A recent study of women in Quebec, Canada, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research revealed that those who chose induced abortion were more than twice as likely to be hospitalized for a mental health problem than women who gave birth.
Researchers found that, per 10,000 person-years, 104 women who had an abortion were hospitalized for mental health problems such as psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, and suicide attempts, versus 42 women who did not have abortions. A person-year (think man-hour) represents the number of people studied over the course of a year. As a whole, the study followed more than 1.2 million pregnancies for up to 17 years after either an abortion or birth.
The data indicated that women who chose a repeat abortion were more likely to encounter a mental health problem requiring hospitalization than those who had their first abortion. A woman’s risk of hospitalization was highest in the first five years after her abortion, and, unsurprisingly, was higher if she had already had mental health problems, which the study took into account.
This is not the first study to confirm that abortion compromises women’s mental health. For instance, a 2023 study using Medicaid data showed that women who have a first-pregnancy abortion face a significantly higher risk of needing mental health treatment, particularly inpatient treatment, after the abortion than women who give birth.
The harm that abortion causes women isn’t limited to mental health. More than 10 percent of women encounter a serious, adverse medical event such as sepsis or hemorrhaging after taking the chemical abortion drug mifepristone. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and one of the drug’s manufacturers, Danco Laboratories, have grossly underrepresented the risks of mifepristone. In another example of the dangers of abortion, a pro-life organization in Indiana filed complaints of legal violations in 700 abortion cases over a two-year period, some involving the death of the mother.
Groups like Surrendering the Secret or the Silent No More Awareness Campaign are honest about the mental and spiritual agony that abortion causes women (and the men around them) who choose to end their baby’s life. They share the testimonies of women who regret their choice and recognize the cognitive dissonance of pro-abortion advocates who argue that a woman can have an abortion and simply move on without a major change to her life.
There is nothing casual about death of any kind. Studies like these show that many women come face to face with that hard reality in the aftermath of the decision to end the life of their unborn baby.
Catherine Gripp is a graduate of Arizona Christian University where she earned a degree in communication and a minor in political science. She writes for The Federalist as a reporting intern.
