Does Abortion Have Severe Psychological Effects?

Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by destruction of a fertilized egg, embryo or fetus before birth, prior to the time when the fetus attains viability, or capacity for life outside the uterus (Encyclopedia, 1995, p.43). Currently almost twenty-five percent of pregnancies in the United States are aborted. About one forth of people who abort are teenagers, fifty-seven percent are younger than 25, and almost eighty percent are unmarried. During the first trimester is when most of the abortions take place. Only about ten percent are performed later in the pregnancy (Slife, 1998, p.329). Abortions go back as far as Ancient Greece where it was used as a type of population control. Then in the Roman Times men had total control over the procedure. “Man could give law-enforced command that his wife have an abortion, or he could punish or divorce his wife for having one without his consent” (Encyclopedia, 1995, p.43).

Today many people ask the question, does abortion have severe psychological effects? People that are pro-life claim that most women who abort their unborn child suffer from many negative effects, such as guilty feelings, anxiety, depression, loss, anger and even suicide. In one case a woman had an abortion assuming that it would take away all of the stress of being pregnant and thinking about the consequences of having a child. Afterwards she said, “I was unprepared for the maze of emotions that hit me after I had the procedure. Instead of feeling relieved, I was awash in anxiety and confusion” (Lawlor, 2002, par.3). The disorder of having negative effects after an abortion is called Post Abortion Syndrome or PAS. In order to tell if a woman has PAS she has to be completely honest with herself and admit the feelings that she has. The symptoms that most women have are strong feelings of guilt and confusion. Some cases are much more extreme, for example, there was a seventeen year old who developed lethargy, malaise, and vomiting. Doctors where unable to reach a conclusion about her condition until the anniversary of her abortion when she experienced overt psychosis. Mental examinations also revealed signs of hallucinations, as well as psychotic thought processes. Research has shown that in most cases women will go on and say they are fine about the whole thing, and many years later be ...

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...then you will not even think twice about having one. I don’t agree with abortions at a certain extent. If I got pregnant I am not sure what I would do because I wouldn’t want to grow up that fast, and I would want to finish college and get a good job that way I know for sure I could support my child like I would want to, but if I did have a good job and me and my boyfriend had a steady relationship, then abortion wouldn’t even cross my mind.

4. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Speckhand and Rue’s proposal that post abortion syndrome occurs in some women following abortion?

I think they did a very good job of describing what post abortion is and what affects it has on women, but I think they could have done a better job of what causes women to have post abortion like Adler did in his argument.

References

Encyclopedia Americana. (1995). Definition of Abortion. (pp.43). Danbury, CT: Groiler inc.

Lawlor, Jessica. (2002). Long Term Physiological and Psychological Effects of Abortion on Women. Retrieved March 21, 2001 from http://www.cirtl.org/syndrome.htm

Slife, B., Ed. (1998). Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Psychological Issues, 10th ed. (pp.329-350). Gui