The So-Called 'Post-Abortion Syndrome'

A small number of studies, based primarily on anecdotal evidence, claim to document the incidence of 'post-abortion syndrome' (PAS). Symptoms of this supposed condition include feelings of grief, depression, anger, guilt, and discomfort with small children and pregnant women. Alleged behavioural manifestations include frequent crying, flashbacks, sexual inhibition, and alcohol abuse (Speckhard, 1985).

Although only a minority of women report severe negative effects post-abortion, the idea that abortion has severe negative effects continues to be widespread by abortion opponents (Boyle, 1997; Russo and Denious, 2001). The fact is that anti-abortion groups have invented this condition to further their cause. The American Psychiatric Association does not recognise 'post-abortion syndrome' (1994), and all of the studies that purport to prove PAS contain methodological flaws that render their conclusions nongeneralisable beyond their subjects.

The most damning flaw common to all of these studies is that only women who already self identified as having problems with abortion were recruited for them.

For example:

• In her doctoral dissertation, 'The Psycho-Social Aspects of Stress Following Abortion', Anne Catherine Speckhard chronicled how 'abortion functions as a stressor' (Speckhard 1985). However she drew her conclusions from a subject pool of 30 women who 'had high stress abortion experiences' (Speckhard, 1985). As a result, in unpublished correspondence, her doctoral adviser clarified that Speckhard's 'findings apply only to the 30 women who volunteered to participate in her study and to absolutely no one else' (Boss, 1986). In fact there is little evidence to support the notion that abortion will lead to severe psychological sequelae among the general population of women. The American Psychological Association assembled an expert panel to review the evidence of psychological risks of abortion. This panel concluded 'the weight of the evidence from scientific studies indicates that legal abortion of an unwanted pregnancy in the first trimester does not pose a psychological hazard for most women (Beckman, 1998).
• In his survey of women who had abortions, David Reardon found that 94% of his respondents experienced negative psychological effects (Reardon, 1987). However he used a biased subject pool, drawing only from members of an anti-choice group called Women Exploited by Abortion (WEBA).
• To demonstrate that adolescents suffer greater psychological consequences after abortion than adults, Wanda Franz and David Reardon examine data from ' a survey of organisations[such as WEBA] serving as support groups for women who have had negative reactions to abortion' (Franz and Reardon, 1992). They conclude by making generalisations about the effects of abortion on all adolescents, even though they derive their data from a non-representative, highly biased subject pool. In fact, a recent study of young women found that there is no evidence that abortion poses a threat to adolescents' psychological well being (Pope, 2001).
• In an unpublished but widely circulated paper, Terry Selby limits her discussion of 'post-abortion trauma' to 'a population of women who have presented themselves in a general mental health practice with a variety of presenting psychological and psycho-social issues' (Selby, 1984).

Overall Conclusions by Health Experts.

• In 1989, A panel of experts assembled by the American Psychological Association concluded unanimously that legal abortion 'does not create psychological hazards for most women undergoing the procedure'. The panel noted that, since approximately 21 percent of all U.S. women have had an abortion, if severe emotional reactions were common there would be an epidemic (Adler, 1989). Since 1989, there has been no significant change in this point of view.

Cited references

Adler, Nancy E (1989). University of California at San Francisco, Statement on Behalf of the American Psychological Association Before the Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations Subcommittee of the Committee on Governmental Operations, US House of Representatives: 130-40.

Boyle, Mary (1997). Re-thinking abortion: Psychology, Gender, Power and the Law. New York: Routledge

Franz, Wanda and David Reardon. (1992) 'Diffreential Impact of Abortion on Adolescents and Adults.' Adolescence, 27(105), 161-72.

Pope, Linda, et al. (2001) 'Postabortion Psychological Adjustment: Are minors at Increased Risk? Journal of Adolescent Health, 29(1), 2-11.

Russo, Nancy Felipe, and Jean E. Denious. (2001) Violence in the Lives of Women Having Abortions: Implications for Practice and Public Policy'. Professional Psychology; Research and Practice, 28(1), 23-31.

Selby, Terry L. (1984) Post Abortion Trauma. Unpublished paper.

Speckhard, Anne Catherine. (1985). The Psycho-Social Aspects of Stress Following Abortion: A Thesis. Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota.