Charge of Bias in Previous Reviews Supported By
New Study Published by Royal College of Psychiatrists
Springfield, IL (September 2, 2011) – Up to 10 percent of mental health problems among women may be affected by a history of abortion, according to a new review published by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in their British Journal of Psychiatry.
Publication of this new review, which included 877,181 women from six countries, has reawakened accusations that the American Psychological Association Task Force on Abortion and Mental Health deliberately understated abortion’s mental health risks for ideological reasons.
On the surface, the findings of the new review appear to contradict the conclusions published by the task force in in 2008, which stated that a “single abortion” of an “unwanted” pregnancy for an “adult” woman did not “in and of itself” pose significant mental health risks.
According to an expert in the field, Elliot Institute director Dr. David Reardon, that carefully nuanced conclusion was designed to obscure rather than clarify the risks of abortion.
“When you study the details of the APA report, you will notice that they provide only scant information on the statistics reported in each study,” he said. ” And they certainly never lay the findings side by side as was done in this new meta-analysis. Still, if you pay close attention you will find reluctant admissions that certain subgroups of women are at higher risk.”
For example, the APA review admits that multiple abortions may be problematic. But it then fails to mention that fully half of all abortions are second, third or fourth abortions.
Similarly, Reardon notes that APA recognizes that abortions of wanted pregnancies, and cases where women feel pressured to abort by other people, are also clearly problematic. But these cases may account for 30 to 65 percent of all abortions. Abortions for minors are also known to be associated with elevated suicide rates.
He said the APA’s conclusion is misleading precisely because it is nuanced to describe the minority of abortion cases, those for adult women, having a single abortion, for whom there is no pressure to abort.
“Reading between the lines, it is actually an admission that the majority of abortions may be problematic, but it was never reported that way,” he said.
He added that “regarding the APA’s additional nuance that there is insufficient evidence to prove that abortion ‘in and of itself’ is the sole cause of mental illness, proving that any experience is the sole cause of mental illness is nearly impossible. So framing the issue as requiring proof that abortion is the sole cause of mental illness sets an impossibly high standard.
“However, no informed person can deny that abortion can be a contributing factor which can trigger, aggravate, complicate, and/or delay recovery from mental illness. To deny this fact would require you to deny the that women are intelligent, self-aware persons who know why they are grieving.”
Reardon believes this new review is much more objective and useful for informing physicians, nurses, mental health care workers, and the public about what the research really reveals.
“The APA could have and should have used an objective approach like this one,” he said. “Instead, they deliberately obscured the clear trend in research findings by employing highly subjective reasons to dismiss, ignore, or obscure findings which did not mesh with their preconceived conclusions.
“This new review proves that when you use a standardized method of laying out the results of all the studies side by side, the trend is unmistakable.”
Reardon noted that the reliability of the APA Task Force report is further called into question by the fact that the task force chair, Dr. Brenda Major, has refused to allow her own data on abortion and mental health to be reanalyzed by other researchers.
“This behavior is especially egregious since it violates the APA’s own ethics rules requiring data sharing,” he said.
Reardon has posted a video that (1) discusses the main findings of the study, (2) provides a brief tutorial on interpreting the graphs confidence intervals shown in the study, and (3) describes how the APA Task Force on Abortion and Mental Health fashioned a very nuanced statement to summarize it’s findings in a way that obscured the truth and ensured misreporting of the evidence by the major media (begins at the 10 minute mark.)
Most Studies Find Abortion Linked to Mental Illness (video)
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Source: Coleman PK. Abortion and mental health: quantitative synthesis and analysis of research published 1995–2009. The British Journal of Psychiatry (2011) 199, 180–186.
And http://afterabortion.org/2008/apa-task-force-on-abortion-and-mental-health/
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I just wanted to say I fall into the category of one abortion and at age 16. The thing that makes me stand out is that my abortion was in April 1973 just three months after Roe V Wade, and although abortion had been made legal in the state of Illinois due to Roe V Wade, my abortion was illegal due to the fact that I was two weeks into my second trimester and it was clearly only legal then in the first trimester.
The other thing was that my parents, who are both pastors’ children, forced me to do it and my father was/is a minister. I was very much in love with the father of the child and I was very much terrified of my parents, especially my mother. They are fundamentalist Christians and my mother told me years later I was going to hell for converting to another faith. The cognitive dissonance this woman exhibits is unbelievable.
I am one of the lucky ones. I am lucky in that I was able to hang on to my sanity through an insane situation. I also received no pain meds and was fully awake and was screamed at by the doctor for crying and asking how long before it was over? I was lied to by the entire abortion establishment and they nearly killed me.
The day after I got home I passed one of my baby’s hands when I went to the bathroom. I went into shock. I believe I have suffered from PTSD for years and just a couple years ago actually had a break through when I finally allowed my anger to come out.
My entire family decided I needed to be put into an institution, at the leading of my mom. They did nothing to put me away as they discussed the cost and dropped it. Such a loving bunch of Christian folk. I have nothing to do with any of them anymore.
I wanted you to know about this as I would be willing to share my story and expose an area of this horrible CHILD SACRIFICIAL system to the world. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you wish to know any additional information or whatever I can do to help in that regard.
God bless you for your work!
Diana
Hi Diana,
I just want to say one thing and that is I am so sorry you had to go through
what you did. Your parents may appear to be Christians but they too have been
deceived by the lie of abortion. Our 20 year old daughter is also pregnant, her boyfriend and and herself wanted to keep the baby and get married. Well they got married this Saturday just passed and she is now 17 weeks pregnant. For us as Christian parents it was difficult but Jesus has taught us to love unconditionally just as He loves us.
I understand that you don’t see your parents, and the trauma they caused you.
Nevertheless, please try and forgive them as it will only create bitterness in you. This can only be through Jesus. The true loving, forgiving and the Jesus
who never leaves nor forsakes you. It doesn’t mean you have to see them, and
it doesn’t mean you have to forget what they did to you.
I had my parents do things to me I wont mention. They also tried to have me put
into an institution. My father was a preacher too, to the church people they were
so holy and righteous, yet how they treated their own children was totally opposite. After all they have to keep their reputations in tack.
Thank you for sharing your story. I would like to use your story over here in Australia. If you wouldn’t mind, can you send me your email address through our website abortsa.com?
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Thank you for all that you do. I also got my !st abortion when i was 16 . I was in love with the father and i feel i ws forced into it. He was made to break up with me just weeks after and threatende to be sent away if we were cuaght together. He bacame a reaging alcholic and i became just RAGED. My life after was a downhill spiral for years . I had more after not even kniwing how many until my last time in jail and i woke up dreaming about it. Since then i was giving GODS AMAZING GRACE and i have turned my life around .. But it has been hard. Iam now helping other women make the RIGHT CHIOCE. in fact im going to a confrence in two weeks for a pregnancy center..One thing i didnt see on here was a study about eing abusive to others and your childern. i saw in another study there was 110% that we could abuse our childern. i was floored. Coming fron an abusive home . That is very scary..