Category: Women’s Health Studies

Article in medical journal: abortion triggers obsessive-compulsive disorder

Author Curt Young summarizes a case profiled in  the American Journal of Psychotherapy about a woman whose mental illness was greatly exacerbated by her abortion:

“[The article] recounted the story of a 19-year old woman whose abortion was recommended by a psychiatrist as a mental health safeguard. At the time of her abortion no medical personnel were present with her, so she had the opportunity to study the dead infant. She was especially affected at seeing the tiny but well-formed toes and fingers.

In a strange sort of self-retaliation, she concluded that her hands and feet were dirty and hurt other people. She began washing her hands thirty to forty times each day and refused to wear shoes or socks.  Soon she was continually washing all her possessions. She could no longer function normally. Fifteen months after her abortion, this young woman was admitted to a psychiatric unit.”

The study was:  Steven Lipper and W. Morton Feigenbaum “Obsessive Compulsive Neurosis After Viewing the Fetus During a Therapeutic Abortion” American Journal of Psychotherapy 30 1976, 666-74

The book that cited it:  Curt Young The Least of These: What Everyone Should Know about Abortion (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1984) 62-63

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Studies show abortion pill carries 50 X the risk of childbirth

“Mifepristone abortion has 10 times more risk of death from infection than surgical abortion and 50 times more risk of death from infection compared to childbirth.”

McGregor J, FDA: Emerging Clostridial Disease Workshop, Transcript, May 11, 2006, Atlanta, GA. Available from: (accessed March 24, 2007).

Greene MF. Fatal infections associated with mife-ristone-induced abortion. N Engl J Med 2005:353(22):2317-8

Fischer M. Fatal toxic shock syndrome associated with Clostridium sordellii after medical abortion. N Engl J Med 2005:353:2352-60

Gary MM, Harrison DJ. Analysis of severe adverse events related to the use of mifepristone as an abortifacient. Annals of Pharmacotherapy 2006;40(2):191-7 (published online Dec. 27, 2005) (www.theannals.com)

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Professor of Endocrinology gives warning about abortion and breast cancer

In a letter to David Kessler, M.D., Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, January 27, 1993, Joel Brind PhD., Baruch College, Professor of Endocrinology wrote:

..This letter is to bring to your attention a serious public health hazard associated with use of RU-486 and other anti-progestational steroids as abortifacients, namely, a markedly increased risk of breast cancer. To the best of my knowledge this issue has not been raised in any government hearings….despite the fact that increased risk of breast cancer associated with abortion of first pregnancy is well established in the literature….

What is the magnitude of the breast cancer hazard inherent in abortion? A review of relevant literature… puts the relative risk of abortion of first pregnancy at between 1.5 – 2, over and above the increased risk resulting from delaying first full-term pregnancy by any means. (For multiple abortions relative risks estimates range as high as 4 or 5.)

Quoted in “ABORTION A Briefing Book For Canadian Legislators” Campaign Life Coalition NATIONAL PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE July 2002

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Post-abortion women tell of complications from abortion

David Reardon wrote a book where he interviewed over 200 post-abortion women. He found that:

Of the 252 women surveyed, approximately one-half complained of suffering from at least one type of physical complication following their abortions. Moreover, at least 18 percent of those surveyed reported having suffered permanent physical damage traceable to the procedure…

Of the 47 percent who reported suffering from a complication, 40 percent said it was a very minor problem, 26 percent said it was moderately severe, and 35 percent claimed that it was very severe…

Of the short term complications, the most frequently identified was postoperative haemorrhage, noted by 15 percent of all women surveyed. Infection was the second most likely complication, reported by 9 percent of those surveyed…

Of the aborted women surveyed, approximately 6 percent were forced to undergo a total hysterectomy to remove a uterus that had been damaged or infected by the abortion procedure. Another 8 percent reported that postabortion infection had left them sterile by blocking their fallopian tubes or through some other means. Yet another 4 percent contracted cervical cancer, which they attribute to the abortion…

Besides suffering sterility from the above causes, many aborted women suffer a reduced ability to carry a later wanted pregnancy to term. Of the women surveyed, approximately 20 percent later suffered miscarriage of a In addition, no less than 8 percent were diagnosed as suffering from cervical incompetence after their abortions. Other birthing problems and reproductive damage were frequently reported.

David C. Reardon Aborted Women: Silent No More ( Loyola University Press, Chicago, 1987) 22-25

The women David Reardon interviewed were all women who regretted their abortions.

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Abortion worker comments on “loss of control” with pain relief

An abortion clinic worker named Carole said:

“People have pain when they don’t have drugs, but I don’t know that pain is always a bad thing. Valium is like drinking in that it numbs you. For women with issues about control or sexual abuse, that loss of control can do more harm than good.”

Anna Runkle In Good Conscience: A Practical, Emotional, and Spiritual Guide to Deciding Whether to Have an Abortion (San Francisco: Jossey–Bass Publishers, 1998)

This abortion worker says that women who have suffered sexual abuse might be reminded of their trauma when “losing control” under anesthesia during an abortion procedure. They may be reminded of their helplessness, while in a drugged state during an invasion of their bodies. Abortion can be harmful for these women.

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Study by Anne Speckhard on emotional trauma

Researcher Anne Speckhard conducted a study that showed how abortion causes emotional trauma in women.

She interviewed women who regretted their abortions and found that they experienced the following:

• grief reactions (100 percent)

• feelings of depression (92 percent)

• feelings of anger (92 percent)

• feelings of guilt (92 percent)

• fear that others would learn of the pregnancy and abortion (89 percent)

• surprise at the intensity of the emotional reaction to the abortion (85 percent)

• feelings of lowered self worth (81 percent)

• feelings of victimization (81 percent)

• decreased effectiveness, or suppressed ability to experience pain (73 percent)

• feelings of discomfort around infants and small children (73 percent).

Anne Speckhard The Psycho-Social Aspects of Stress Following Abortion (Sheed and Ward, Kansas City, 1987)

Quoted in:  “ABORTION A Briefing Book For Canadian Legislators” Campaign Life Coalition NATIONAL PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE July 2002

These women were a selected sample of those who regretted their abortions, so this may not be representative of ALL women who have abortions. But the study shows that some women have  emotional trauma due to abortion.

Read more about abortion’s psychological impact and the emotional trauma it causes.

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Study shows abortion doesn’t improve mental illness

Before abortion was legalized in the United States, women could get permission for an abortion by going to a psychiatrist and proving they were mentally ill and would be a adversely affected by the pregnancy. A study done soon after abortion’s legalization however, shows:

“…it would appear that the more serious the psychiatric diagnosis: the less beneficial was the abortion…As might be expected chronic characterological neurotic or psychotic conditions are not solved by abortion, which is in essence a form of environmental manipulation.”

Ford et al., “Abortion: Is it a Therapeutic Procedure in Psychiatry?” Journal of the American Medical Association in November, 1978

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After abortion, women are 85% more likely to have miscarriage

A study found women who had abortions had a higher rate of miscarriage, labor complications, and premature birth:

“Those who had one or more abortions were 85 percent more likely to have a miscarriage in a future pregnancy; were 32 percent more likely to give birth to an infant with low birthweight; were 67 percent more likely to have a premature birth; were 47 percent more likely to have labor complications; and were 83 percent more likely to experience complications in delivery.”

“A Prospective Study of the Effects of Induced Abortion on Subsequent Reproductive Function,” research contract No. N01-HD-6-2802, sponsored by the National Child Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

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David Ferguson does 25 Year Study

Pro-life doctor Marissa Ogle, M.D wrote about an abortion study that pro-abortion people tried to repress,by Dr. David Ferguson:

“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.

The doctor found:

“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.”

Quote is from Ruth Hill “Abortion researcher confounded by study” The New Zealand Herald January 5, 2006

The pro-life author says:

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.”

Marissa Ogle, M.D. Still Healing:(2016)  13 – 14

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 – 27

David Ferguson, LJ Horwood, JM Bowden “Does abortion reduce the mental health risks of unintended pregnancy? A reappraisal of the evidence” Aust N Z Journal of Psychiatry 47.1 (2006): 16 – 24

Read more about abortion’s mental health risks

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Risks after abortion: depression +37%, alcohol use/abuse +110%,

A pro-life doctor writes about psychological health risks of abortion:

“In an article written by Dr. Priscilla Coleman, a professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, she offers the most comprehensive assessment of mental health risks associated with an abortion that can be found anywhere in published medical literature. In brief summary, the increase in risk for anxiety disorders was 34%, depression 37%, alcohol use/abuse 110%, marijuana use/abuse 220% and suicide 155%.”

Marissa Ogle, M.D. Still Healing (2016) 14-15

She is citing:

Priscilla K Coleman “Abortion and mental health: quantitative synthesis and analysis of research published 1995 – 2009) The British Journal of Psychiatry 47.9 (2013)

Learn about more studies on abortion’s emotional and psychological effects

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