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Myths and Misinformation About Women's Feelings After Abortion

There is a long history of research disproving the claim that there is such as thing as "post-abortion syndrome" or "post-abortion stress syndrome."

In the late 1980s, President Reagan asked Surgeon General C. Everett Koop to conduct a study on the mental pain caused by abortion. Koop, who was strongly anti-abortion, determined that there was insufficient evidence of trauma. Psychological problems were "minuscule from a public health perspective," he said. The American Psychological Association followed up by asking a group of experts to undertake a special review. The panel concluded in 1989 that severe negative psychological reactions to abortion are rare and that this "syndrome" is not scientifically or medically recognized. The APA concluded that the vast majority of women experience a mixture of emotions after an abortion, with positive feelings predominating. The American Psychiatric Association also studied the psychological impact of abortion on women. A panel of leading psychiatrists concluded that "government restrictions on abortion are more likely to cause women lasting harm than the procedure itself." A 1997 longitudinal study concurred about the effect of abortion, showoing that the experience of abortion has no independent effect on the psychological well-being of a woman."

In August 2000, a study conducted by Brenda Major at the University of California at Santa Barbara confirmed those findings. Severe post-abortion psychological distress is extremely rare, affecting just one percent of patients. "Most women were satisfied with their decision, and believed that they had benefited more than they had been harmed," said Major, who, along with other researchers, tracked women for two years after they had first-trimester abortions (88 percent of abortions are performed in the first trimester, and therefore represent the typical experience).

According to journalist Cynthia Cooper, who has studied post-abortion feelings, while abortion does not "hurt" women and there is no such thing as "post abortion syndrome," women who feel relief after having an abortion may also have normal feelings of sadness, grief, or regret. An unwanted pregnancy alone can create significant anxiety. With the clock ticking, a woman is forced to decide between very limited options, each of them stressful.

April 3, 2007