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Expert critiques claim there’s no link between abortion and mental health issues
LifeSiteNews ^ | 3/10/12 | Ben Johnson

Posted on 03/11/2012 11:49:22 AM PDT by wagglebee

BOWLING GREEN, OHIO, March 9, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – An editorial in a psychiatric publication criticizing a recent study is being cited as a “refutation” of the idea that abortion leads to higher rates of mental illness. But an expert tells LifeSiteNews.com the other side is far from disproving the notion – and has an agenda of its own.

The editor-in-chief of the Journal of Psychiatric Research, Alan Schatzberg of the Stanford University School of Medicine, co-authored an article that criticized a 2009 study conducted by Priscilla Coleman, a professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, which found high incidence of mental problems in post-abortive women.

A year later, Julia Steinberg of the University of California-San Francisco and Lawrence Finer of the Alan Guttmacher Institute claimed, “For many women, psychiatric illnesses occurred before the abortion.” This, they said, rendered Dr. Coleman’s findings invalid.

Schatzberg recently wrote that he believes their criticisms had merit but stopped short of retracting the article, which his journal published.

On Tuesday, Coleman said she corrected her data to include only incidents of mental health issues after abortion, and the results “did not change much.”

Nonetheless, a number of outlets reported her findings had been “debunked.”

That is far from true, according to Dr. Martha Shuping, M.D., an expert in post-abortion issues. The North Carolina-based psychiatrist told LifeSiteNews.com the link had been tested numerous times.

“It’s not only one study” that establishes a link, Dr. Shuping wrote, “but many statistically significant studies published in peer reviewed journals with statistically significant results that demonstrate that abortion puts women at risk for mental health problems. The website www.standapart.org has one bibliography listing more than 40 such studies, and additional studies have been published since that bibliography was posted in 2008.”

A similar discussion took place in 2008, Dr. Shuping said, after the American Psychiatric Association (APA) released a report drawn up by its Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion. The study was widely cited to imply abortion presented no more negative side effects than a live birth.

But that study had methodological flaws of its own. It “excluded everyone under 21 that is having abortions, which is not insignificant,” she said. That totals at least 18 percent of all abortions, well over 100,000 a year.

They also said their study applied only to women who had a single abortion. Yet Susan Cohen of the Alan Guttmacher Institute wrote in 2007, “About half of all U.S. women having an abortion have had one previously.”

And they said the decision must be by a woman who does not want her baby and is not coerced. “I think there’s a lot more coercion out there than anyone realizes,” Dr. Shuping noted, relating personal anecdotes of women who were bullied, physically assaulted, or drugged before being led into an abortion clinic.

“They’re excluding the majority of women in America who are having abortions every day.”

Shuping pointed to a 2007 study conducted by Sharain Suliman that 18.2 percent of post-abortive women “met criteria for a diagnosis of” Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder within three months of their abortion. The research was carried out in an effort to help abortionists find a better means of anesthetic.

Dr. Shuping told LifeSiteNews the truth is simple: “There are many, many women who have mental health issues because of their abortion.” However, researchers are constantly looking for any other explanation.

“If any of those women had said, ‘I was raped and now I have trauma symptoms,’ no one would dispute that,” Dr. Shuping told LifeSiteNews.com, “because we all know that rape is a bad thing for women.”

But when it comes to abortion, “No one wants to believe the women themselves.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abortion; mentalhealth; moralabsolutes; prolife
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Once again, the left tries to advance their agenda by ignoring all data that contradicts them.
1 posted on 03/11/2012 11:49:25 AM PDT by wagglebee
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To: cgk; Coleus; cpforlife.org; narses; Salvation; 8mmMauser
Pro-Life Ping
2 posted on 03/11/2012 11:50:03 AM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: wagglebee; 185JHP; 230FMJ; AKA Elena; APatientMan; Albion Wilde; Aleighanne; Alexander Rubin; ...
Moral Absolutes Ping!

Freepmail wagglebee to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.

FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
[ Add keyword moral absolutes to flag FR articles to this ping list ]


3 posted on 03/11/2012 11:52:21 AM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: wagglebee

The so called experts also said there was no connection between homosexuality and mental health issues.

Then why the short lived relationships, physically abusive relationships, short life span, chemical dependencies, and desire to mutilate their bodies?


4 posted on 03/11/2012 11:53:23 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Barack Obama continued to sponsor Jeremiah Wright after he said "G.D. AMERIKKA!"Where's the outrage?)
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To: wagglebee

One could accurately state that they are “anti-science”.


5 posted on 03/11/2012 12:03:55 PM PDT by Servant of the Cross (the Truth will set you free)
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To: a fool in paradise

So called experts are usualy depressed and know nothing about life other than their “expertise”. Debauchery of science, just as “radical” Islam, are a reality which so long it is ignored, it will yield its evil modernist fruits.

ANy one can look “mentaly healthy” with enough nonsense activity of giving morale to these people and us all having a “good attitude” with it.

THis is the nature of “humane psychology”, ie. feeling sorry for the pedophile and giving him morale support by giving him all the children he or she wants in the hopes he or she will feel better after that.

We are idiots.


6 posted on 03/11/2012 12:05:54 PM PDT by JudgemAll (Democrats Fed. job-security Whorocracy & hate:hypocrites must be gay like us or be tested/crucified)
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To: wagglebee

The meta-analysis of the studies seems to show that abortion causes mental health issues.

The refutation of the meta-analysis is based on a claim that mentally ill women are more likely to have an abortion.

Either way, abortion is condemned.

If mentally ill women are more likely to have abortions, then that implies medical negligence on the part of those directing them towards abortion mills, when these women actually need treatment for their mental illness (preferably initiated before they get pregnant with a child they have no intention of bearing alive).


7 posted on 03/11/2012 12:06:48 PM PDT by exDemMom (Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)
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To: wagglebee; little jeremiah; Salvation; narses; NYer; metmom; wintertime

“Once again, the left tries to advance their agenda by ignoring all data that contradicts them.”

Very true. Maybe these women had issues before getting the abortion, but the abortions made them worse. Even Margaret Cho, the comedianne, has defended her decision but admitted that immediately after the abortion, she felt like the most lonely human on the planet. Many resort to alcohol, drugs, and overeating to cope with the aftermath. I think that most of them know something is wrong, but don’t make the connection between the abortion and their emotional problems because no one pointed that connection out.


8 posted on 03/11/2012 12:27:44 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued (A chameleon belongs in a pet store, not the White House)
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To: JudgemAll

I’ve already repeatedly heard/read that a lot of people in psych professions and study are screwed up themselves. Part of the reason they go into it as a field is to find out what’s wrong with themselves.


9 posted on 03/11/2012 12:38:14 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Barack Obama continued to sponsor Jeremiah Wright after he said "G.D. AMERIKKA!"Where's the outrage?)
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To: Clintonfatigued
Jane Russell spoke openly about how her abortion affected her life.

In her later years she was a regular at CPAC and a strong backer of the life movement.

10 posted on 03/11/2012 12:38:40 PM PDT by mware (By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West)
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To: wagglebee

There’s also a strong relationship between abortion and “breast cancer”.

http://www.abortionbreastcancer.com/

Looks like abortion is not a choice, so much as a public health hazzard.


11 posted on 03/11/2012 12:42:38 PM PDT by ROTB (FReepmail me if you want to join a team seeking the LORD for a Christian revival now in the USA.)
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To: wagglebee

I sure hope Dr. Coleman is tenured.

If you do not adhere to the leftist party line in academia, your tenure application will be denied for “lack of collegiality”, no matter how impressive your publication record and teaching evaluations.


12 posted on 03/11/2012 1:08:44 PM PDT by neocon1984
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To: wagglebee

It’s estimated that 50% of women who have reached adulthood since 1973 have had at least one abortion. Wouldn’t that mean that 50% of women had serious pre-existing psychological problems?

Now, I’m sure a pile-on of misogynists could be found here to assert just that, but it hardly seems like a position that “pro-woman” advocates would seek out ... unless it was necessary to support their contention that prenatal infanticide has no negative consequences to the mother.


13 posted on 03/11/2012 1:09:21 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Maybe it IS about contraception. Read "Planned Parenthood v. Casey" decision, 1992.)
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To: Tax-chick; trisham; samiam1972; metmom; BykrBayb
Wouldn’t that mean that 50% of women had serious pre-existing psychological problems?

Based on the women I've known I would have to say that it's at least possible. :-)

14 posted on 03/11/2012 1:14:31 PM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: wagglebee

We could make the claim, and back it up with evidence, that having sex outside marriage proves a woman is irrational and incapable of realistically determining her own best interest, and therefore she should not be permitted to make other important decisions ... such as whether to kill a baby.


15 posted on 03/11/2012 1:17:57 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Maybe it IS about contraception. Read "Planned Parenthood v. Casey" decision, 1992.)
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To: Tax-chick

The woman doesn’t just “kill a baby”, she kills her own baby. I think a lot of these women who have abortions don’t really think about what they are doing at the time but later on they begin to realize they killed their own child. That has got to be hard to live with the rest of your life. No wonder they have psychological problems.


16 posted on 03/11/2012 1:54:49 PM PDT by Maryhere ("HE comes to rule the earth")
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To: wagglebee

I have had an interesting life, in that I’ve never been particularly “popular”, or part of the “in crowd”.
However, even in High school, when friends have had serious issues and didn’t know where to turn, they sought me out.
In cases when women were suffering post-abortion trauma, they confided in me and sought comfort.
In particular, those with atheist and agnostic perspectives.
I assure you, they knew what they had done and felt sick about it.
Nightmares and sleeplessness, haunted by reliving the experience.
Unable to travel to the nearby city where the abortion occurred.

You may call it anecdotal, but I have no doubt these traumas and hangovers have the potential to lead to mental illness.
I mentioned the atheism to emphasize this emotion was not influenced by “religious guilt”.
It was rather, something inescapably written on their heart.


17 posted on 03/11/2012 2:22:13 PM PDT by G Larry
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To: Maryhere

I agree with you. There is no real evidence to support the alternative view - only the pre-existing belief that abortion is good for women, and therefore abortion can’t have any negative consequences. This is purely a faith statement, unconnected to observable reality.

Methodological flaws in a study linking abortion with post-abortion psychological problems may weaken the presentation of that particular study, but they don’t do anything to prove an alternative theory of causation.


18 posted on 03/11/2012 2:27:57 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Maybe it IS about contraception. Read "Planned Parenthood v. Casey" decision, 1992.)
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To: G Larry

They suffer from PTSD a lot of the time, and this heals itself over time a lot of the time. I know a woman who aborted at 15 and has no regrets and no guilt. However, she talks to her family members like they are all infants. Wonder what you would call that!


19 posted on 03/11/2012 3:04:21 PM PDT by huldah1776
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To: wagglebee
Chosen Child

Studies Find Abortions Have Long-Term Effects

An Unexpected Correlation: The Legacy of Abortion

Study: Previous Abortions Linked With Pre-Term Birth and Cerebral Palsy

American Psychological Association Ignores Abortion-Depression Link

Study finds depression suffered by 80% of women who abort

Post-Abortion Counselor Confirms Abortions Cause Women Mental Health Issues

Abortion and Premature Birth Link Confirmed in New Study

Spanish Medical Expert: Damage to Women Caused by Abortion is Scientifically Proven

Science Catches Up with Religion Researchers prove fetuses have memories, know mothers’ voices..

Women Need More Mental Health Treatment After Abortion, New Study Finds

Teens Cope With Unwanted Pregnancies Better Than Abortions, Study Shows

New Study: Top Reason for Women's Abortions is No Supportive Partner, Father

New Study: Direct Link Between Abortion and Mental Health Problems

Researcher: Johns Hopkins Paper Biased on Abortion-Mental Health Issues

Abortion Linked to Higher Rates of Child Abuse, Study Finds

Women Want to Know of Abortion Risks Beforehand, New Survey Shows

Recent Poll Reveals Most Americans Think Abortion Hurts Women

Planned Parenthood Misleads Women on Abortion's Mental Health Risks

Study: Abortions Cause Future Relationship Problems, More Domestic Violence

20 posted on 03/11/2012 3:26:20 PM PDT by TigersEye (Life is about choices. Your choices. Make good ones.)
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