Study Finds Abortion Poses More Risks to Women than Giving Birth

by Steven Ertelt/TN : Aug 14, 2006 : LifeNews
http://www.lifenews.com/nat2494.html

"The scientific evidence is now strong and compelling."

A new study published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence refutes a long-standing contention that teenagers are better able to handle an abortion than dealing with an unplanned pregnancy. According to a report in LifeNews, the study finds that adolescent girls who have an abortion are five times more likely to seek help for psychological and emotional problems than those who keep their baby.

Dr. Priscilla Coleman, research psychologist at Bowling Green State University, is quoted as saying that teenagers who have abortions instead of carrying the pregnancy to term were also over three times more likely to report subsequent trouble sleeping, and nine times more likely to report subsequent marijuana use.

"The scientific evidence is now strong and compelling," Coleman said. "Abortion poses more risks to women than giving birth."

Dr. David Reardon, director of the Elliot Institute, said "Over the last six years, numerous studies have conclusively linked higher rates of mental illness and behavioral problems associated with abortion compared to childbirth.

But abortion advocates have generally dismissed these findings, insisting that while women who abort may fare worse than women who give birth to planned children, they may fare better than the important subgroup of women who carry unintended pregnancies to term. [This] study addresses this argument and shows that the facts don't support abortion advocates' speculations."