Emotional effects of abortion: reconciling ideology and research consensus

Abortion

Post-abortion emotional distress

The abortion debate

Divergent opinions

Extreme Ideologies

Research on post-abortion emotional distress

Driven by Ideology

Consensus is most emotional responses are moderate

Post-abortion emotional intervention

Environment of abortion and Treatment should be as with any other life stressor

Unique opportunity to access

The issue of abortion is a hotly debated topic in many social, political and religious circles. The issue is complicated and controverter as it is in some people's eyes, a right to choose and in other's eyes an intentional death of human life. The only thing that both camps agree in with regard to abortion is that there should be less abortions performed.

Bullough 16)

Ponnuru NP)

Irwin 23) the issue gets even more complicated when looked at from an emotional level, as the after effects of abortion, on the part of the woman having it can be minimal at best and life altering and devastating at worst and this doesn't even consider the emotional effects abortion can have on the man.

Kalish 14) This work will address the issue of abortion from an emotional level by reviewing current research on the issue, discussing the two extremes of reactions, as well as the moderate middle ground and lastly the work will outline ways to ally emotional effects of abortion, when they occur.

What I have learned from my research is that the controversy over abortion, in general has clouded the basic knowledge and research associated with the emotional effects of abortion, in the short- and long-term sense. Though many social scientists and researchers conclude that the emotional effects for most women are relatively mild there is also research evidence, called by some biased that indicates that this is not the case and that most if not all women who have abortions have some, if not extreme emotional reactions to it.

Over the last decade, a consensus has been reached in the medical and scientific communities that most women who have an abortion experience little or no psychological harm. Yet a woman's ability to cope psychologically after an abortion continues to be the subject of heated debates. Vocal anti-abortion advocates claim that most women who have abortions will suffer to some degree from a variant of post traumatic stress disorder called post abortion syndrome, characterized by severe and long lasting guilt, depression, rage, and social and sexual dysfunction. Why is there such a major discrepancy between the scientific consensus and anti-abortion beliefs?

Arthur 7)

The allegation that there are fabrication or at the very least, biases in the field of study, that create a situation where ideology drives research questions and findings. Though this is a dangerous precedence the real concern is that when there is emotional distress there is biased research guiding intervention and practice.

Books written by anti-abortion advocates that deal with post abortion effects are, by and large, heavily infected with bias. Not only is contrary evidence unrefuted, it is rarely even mentioned. Incorrect and out of date "facts" abound. The authors' pop psychology often seems to be based on little more than their own wishful projections about the nature of women and how they should feel.

Arthur 7)

or for another take on the subject, when there is no real concerning emotional response the idea that there is supposed to be according to research and anecdotal evidence may lead to distress because of guilt. Similar to the guilt one feels when a loved one dies who has been struggling with dependence and pain, and the family feels a sense of relief when death actually occurs and then feels guilty about it later and becomes depressed. If these people then read anti-abortion literature, which would seem rather unwise at this time in ones life they are then confronted with a label as deviant, because they were to callous to care about the life of their unborn child.

Arthur 7)

Probably, one of the most logical statements made by a nonbiased researcher and commentator on the subject of emotional effects of abortion is that;

In spite of psychological problems suffered by a few women after abortion, the existence of post abortion syndrome is doubted by most experts. There is little need to posit a unique disorder in this case, since abortion is not significantly different from any other stressful life experience that might cause trauma in certain people.

Corbett, and Turner 106)

The event if performed in an environment that is open and loving as well as nurturing and filled with open communication (not to say the decision should be made lightly or that it should be downplayed by the environment of care) the opportunity for intervention in the case of extreme or even moderate distress is right there at the point of care. Additionally, a practice of follow-up that involves post abortion counseling in situations of high risk for distress is a likely occurrence, barring that clinicians are particularly blase about the situation as a result of having been through it on a professional level so many times.

Corbett, and Turner 106)

In closing the demonstrative research associated with post-abortion emotional distress is clouded by bias, a situation that should be corrected. The debate about abortion tends to drive ideologically driven research on the emotional effects of abortion. The research that is decidedly more balanced indicates that for the most part there are relatively few cases of extreme emotional distress post-abortion and often those extremes occur because of secondary causation, high risk factors for emotional distress, in context. Another important point is that for the most part post-abortion emotional complications can be dealt with in much the same manner as any other serious life stress emotional response and that the case of abortion is particularly promising in that the woman has access to intervention at most stages of the process.