I remember well a night many years ago when a dear friend who was adamantly pro-choice came to me, sobbing uncontrollably. With defenses down, she unloaded a heavy burden she had long carried – a few years before she had chosen to abort her developing baby. She told me that not one day had passed that she did not think about her baby and regret her decision. My heart ached for my friend, as she was clearly tormented by her decision.
Sadly, my friend is one among many. Abortion is not good for women’s mental health. With abortion statistics alarmingly high in the U.S., we live in a culture with an increasing number of post-abortive women struggling from the profound emotional and psychological consequences of abortion. Many of these women gravely regret their abortions. Visit the Feminists for Life website (http://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/) to read a few of these stories.
Science supports this sad reality. In the fall a meta-analysis was published in the prestigious British Journal of Psychiatry. The report was the most extensive of its kind to date – the author looked at 22 published studies and data from more than 870,000 women. The results showed that women who have an abortion are at an 81 percent increased risk for mental health problems, including anxiety disorders, depression, drug abuse and suicidal behaviors. The study revealed the shocking statistic that close to 10 percent of all mental health problems in women can be directly attributed to abortion.
It is absolutely critical that a woman who is considering abortion be given as much information as possible so that she can make a truly informed decision, since her choice will impact her for the rest of her life. The year 2011 was a record year in terms of the number of laws enacted related to informed consent. The Guttmacher Institute, originally founded as the research arm of Planned Parenthood, recently reported that throughout the course of the year more than 1,000 pro-life bills were introduced into state legislatures, with 83 of these bills becoming law.
Of the new laws, a large percentage have to do with improving a woman’s informed consent (http://www.guttmacher.org/media/inthenews/2012/01/05/endofyear.html). In other words, these laws include educating a woman considering abortion about the physiological stages of development of the baby, the psychological consequences she could potentially suffer as a result of choosing abortion and so on. Most reasonable people will agree that informed consent for abortion empowers a woman to make a better decision. More information is always better for an important decision but, not surprisingly, abortion proponents adamantly oppose these laws. See Guttmacher’s article to read more about that. To these people, I have to wonder: whatever happened to “safe, legal and rare?”
As a person steeped in public policy related to the dignity of the human person, I am honored to speak with some frequency to a variety of groups – some friendly and some not – about these very issues. To make my point I will close with a true story. Yesterday, after speaking with a group on pro-life issues, as I was walking out the door a woman followed me out into the hallway and tearfully thanked me. She shared with me that a few dozen years ago she had an abortion and that if only she had known then what she knows now she never would have made such a decision – a decision she has grieved for many years. Thankfully she sought help and found a sense of healing and hope in one of the many groups counseling and helping post-abortive women.
As we move towards the 39th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision on Roe versus Wade, let us continue to move full speed ahead with positive legislation that benefits everyone – the developing baby, and its mother.
Jeanne Monahan is director of the Center for Human Dignity at the Family Research Council.
Sadly, my friend is one among many. Abortion is not good for women’s mental health. With abortion statistics alarmingly high in the U.S., we live in a culture with an increasing number of post-abortive women struggling from the profound emotional and psychological consequences of abortion. Many of these women gravely regret their abortions. Visit the Feminists for Life website (http://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/) to read a few of these stories.
Science supports this sad reality. In the fall a meta-analysis was published in the prestigious British Journal of Psychiatry. The report was the most extensive of its kind to date – the author looked at 22 published studies and data from more than 870,000 women. The results showed that women who have an abortion are at an 81 percent increased risk for mental health problems, including anxiety disorders, depression, drug abuse and suicidal behaviors. The study revealed the shocking statistic that close to 10 percent of all mental health problems in women can be directly attributed to abortion.
It is absolutely critical that a woman who is considering abortion be given as much information as possible so that she can make a truly informed decision, since her choice will impact her for the rest of her life. The year 2011 was a record year in terms of the number of laws enacted related to informed consent. The Guttmacher Institute, originally founded as the research arm of Planned Parenthood, recently reported that throughout the course of the year more than 1,000 pro-life bills were introduced into state legislatures, with 83 of these bills becoming law.
Of the new laws, a large percentage have to do with improving a woman’s informed consent (http://www.guttmacher.org/media/inthenews/2012/01/05/endofyear.html). In other words, these laws include educating a woman considering abortion about the physiological stages of development of the baby, the psychological consequences she could potentially suffer as a result of choosing abortion and so on. Most reasonable people will agree that informed consent for abortion empowers a woman to make a better decision. More information is always better for an important decision but, not surprisingly, abortion proponents adamantly oppose these laws. See Guttmacher’s article to read more about that. To these people, I have to wonder: whatever happened to “safe, legal and rare?”
As a person steeped in public policy related to the dignity of the human person, I am honored to speak with some frequency to a variety of groups – some friendly and some not – about these very issues. To make my point I will close with a true story. Yesterday, after speaking with a group on pro-life issues, as I was walking out the door a woman followed me out into the hallway and tearfully thanked me. She shared with me that a few dozen years ago she had an abortion and that if only she had known then what she knows now she never would have made such a decision – a decision she has grieved for many years. Thankfully she sought help and found a sense of healing and hope in one of the many groups counseling and helping post-abortive women.
As we move towards the 39th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision on Roe versus Wade, let us continue to move full speed ahead with positive legislation that benefits everyone – the developing baby, and its mother.
Jeanne Monahan is director of the Center for Human Dignity at the Family Research Council.
I have to question though, the hypocracy of our laws concerning abortion and murder. This may be a tiring and relentless argument pushed aside by pro-choice advocates but none the less. Why is it not murder to have an abortion but murder if a pregnant woman loses a fetus due to physical trauma brought on by another human being?
Ms. Smith is on her way to a scheduled abortion and gets hit by a vehicle while crossing the street. The driver of the vehicle is charges with vehicular homicide, not because Ms. Smith was killed but the fetus inside her was as a result of the accident. Turn the story sideways - her husband or boyfreind gets very upset because of the scheduled abortion and pushes her with intent to cause harm. She falls and the fetus is injured and dies inside. He's charged with manslaughter while Ms. Smith could kill that fetus at her whim without breaking any laws.
Choice - Freedom of choice as indivuals is a slippery slope and a twisted, hypocritical issue with abortion.
Frankly, IT should be embarrassed to publish this.