Denying Abortion Access May Harm Women's Mental Health
The results of the study cast doubt on the idea that women experience mental health problems due to having an abortion, the researchers said. This idea has been used as a basis for laws in some states that require women to undergo counseling about the supposed negative psychological outcomes from having an abortion before these women obtain such an procedure, the researchers said.
The new results show that denying women an abortion may have more negative effects on their mental health than allowing women to get the abortion, said lead study author M. Antonia Biggs, a researcher of reproductive health at the University of California, San Francisco. [5 Controversial Mental Health Treatments]
The findings also suggest that doctors should provide women who are considering an abortion with the most accurate scientific information to help them make decisions related to their pregnancies, the researchers said.
In the study, the researchers looked at the psychological outcomes in 956 women over five years. These women either underwent an abortion that they wanted or were denied one because their pregnancy was up to three weeks past the time limit on abortions at their clinic. The former group included 273 women who underwent abortions in the first trimester of their pregnancies and 452 women who underwent abortions when their pregnancies were within two weeks under the limit mandated by their clinics.
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http://www.livescience.com/57225-denying-abortion-access-harms-womens-mental-health.html