I'm especially intrigued by the following quotes from the MSNBC article and the report itself:
They said women who had mental health problems before becoming pregnant, women who worried about stigma or secrecy or those who had low self-esteem were more likely to develop mental health problems after an abortion.These quotes bring up a couple of interesting points. First, who can forget those lovely folks in South Dakota who are now requiring doctors providing abortions to tell their patients that the procedure carries a risk of depression, suicidal ideation and suicide? In a perfect world, the good folks in South Dakota would call an audible and retract that ridiculous law, citing this report as evidence that they were incorrect. Undoubtedly, however, what will really happen is that SD abortion doctors will continue to be compelled to give their patients patently untrue medical information, thus possibly contributing to the very worries about stigma and secrecy that have been shown to be predictors of mental health problems in women who seek abortions. It's self-fulfilling prophesy! How convenient."Across studies, prior mental health emerged as the strongest predictor of post-abortion mental health. Many of these same factors also predict negative psychological reactions to other types of stressful life events, including childbirth," they wrote in the report. (Emphasis mine)
Second, if South Dakota insists on giving women the possible "risk factors" of abortion, perhaps they should also inform pregnant women of the "risk factors" of pregnancy. If the same types of prior psychological risk factors are good predictors of mental health problems following stressful life events - events like both abortion and childbirth - then it only makes sense that you should warn both women seeking abortions and women seeking obstetrics care that they are equally at risk for depression, suicidal ideation and suicide following the abortion or the birth. Right?
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In a similar vein, there is research whose findings suggest that there is a negative impact of being the child born to a woman who didn't want the pregnancy, such that the "unwanted" child is treated more negatively and, if I recall correctly, has a greater risk for psychological problems than other "wanted" children born to the same mother. Shocking, no?
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