obtained, although psychiatric opinion supports the obstetrical judgment that first-trimester abortions are less hazardous than later procedures.
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From page 89... ...
Although the absence of such controls may be attributed in part to inadequate research design, it also stems from the difficulty of determining an appropriate comparison group. Is the emotional impact of induced abortion to be compared to the sequelae of term delivery, term delivery followed by adoption, spontaneous abortion, or to the absence of pregnancy?
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From page 90... ...
, many earlier findings conflict with current data generated in an atmosphere increasingly tolerant of legal abortion.* The linkage between the legal and cultural status of abortion and its psychological effects poses a complex problem for researchers hoping to isolate the consequences of abortion.
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From page 91... ...
From July 1, 1970 to June 30, 1971, the 66 participating institutions reported a total of 16 major psychiatric complications from a pool of 72,988 abortions, including two suicides and five depressive reactions associated with major hemorrhage or protracted fever.* The complications recorded in the JPSA data yield a psychiatric complication rate of 0.2 per thousand abortions (without other concurrent surgeries)
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From page 92... ...
Nine of these 99 women sought some form of psychiatric counseling in the year following the abortion; two women with extensive histories of previous psychiatric hospitalization were readmitted to a mental hospital following the abortion. Those patients aside, the study found that "the patients' experience with therapeutic abortion produced little handicap in most and constructive gains in many".9/ The lack of information on pre-abortion mental health status, however, leaves the study unable to assess scientifically the actual effect of the termination.
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From page 93... ...
The study concluded that for 20 women, the short-term impact of abortion was very favorable; the remaining 15 exhibited some negative reactions, including depression, for a period of two to six months following the abortion. The long-term effects recorded were considerably more favorable; more than three-fourths of the women studied reported improved "life functioning" several years after the abortion, although five women regarded themselves as "harmed", and four felt unchanged.
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From page 94... ...
Deeply held personal convictions frequently seem to outweigh the importance of data, especially when conclusions are drawn.17/ Simon and Senturia also conclude from their review, however, that "there is some agreement that women with diagnosed psychiatric illness prior to abortion continue to have difficulty following abort ion. "1JJ/ That is, women who have a history of instability prior to the pregnancy are more likely to manifest psychiatric problems after an abortion than women with no prior psychiatric history, regardless of the procedure used.lj)
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From page 95... ...
The only statistically significant difference among the three groups occurred on the paranoia scale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) ; term birth patients apparently had more extreme scores than either first- or second-trimester abortion patients.
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From page 96... ...
. This 20-year follow-up study of 120 children born to Swedish women who were denied abortion showed that, in comparison with a matched group of children born at the same time, the "unwanted children" were registered more often with psychiatric services, had engaged in more antisocial and criminal behavior and had received more public assistance.
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From page 97... ...
Psychological Aspects of First- and Second-Trimester Abortions Increasing interest in why some women obtain abortions in the second trimester rather than the first has stimulated new research on the psychologica1, sociological, and cultural factors involved in the decision to seek abortion.3_0/ Recent work of Kaltreider (1973) examined the psychological factors involved in the delay of the decision to seek abortion until the second trimester when the more risky saline method must be used.
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From page 98... ...
Kerenyi found that the second-trimester women were on the average 3.4 years younger than the D&C group, less educated, more frequently single, less often employed, and were more likely to be students. The women obtaining saline abortions were also more frequently pregnant for the first time (65 percent versus 44 percent)
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From page 99... ...
The more recent studies generally agree that the feelings of guilt, regret, or loss elicited by a legal abortion in some women are generally temporary and appear to be outweighed by positive life changes and feelings of relief. The effects of denied abortion are also not completely documented, although two studies indicate that the children subsequently born to women who have been denied abortion exhibit more social-psychological problems than the "wanted" children.
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From page 100... ...
Landman. "Public Opinion Trends: Elective Abortion and Birth Control Services to Teenagers," Family Planning Perspectives 4: 53, October 1972.
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From page 101... ...
"Children Born to Women Denied Abortion: Initial Findings of a Matched Control Study in Prague, Czechoslovakia." Paper presented at the International Roundtable on Psychosocial Research in Abortion and Fertility Behavior organized for the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, New York City, Apri1, 1974. Also reported in Family Planning Digest 3: 10, November 1974.
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From page 102... ...
Kasl. "Delay in Seeking Induced Abortion: A Review and Theoretical Analysis," American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 121: 1008-1019, April 1, 1975.
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