25-Year Study Showed Abortion Hurts Women, But Feminists Tried to Suppress It

International   |   Sarah Terzo   |   Jan 14, 2021   |   3:54PM   |   Washington, DC

Pro-life doctor Marissa Ogle, M.D., wrote about an abortion study by Dr. David Ferguson that pro-abortion people tried to repress. (Marissa Ogle, M.D., Still Healing:  pp 13 – 14.)

A reputable research scientist attempted to publish results of a well-designed study that concluded, to his surprise, that abortion has a negative impact on the psychological well-being of women. This study by Dr. David Ferguson, a New Zealand pro-choice researcher who was attempting to disprove abortion’s psychological effect on women, found that 42% of women who have had abortions had experienced major depression within the prior 4 years – almost double the rate of women who never became pregnant. The study also indicates that women who have had abortions are twice as likely to drink alcohol at dangerous levels and 3 times as likely to be addicted to illegal substances. The study also found that the risk of anxiety disorders was doubled.

Dr. Ferguson’s study was well-designed, spanning the course of 25 years… The study was undertaken with the position of validating the viewpoint that abortion did not increase mental health problems, but to confirm that these problems were preexisting. Much to the surprise of the researching team, the exact opposite was true. When Dr. Ferguson’s results were presented to New Zealand’s abortion supervisory committee, which ensures that abortions in the country are conducted in accordance with legal requirements, Dr. Ferguson was discouraged from publishing the results. Fortunately, despite his political beliefs, Dr. Ferguson felt that this would be “scientific irresponsibility.” Ferguson himself stated that he remains pro-choice and is not a religious person. The findings were surprising to him, however in his opinions were very robust. He went on to say that abortion is a traumatic event, involving loss and grief that may, in fact, predispose women to mental illness.

Dr. Ferguson found, according to Ruth Hill,“Abortion researcher confounded by study,” The New Zealand Herald January 5, 2006, that

“The fact is that abortions are the most common medical procedure that young women face – by the age of 25, one in 7 have had an abortion – and the research into the costs and benefits have been very weak. This is because the debate between the pro-life and the pro-choice has, in a sense, driven the science out. It verges on scandalous that a surgical procedure that is performed on over one in 10 women has been so poorly researched and evaluated, given the debates about the psychological consequences of abortion.”

Dr. Ogle wrote

“Ferguson then went on to experience a great challenge in finding a journal that would publish the study, very unusual for a research team who typically has research published with the first attempt. A subsequent study by Ferguson reiterated his findings.”

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The studies are:

David Ferguson, M., L. John Horwood, Elizabeth M Ritter “Abortion in young women and subsequent mental health” Journal of Psychology and Psychiatry 47.9 (2013): 819 – 827; and

LifeNews.com Note: Sarah Terzo is a pro-life liberal who runs ClinicQuotes.com, a web site devoted to exposing the abortion industry. She is a member of the pro-life groups Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians and Secular Pro-Life. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.