Study: Nearly half of women suffer moderate to high distress after abortion

(National Review) —This fall, the International Journal of Women’s Health Care published a study by Paul Sullins of the Ruth Institute and the Catholic University of America. It provides strong statistical evidence that many women who obtain abortions experience emotional distress — even many years after the abortion took place. Unlike previous research, this new study only analyzed women between the ages of 41 and 45. Therefore, among women who have had abortions, the average time between the abortion and the survey was approximately 20 years.

To conduct this study, Sullins analyzed data from an online survey of 1,000 U.S. women between the ages of 41 and 45. He found that 22.6 percent of the women in the survey had obtained an abortion. This finding is consistent with previous survey data as well as aggregate data on the incidence of abortion. The race, income, and regional demographics of women in the survey were all broadly consistent with national averages. The data were weighted so that the dataset even more accurately represented current population demographics.

Among women who have had abortions, more than 37 percent said that their “negative emotions regarding the abortion” were either “somewhat high” or “very high.” Nearly half of the women who have had abortions reported high abortion-related distress on at least one of four measures of mental health. Overall, the study found that 24.1 percent of women who have had abortions reported high overall levels of postabortion distress. White women, women with postgraduate degrees, and women from the Northeast were somewhat more likely than others to report high overall levels of postabortion distress.

Supporters of legal abortion often argue that many women feel relief after obtaining an abortion and that relatively few women suffer psychologically postabortion. However, a growing body of research shows that a significant percentage of women feel negative emotions regarding their abortion — even after an extended period of time. More research is needed to better understand factors that may cause long-term mental health problems. However, in light of the current research, it is disappointing but unsurprising that abortion facilities typically fail to inform women who seek abortions that they may experience long-term emotional distress.