Women’s Suicide Rates Higher After Abortion, New Study Shows
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 1, 2005
Springfield, IL (LifeNews.com) — A new study of women in Finland finds that those who have had abortions have higher rates of suicide than women who carry their pregnancies to term. The epidemiological study, published in the European Journal of Public Health, was conducted by Finland’s National Research and Development Center for Welfare and Health.
The comprehensive three-year study of the entire population of women in Finland found that, compared to women who have not been pregnant in the prior year, deaths from suicide, accidents and homicide are 248% higher in the year following an abortion.
The study also found that majority of the extra deaths among women who had abortions were due to suicide. The suicide rate among women who had abortions was six times higher than that of women who had given birth in the prior year and double that of women who had miscarriages.
The researchers looked at data between 1987 and 2000 on all deaths among women of reproductive age (15 to 49).
Dr. David Reardon, the director of the Elliot Institute and the lead author of a U.S. study showing similar results, said research like the Finland study is vital to showing how different pregnancy outcomes affect women.
"In most cases, coroners simply have no way of knowing that the deceased recently had an abortion, which is why these new record linkage studies are so important," he said.
"Women seeking abortions should be informed that abortion is associated with significant physical and mental health risks, and it also deprives them of numerous physical and mental health benefits associated with childbirth." Reardon said.
"It is especially important for health care providers to be aware of these risks and the risk factors which identify those women who are at highest risk," Dr. Reardon explained. "Providing women with the resources to help them resolve emotional issues relating to past abortions will not only increase their well-being but may possibly save their lives."
While the risk of death from suicide, accidents, and homicide was highest among women who had abortions within the prior year, the risk of death was lowest among women who gave birth within the prior year.
Women giving birth had than half the death rate of women who had not been pregnant.
The study also found that women who had experienced a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy did not differ in their death rates compared with women who hadn’t been pregnant. That means having an abortion played a significantly adverse effect for women while a miscarriage didn’t.
The new study confirms prior research results obtained in studies in both Finland and the United States.
A 1997 government-funded study in Finland found that aborting women were 3.5 times more likely to die within the next year compared to women who gave birth.
In addition, researchers examining death records linked to medical payments for birth and abortion for 173,000 California women found that aborting women were 62 percent more likely to die than delivering women over the eight year period examined.
Related web sites:
Elliot Institute – https://www.afterabortion.org
