January 25, 2006
A new study from Norway underscores what a truly painful decision it is to have an abortion.
For five years, researchers followed 40 women who had had miscarriages and 80 women who had had abortions. What they found was that women who had had miscarriages had anxiety and distress immediately after the loss and had those effects for up to six months following the miscarriage. Those who had had abortions, however, had significantly more stress and anxiety that manifested itself for anywhere from two to five years.
Researchers also noted that women who had abortions struggled with feelings of guilt and shame. Post-abortive women were seven times more likely than women who had had miscarriages to actively avoid thinking about the traumatic incident.
This study will unnerve abortion supporters who continue to tell women that post-abortion stress syndrome doesn’t exist. This new study illustrates that it does—and women who chose abortion are women who hurt. Wouldn’t it be more compassionate to tell women the truth? Abortion stops one heart and breaks another.
