A new study by pro-abortion researchers claims to show that very few women regret aborting their unborn babies.
The research from the University of California San Francisco claims that nearly 95 percent of post-abortive women have no regrets about their abortions, the Independent reports. On the contrary, researchers said, many expressed relief.
However, the research conflicts sharply with numerous other studies showing links between abortions and mental health problems, suicide and regret.
One reason could be the researchers’ bias. UC San Francisco is a center for pro-abortion research through its Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) program. These so-called experts and researchers really are abortion activists with an agenda. Pro-life leaders have blasted other studies from the university as based on “propaganda” rather than “science,” and noted that funding for their research often comes from foundations with pro-abortion and population control agendas.
According to the report, the journal “Social Science and Medicine” recently published the newest study, led by UC San Francisco Professor Corrine Rocca.
“There was no evidence ever to say that [the abortion regret myth] was actually true,” Rocca said.
Their study followed 667 women in 21 states for five years after their abortions. Researchers asked them about their emotions about their abortions 11 times in those five years, according to the report.
Here’s more from the report:
They found there were both “positive and negative” emotions over the first two years, but these declined and plateaued thereafter.
Even those who struggled to make the decision finished up supporting it, say gynaecologists.
Just over half (54 percent) said the decision to terminate their pregnancy was very or somewhat difficult. The other 46 per cent said it was not.
Professor Rocca said: “This debunks the idea that most women suffer emotionally from having an abortion.”
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A New Scientist report, however, noted that the findings may be “biased” because only 38 percent of the women asked to participate in the survey actually did, and those women who did not participate may have been the ones who felt more negatively about their abortions.
Women’s emotions did change over time, the researchers found. According to the report:
About half the women said in retrospect that the decision to have an abortion had been a difficult one to make at the time, but five years later 99 percent said it had been the right one. When asked about their feelings five years on, 84 percent of the women said they either had mainly positive emotions or no emotions about the procedure. The rest said their feelings were negative.
Contrary to what the study claims, abortion regret is not rare. However, sometimes it takes years – even decades – before a woman begins coming to terms with her unborn baby’s abortion death.
A British survey in 2006 found that 82 percent of respondents said they deeply regretted their abortions. Of the 248 women who participated, only 26 said they had few or no regrets.
Numerous studies also link abortions to an increased risk of mental health problems, including a 2009 study from the University of Otago in New Zealand. More than 85 percent of women reported negative reactions to their abortions including sorrow, sadness, guilt, regret, grief and disappointment, according to the study.
Women who have abortions face more negative mental health problems resulting from that pregnancy outcome as compared with women who keep their baby and carry to term, the study found. The women had rates of mental health problems “approximately 1.4 to 1.8 times higher than women not exposed to abortion.” The researchers concluded that an abortion generally “leads to significant distress in some” women.
Other studies indicate that post-abortive women are at a higher risk of suicide. One study published in August 2003 edition of the “British Medical Journal” found that women who had abortions were seven times more likely to commit suicide than women who gave birth.
Lead author Professor David Fergusson, who has described himself in interviews as a pro-choice atheist, also led the research team in a 2008 study that concluded that women who continued an unwanted or mistimed pregnancy did not experience a significant increase in mental health problems. Further, having an abortion did not reduce their mental health risks.
A 2011 study in the “British Journal of Psychiatry” found that 10 percent of mental health problems among women, including 35 percent of suicidal behaviors, may be attributable to abortion. Women who had abortions were 81 percent more likely to experience mental health problems compared to all other control groups, and 55 percent more likely to have problems compared to women who delivered an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy.
The increased risk of suicide following abortion has been recognized in Australia as well. A 2013 Queensland Maternal and Perinatal Quality Council report noted: “There appears to be a significant worldwide risk of maternal suicide following termination of pregnancy and, in fact, a higher risk than that following term delivery. The potential for depression and other mental health issues at this time needs to be better appreciated.”
This research backs up the stories of countless mothers who deeply regret aborting their children. Some of these women become pro-life leaders, hoping to help spare other mothers and their babies from similar pain and death.
