Jesus Christ Forums

[wil]

DATE: August 22, 2002
FROM: Jerry Falwell

Study Reveals Abortion Harms Women's Mental Health ... and the Media Yawns


Have you heard about the new study revealing that a significant number of women suffer mental anguish following an abortion?


Well, unless you subscribe to the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, which published the report last month, or are a fervent researcher of the Internet, you probably haven't heard of this important study.


That's because our mainstream news media recurrently declines to broadcast studies that cast a skeptical shadow on abortion.


The reason? A woman's "right" to abortion must be protected at all costs.


In fact, the media has historically refused to report on a host of medical studies that have found a genuine link between abortion and breast cancer. Studies in the U.S., Japan, Denmark, Israel and several other nations have found this link between breast cancer and abortion, with one study showing that women who had one or two abortions before a full-term pregnancy actually doubled their cancer risk. (Despite an overabundance of scientific findings, the National Cancer Institute continues to maintain that there is no established connection between breast cancer and abortion.)


If the powerful networks and newspapers won't report on the considerable and notable breast cancer link to abortion, they are certainly not going to publicize this new study finding that women frequently experience mental distress following an abortion.


The authors of this new study examined 173,000 Medi-Cal records for low-income California women, and compared the rate of psychiatric outpatient treatments for women who had abortions to those who carried their pregnancies to term. (They excluded women who had undergone previous psychiatric care a year prior to their pregnancy result.)


What the researchers found was astonishing.


Women were 63 percent more likely to receive mental health care within 90 days of an abortion compared to women who carried their babies to full term. What's more, substantially higher rates of ensuing mental health treatment continued over the entire four years of the data examined. Women who had undergone abortions experienced subsequent treatments for neurotic depression, bipolar disorder, adjustment reactions and schizophrenic disorders.


Attention ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, et al: This is a major finding!


Dr. David Reardon, one of the study's authors, is also the co-author (with Dr. Theresa Burke) of a new book titled, "Forbidden Grief: The Unspoken Pain of Abortion," which further documents how women are experiencing substantial mental dilemmas following abortion.

[fuzz2050]

of course having an abortion will afect a womans mind. but imagine if she is forced to rasie a child she is not prepared to. she might have to drop out of school, she might have to put it in to chjildcare, the child might be raised in poverty, in fact it is very lickly it will. many children grow up in missery, because their parents were unable to care for them.
many of htese children go on to makew the same mistakes, raising their own children in poveryty. its a vicious cycle,
all for the cost of one abortion

[Daredevil]

I just had an epiphany;

Did you know what the previous person sounded like? Somebody who was caught watching porn. I can attest to that because I used to be just like this. Now this cat is projecting the anger of his own conscience "getting in the way" of his natural self onto pregnant women who might have a conscience too. I just can't find any other way to describe it.

Labelling the baby as "just sex" won't make it go away.

Otherwise, this is just a continuation of how secular humanists view life, as "chemicals" or "statistics".

[fuzz2050]

whats thta supposed to mean?


true, i value a high quality of life for the mother over the "life" of 8 cells in her womb. what if she was unfit to carry a child? what if it was the choice of an abortion or her life? what if she was your wife? would you let your wife"Murder" 8 cells to extend her life?

[Daredevil]

If you understood life as more than just flesh, blood and pleasure you would understand. That's something I cannot change in you. It's too bad there's so many people like you out there who only respect life they can see. You should feel lucky you were born because your mother felt it was "worth the pain".

[Daredevil]

I must also say that most abortions are performed in the name of "population control", not under the circumstance that the woman's life is under danger. Do you honestly believe that in such an advanced country as the US 1 million women would probably die if they gave birth. I think not. Of course under those situations where the mother may die it would not so much be a "choice". However I am completely against the notion of the doctor telling the mother that she *must* abort her child to save herself. Of course if you do kill the child it would be convenient to say by doing so the mother's life was spared. We must avoid any conscious act of taking a life. But for now you need to stop thinking of life as only things you can see, perhaps you would know what I'm talking about

[fuzz2050]

im not talking aobut every sinlge time, but many times, it is to save the life of the mother. it may also be because the mother is unfit to raise a child.

[webmaster]

[Guest]

This is an interesting study, but does it say anywhere what the mental state of the women was Before they had an abortion? Someone with a previous history of depression or other mental problems is quite likely to be strongly affected by anything such as this, even if they've been without symptoms recently.

Also, many clinics offer counseling and outpatient therapy after the procedure, as a matter of course. Was the study counting those visits? If so, the number may be unrealisticaly inflated.

[fuzz2050]

instead of having the children be aborted, possibly at risk to the mother, woulnt it have been nice if the child was never conceived to begin with. thats what the morning after pill would do, yet you also seem to be opposed to that

[Daredevil]

Has anyone considered perhaps these so-called "mental problems" may be the pangs of a conscience? Or are we going to continue to blame this phenomenon as a delusion of the mother-to-be? No very pro-woman is it?

[Guest]

Delusion? Hm. I asked about the women's prior history because I was diagnosed with bipolar many years ago. I know quite well how something as small as forgetting to pick something up at the store and having someone annoyed at you for it, can send a depressed person into some serious mental anguish. Consider abortion, then; a procedure that everyone is so vehemently "right" about, no matter what side they are on. A woman who already has or has had problems will likely have a very hard time coping with anything which people argue so loudly over.

That said, when I went for an abortion they asked if I had a history of mental problems, and I told them yes but I was over it. And I did not have any anguish over it. I had made a decision and was sure in it. I do not feel guilty and have never had a second thought about choosing abortion. Does this mean I have no conscience? I don't think so. It simply means that I did nothing wrong in my view.

If a person is not sure of themselves or their beliefs, any decision they make is likely to be one they question later.

[jjf1990]

Hitler died just as sure of himself also!
_________________
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And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. KJV John 1:1-5


The Truth of who Jesus Christ is can set you free!
Call upon his name!
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[fuzz2050]

moderators

please just answer the questinos, don't insult us

[Chrysoprasus]

What are the exact questions here?
Do people suffer mentally after aborting their children? The earlier poster was the first I've heard say no.
Go to http://www.hardtruth.net and read the stories there (most are archived) from people who chose abortion. Men AND women. Men often seem to be overlooked in this equation, they feel as if they have little or no choice in the matter, and when they do or if they are the convincing factor they suffer just as much as women from the guilt and pain of it once they realize what has been done.
On another note, most of the people I have interviewed were Christians who had either had an abortion before they were or when they were teens, and later had other children.
NONE of them had one to save the mother's life. That is a very very small fraction of abortions. Most are done for the sake of convenience.
What needs to be taught over and over until it sinks into people's brains is that having sex is how a person gets pregnant. Apparently there are still a vast majority who don't get this. They have sex and then are shocked and unprepared when ...*gasp* ...they're pregnant! There ARE ways to avoid this situation. If we didn't view sex as socially acceptable before marriage that would end a portion of the problem, but no, we want to let our kids grow up watching the sex promoting filth on television, walking around in skimpy clothes is "cute", we let family planning and public schools be their moral guidance, and NOBODY GETS IT! Infidelity in marriage isn't even seen as cause for divorce anymore. Sex is shoved in everyone's faces, immorality is seen as ok...
Alright, I'll quit there. LOL
It just ticks me off that people are so STUPID and then babies get killed and it's seen as perfectly ok because it's easier to deal with than the morally correct solution! And I'm not talking about just stopping abortion, I'm talking about stopping how our whole society is sex-oriented!
Chrys
_________________
Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth.

[fuzz2050]

our society is sex orented because we are alive. anything that has life, exists to reproduce. this is true of single celled organisms, this is true of animals, this is true of us, this is also true of what is to come (If you choose to beleive in evolution)

[tharfoir]

Hitler, eh? Don't you know that such references are the surest way to kill a thread? I must say that this is a bizarre community you have here, where a moderator participates in juvenile insults like that.

I agree with Chrys in that there should be more education; not just on "sex," but on consequences and maturity. This is partly the role of the parents, but should also be taught in schools to make up for the parents we all know will not do their part.

My initial questions dealt with the study, and the simple fact that one must consider the sources, and analyze how the conclusions were reached. Studies themselves try not to be biased. Write-ups by Jerry Falwell tend to be quite biased. I am not saying the findings are wrong. I'm saying you shouldn't just swallow the watered-down version of anything.

As for this bit:
>>Despite an overabundance of scientific findings, the National Cancer >>Institute continues to maintain that there is no established connection >>between breast cancer and abortion.
You have to ask first how old these studies are, who conducted them, and how many came to the same conclusions. "Overabundance" is vague. The National Cancer Institute does not generally jump on bandwagons and spread FUD. Here's what their website www.cancer.gov says:

>>
For other events, the data have been inconsistent. Specifically, the possible relationship between abortion and breast cancer has been examined in over thirty published studies since 1957. Some studies have reported statistically significant evidence of an increased risk of breast cancer in women who have had abortions, while others have merely suggested an increased risk. Other studies have found no increase in risk among women who had an interrupted pregnancy.
>>

[Crystal]

In responce to this thread.
(fuzz are you dyslexic?? I ask because you type things like me and its all kinda backwards )

Does abortion cause women to have mental problems??
Well thats actually a pretty easy question to answer.
It can cause severe anquish and depression in some women.
BUT <theres always a but isnt there?> Most of them women who are on the extream side of mental tramma after an abortion are those who had tho choose between the life of thier unborn and thier own life.
Or they are teenagers who are so scared, confused and hurt because they didnt really know what to do in the first place so they turned to the only option they saw open to them.
Many kids dont get support or are asked the first question I was asked when I became pregnate as a teen.
Which is do you want us ( the parents) to set you up an appointment with the clinic to get this problem taken care of?

So this begs the question ,did the teen have any support?
Or did she blindy follow what her parents thought best for her and then suffered later because of it?

Please take note that most elective abortions are performed on girls ages 11 years (no not a joke) to about 23 years all these years they are greatly dependant on thier parents still.

But abortion isnt a subject any fully grown woman takes lightly and its not an easy choice to make even when you have to.
Of course it can cause some problems but so can having a child you think you want then a year or two down the road change your mind..this causes much much much more harm than good not only to the child but to the world itself.

So when looking at the mental harm on when due to abortion to you must look at age, why it was performed, thier previous mental state, thier medical/health state at the time, or if they truly wanted this baby and perhaps something was wrong with it to the point it could not live naturaly anyway.

All of those are biggies on if a woman will have problems later after the abortion.

Breast cancer and abortions.
Ok since my adoptive mother was a Doc lets get a few facts here straight.
During pregnacy a woman has a surge in hormones common info yes?
Ok low down women who have had children before the age of 25 are shown to have a huge decrease of the chance of haveing breast cancer.
While women over the age of 25 are shown to have a decrease its not as significant as those under 25.
Can abortion cause breast cancer?
there is no true hard facts on that one..none however there is evedince to support the therory.
But this is because of an interupted pregnacy and the sudden change in the bodys chemical balance and hormones stability and is cause by any loss of pregnancy not just elective abortions.
There is nothing linking haveing one child before an abortion will change this.
This is the reason you see so many women who are RH negative (like me) have such a high instance of cancer because the body many times naturaly rejects a fetus seeing it as an infection or something that shouldnt be there.

So basicly yes abortion can cause mental break downs in women but there is normaly a underlaying cause other than the abortion act itself.

Breast cancer and abortion is a moot point since if you dont have a child period or you have had miscarrages (or spontanious abortion) you run the huge risk of developing breast cancer.


Now is abortion a means of birth control ?
NO
Birth control is defined as preventing pregnancy (please note I said pregnancy not fertiliazation/ conception they are two seperate things)
Education I belive is the only real way to limit abortions because legal or not they will continue to happen and that is sad and scary fact .

[fuzz2050]

no crystal im not deslexic, just a bad typer, adn im also to lazy to run it through a spell checker.

adn i agree that abortions should not be made routine, but they should be allowed in ceratin cases.

[unipoet]

Today, I am filled with joy, peace, and FINALLY complete REST in Christ. Forgive me for such a hasty reply; you will most likely hear from me again. I can no longer remain silent, and no longer give any power to mental anguish.
Mental Anguish isn't a horrible enough term for my soul, raped by abortion. And AWESOME isn't a big enough word for Christ's healing journey!!! It's been since Monday, a couple days ago, March 24/25, 2003 that I am completely free of all mental anguish from abortion. It's been a long bondage for me.
Forgiven and set free, as can only be given through Jesus Christ, began three years ago..... after 33 years of horrible bondage......... first from abortion (the most oppresive bondage) ..... then the teen rape from trusted step-uncle ..... and this week, early childhood molestation (a type of rape). Simple statement?
I can give a short, incomplete summary today of what Jesus has revealed to me: a horrible foster home man took my virginity as a three year-old. On the 25th of January, 2003 when giving a Silent No More Testimony on the state capitol steps in Des Moines, Iowa, I used the term "completely healed." The Des Moines Register quoted a statement that I own, "Abortion was like the worst kind of rape to my soul." With the term, "completely healed," I took in a startling dart through a hole in my spiritual armor that stunned me only for a moment filling me with a paralyzed knowing (you are not healed). A few days later I stepped into a spiritual quest due to flashbacks consisting of the emotions and physical reactions to something I sensed from early childhood.
I sought God's face and Jesus' enlightenment. Jesus worked directly with me for a while, as He did three years ago, and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I discovered Theophostic ministry and met with a minister Monday. With a little guidance from this Theophostic minister and a LOT of revealing through Jesus, the Holy Spirit, God all at once!!!! .... and yet distinguishable!
Amazingly, Jesus revealed to me the actual memory and He revealed that the early childhood experience inflicted me with a mindset of paralyzed reaction toward adult authority, even if terribly wrong. Jesus led me through many childhood events showing me how this paralyzed reaction thing affected my ability to do things such as TELL SOMEONE or say NO to abortion even though something strong inside of me said DON'T.
Doesn't this say something about the plethora of sexual sin that our country needs to confess and be healed from through Jesus Christ.
After I allowed Jesus to take me through this journey, I am free of all guilts, inhibitions, low self esteem, ........ stufff!!!... and I am discovering more great changes, as I did three years ago. You know what? I have even lost the guilt that I haven't allowed God to have all of me for all those years. He has all of me now! Praise God! Questions? Standing firm in God's Holy Breath, Mary Summy

[whatever]

I just had an abortion this past Saturday. I have been a wreck since that time. I will never be emotionally stable like I was before again. I can definately say that I did not want to have the abortion. It was my family that pushed me to have one. This is one thing that I have to tell anyone. Don't say that abortion is right until you go through the horrible process and see how you are mentally. I am right now in a state of denial but I know that I cant stand to see a baby on TV or anything. I still have a pain that will never go away just because of my family. I am a college student and so is my boyfriend. I would have made it work but with my family they would have never accepted me nor the baby so I didn't want my kid to grow up in that situation. I will always love my baby and I hope to see it once the judgement day comes and it will be in heaven.

[LindaBee2]

[fuzz2050]

yes, abortions do cause mental health problems, as you have so clearly listed. now, will one of you be so kind as to list out the mental health problems that follow a natural misscarrige, or how about a still birth, or even a perfectly healthy baby being born?


i hate to tell you, but they are identical.

the depression, the guilt, the anguish is not caused by the abortion, but by the sudden change of hormones in the body. gonig from a state of pregnancy to a state of non pregancy by any means causes severe changes in your bodes chemistry.

any of you heard of post partem deprression?

all of these problems you state are just as prevelent in normal births, thats why the media has choosen to "Ignore" them.

the media is picky like that

[Shame]

I had an abortion in my teens. I have suffered for 19 years from severe depression. Often to the point I wanted to kill myself for what I had done. Every year around the date I found out I was pregnant to the date after the abortion I am very depressed but try to keep my mind busy. I have called out to Jesus and have been faithful that he would somehow take this away. I have tried to give it to Him and not take it back, but it doesn't seem to help. Abortion does cause mental problems. My mental state before was very good. I thought I could do anything I wanted to do. I didn't know any limits. I had a bright outlook on life. Until....I was young and didn't know. There was no support from my parents, no "birds and the bees" talk. To my knowledge they don't even know. I feel like I am living a lie, or that people can see it on me. The blood of the unborn baby that I killed. God help me. I'm not trying to make any politically correct statements or be elequent, I'm sharing from my heart, which is broken and I don't know how or what to do except keep trusting in God and being faithful to Him. (I have been in counseling for 10 years, I have made great progress, except for this area.) As I said, before my mental status was great, but afterwards I began to hate myself. Sometimes I still cry myself to sleep. It just hurts so bad.
I wish I could let it go.
Shame
_________________
Shame

[(Omega)]

Dwelling upon your past failures will only lead to greater inner torment.
Jesus said "forgive them; for they know not what they do". Jesus had forgiven those who had handed Him over to be condemned. If He has forgiven those who have put Him to death then He has forgiven you. Because of sin, King David had his child taken away from him, and because of sin you have has your child taken away from you. What you must realize is that King David was responsible for not only his sin but the death of his child. If he had not sinned, he would not have lost his child.