Is Having an Unplanned Birth
Worse
for Teens Than Abortion?
Editor's
Note: The following article originally appeared in The Post-Abortion Review
in 2006.
With the recent news
of a rash of pregnancies among girls at a high school in Massachusetts, it seems
everyone is agreeing that teen pregnancy is a problem. But are teens who abort
better off than teens who carry an "unwanted" pregnancy to term?
Not according to a study
published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence. The study found that
adolescent girls who abort unintended pregnancies are five times more likely to
seek subsequent help for psychological and emotional problems compared to their
peers who carry "unwanted" pregnancies to term.1
Dr. Priscilla Coleman, a
research psychologist at Bowling Green State University, also found that
adolescents who had abortions were over three times more likely to report
subsequent trouble sleeping and nine times more likely to report subsequent
marijuana use.
The results were compiled
after examining 17 other control variables, like prior mental health history and
family factors, that might also influence subsequent mental health.
The data was drawn from a
federally-funded longitudinal study of adolescents from throughout the U.S. who
participated in two series of interviews in 1995 and 1996. About 76 percent of
girls who had abortions and 80 percent of girls who gave birth were between the
ages of 15 and 19 during the survey, with the remainder being younger.
This study is particularly
important because it examines pregnancy "wantedness," in addition to a large
number of other control variables.
Over the last several 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.
Coleman's study addresses this argument and shows that the facts don’t support
abortion advocates’ speculations.
Higher Risk Factors for
Teens
According to the Alan Guttmacher
Institute, which tracks abortion statistics throughout the U.S., about a quarter
of the abortions that take place each year are performed on girls younger than
20.
Previous studies have found that
younger abortion patients may be more likely to experience difficulties
coping after abortion compared to older women. One reason behind this may be
that teens are more likely to be pressured into unwanted abortions or to undergo
abortions later in pregnancy, which carry a greater risk of physical and
psychological complications.
A 2004 Medical Science
Monitor study of women who had abortions found that 64 percent of
American women reported that they felt pressured into abortion.2 Coleman said that for teens, the pressure probably comes
from the fact that they are more likely to be perceived as unready to be parents
and that abortion is often seen by those around them as the best
solution.
"When women feel forced into
abortion by others or by life circumstances, negative post-abortion outcomes
become more common," she wrote. "Adolescents are generally much less prepared to
assume the responsibility of parenthood and are [therefore] the recipients of
pressure to abort."
Coleman pointed out that,
while having a child as a teen may be problematic, "the risks of terminating
seem to be even more pronounced."
Other studies comparing
outcomes for abortion versus delivery of unintended pregnancies have found
higher rates of clinical depression, anxiety, and substance abuse among women
who abort, while studies that did not look only at unplanned pregnancies also
found that women who aborted are at increased risk for suicidal behavior,
psychiatric problems, symptoms of post-traumatic stress, and sleep disorders,
which are often linked to trauma.
While previous studies have often
been criticized for methodological shortcomings, studies that have come out in
the last several years have been designed to address those problems and have
gone through vigorous scrutiny from peer-review panels before
publication.
"The scientific evidence is now
strong and compelling," Coleman stated. "Abortion poses more risks to women than
giving birth."
While there has been a
long-standing assumption that such problems are related to mental health
problems that existed before abortion, a large-scale study conducted in New
Zealand last year found that this wasn’t the case.3
The standard theory has been that
women who have problems coping after abortion were probably already mentally
unstable and therefore more likely to be even worse off if they continued the
pregnancy.
The researchers in New Zealand
thought that their study would confirm this theory, so they specifically
controlled for pre-existing mental health problems. What they found, however,
was that women who were mentally stable before abortion were still more likely
to experience mental health problems after abortion.
More Research
Needed
Although the pregnancy rate among
American teens has dropped steadily in the past few decades, among developed
countries the U.S. still has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and
childbirth.
In her paper, Coleman highlighted
a need for additional research on this issue. She pointed out that while
"hundreds of thousands" of teens experience an unintended pregnancy each year,
her study is one of only a few to examine the impact of abortion on women versus
the impact of carrying to term, all of which have indicated worse outcomes
associated with abortion.
Coleman and other researchers in
this area have pointed out that medical and mental health professionals need to
be attuned to the risks of abortion and present women and teens with accurate
information about the physical and psychological effects of the
procedure.
The findings that are emerging
show that abortion leads to negative outcomes for many women, regardless of
whether the pregnancy was planned or wanted. In fact, not a single study has
ever shown statistically significant benefits associated with abortion compared
to birth. In terms of maximizing women’s health and well-being, the scientific
evidence overwhelmingly indicates that birth is preferable to abortion.
~~~
This article originally
appeared in The Post-Abortion Review, Vol. 14(3), July-Sept.
2006.
For more information on teens
and abortion, including a free downloadable fact sheet, click here.
Citations
1. PK Coleman, “Resolution of
Unwanted Pregnancy During Adolescence Through Abortion Versus Childbirth:
Individual and Family Predictors and Psychological Consequences,” Journal of
Youth and Adolescence (2006).
2. VM Rue, et. al., "Induced
abortion and traumatic stress: A preliminary comparison of American and Russian
women" Medical Science Monitor 10(10): SR5-16 (2004).
3. DM.Fergusson, et. al., “Abortion in
young women and subsequent mental health,” Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry 47(1): 16-24 (2006).
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