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A study in New Zealand that tracked approximately 500 women from birth to 25 years of age has confirmed that young women who have abortions subsequently experience elevated rates of suicidal behaviour, depression, substance abuse, anxiety, and other mental problems, the Elliot Institute reported on 9 Feb 06 (David M. Fergusson, L.John Horwood and Elizabeth M. Ridder, “Abortion in young women and subsequent mental health”, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 47(1): 16-24, 2006).
“Most significantly, the researchers – led by Professor David Fergusson who is the director of the Longitudinal Christchurch Health and Development Study – found that the higher rate of subsequent mental problems could not be explained by any pre-pregnancy differences in mental health, which had been regularly evaluated over the course of the 25-year study.”
A study by the University of Oslo, published in the journal BMC Medicine, compared the mental distress of 40 women who had suffered a miscarriage with 80 women who had had abortions, the Daily Telegraph reported on 12 Dec. 05. “Although women who had a miscarriage suffered more mental distress up to six months after losing their baby, women who had an abortion experience more mental distress at the two and five-year intervals.”
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