Abortion and premature state of life Pretty skeptical about this article as the author is a notable anti-abortion activist. A major methodological issue with such studies is that they often lack strong controls groups (e.g. if women who participated in the study had a pre-existing history of depression, etc.). The famous
Turnaway Study, which was conducted from 2008-2010 with nearly 1000 subjects and was designed explicitly to avoid the methodological pitfalls of previous studies. It found, as have other studies conducted since then, that "women who have an abortion are not more likely...to have depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideation," or other "detrimental effects on women’s health".
In fact, 95% of the women who participated in the study reported later that abortion was "the right decision".
Additionally, the study also found that women who were denied an abortion were:
- More likely to experience serious complications from the end of pregnancy including eclampsia and death
- More likely to stay tethered to abusive partners
- More likely to suffer anxiety and loss of self-esteem in the short term after being denied abortion
- Less likely to have aspirational life plans for the coming year