Sign this Petition for Congressional Hearings on Abortion and Mental Health
Below is a petition to U.S. Representatives Chris Smith (NJ-04) and Dan Lipinski (IL-. 03), Co-Chairs of the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-life Caucus, asking for congressional hearings on the issue of abortion and mental health.
Please sign this petition and share the link to this page with your friends, family and colleagues. We will follow up with an email keeping you up to date on this effort and with phone numbers and email addresses you can use to help us succeed in this effort.
Dear Honorable Chris Smith and Honorable Dan Lipiniski,
Twenty-two years ago, Surgeon General Koop recommended a national longitudinal study of abortion’s effects on women’s psychological and physical health. That study was never done.
In early September of this year, the British Journal of Psychiatry, the official journal of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, published a review of the literature including a meta-analysis of 22 studies including nearly 900,000 women. It revealed that women who had abortions 81 percent more likely to experience mental health problems compared to all other control groups, and 55 percent more likely to have problems compared to women who delivered an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy.
Another recent literature review, by the American Psychiatric Association identified at least 15 risk factors which identify which women are more susceptibility to more mental health problems after an abortion. These include feeling pressured to abort, a history of already having had one or more abortions, ambivalence about the abortion decision, having a pregnancy that is wanted or meaningful, prior mental health problems and more.
But Planned Parenthood and other groups receiving federal funds oppose screening abortion patients for these known risk factors. Moreover, they continue to tell both patients and the public that abortion poses no mental health risks for women.
Besides ignoring the numerous studies showing a statistical link between abortion and higher rates of mental illness, these abortion proponents routinely insult and ignore the sworn testimony of tens of thousands of women who have described how abortion has led to grief, depression, suicidal behaviors, substance abuse and more. It is a grave insult to the integrity of these women, and their therapist, to suggest that they are “mistaken” about the effects of abortion on their lives.
Women deserve better.
We are asking you to hold hearings on abortion and mental health to address the following issues:
- Why hasn’t the Koop study ever been done? And what can Congress do to ensure that this important research is finally completed in a manner that properly addresses all of the important questions raised by partisans on both sides of this divisive issue?
- What are the current standards for screening abortion patients for known risk factors? And what can Congress do to ensure that all health care providers who receive federal funds screen for these contraindications for abortion when counseling pregnant women considering an abortion?
- Are federal agencies which publish information on mental illness and pregnancy resources adequately identifying abortion risks and the risk factors for abortion associated complications?
- What can be done to reduce the incidence of unwanted abortions which occur when women either feel pressured to abort a wanted pregnancy or face a lack of support for keeping an unplanned pregnancy that would be welcomed if they had the missing support?
Thank you for your consideration.
