Abstract

PIP: A review of empirical studies on the psychological sequelae of induced abortion published since 1965 revealed no evidence of adverse effects. On the other hand, this review identified widespread methodological problems--improper sampling, lack of data on women's previous psychiatric history, a scarcity of prospective study designs, a lack of specified follow-up times or evaluation procedures, and a failure to distinguish between legal, illegal, and spontaneous abortions--that need to be addressed by psychiatric epidemiologists. Despite these methodological weaknesses, all 34 studies found significant improvement rather than deterioration in mental status after induced abortion. There was also a high degree of congruity in terms of predictors of adverse reactions after abortion--ambivalence about the procedure, a history of psychosocial instability, poor or absent family ties, psychiatric illness at the time of the pregnancy termination, and negative attitudes toward abortion in the broader society. As expected, criminal abortion is more likely than legal abortion to be associated with guilt, and women who have been denied therapeutic abortions report significantly greater psychosocial difficulties than those who have been granted abortion on the grounds of their precarious mental health. Overall, the research clearly attests that abortion carried out at a woman's request has no deleterious psychiatric consequences. Problems arise only when the woman undergoes pregnancy termination as a result of pressure from others. Legislation that undermines the ability of the pregnant woman to assess herself the impact of an unwanted pregnancy on her future impedes mental health and should be opposed by the psychiatric profession.

Comment in

• Psychological sequelae of induced abortion.

  [No authors listed][No authors listed]Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 1990 Mar;24(1):5, 9, 11-2.Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 1990.PMID:2334388No abstract available.
• Psychological sequelae of induced abortion.

  [No authors listed][No authors listed]Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 1990 Jun;24(2):146, 148-50.Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 1990.PMID:2396953No abstract available.

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Publication types

• Review

MeSH terms

• Abortion, Induced / psychology*
• Adolescent
• Adult
• Female
• Guilt
• Humans
• Mental Disorders / etiology
• Pregnancy
• Psychiatry
• Risk Factors

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