Abortion and the Null Hypothesis

Childbirth, abortion and subsequent substance use in young women: a population‐based longitudinal study

“…The link between abortion and alcohol problems has been supported by the finding that women seem to be more likely than men to link the onset of alcohol problems to a particular stressful event [13,14]. However, other studies have failed to find such linkages [15–17] and many studies have design limitations, including the use of small and selected samples, short follow‐up periods, retrospective reports and lack of control for confounding variables [16,18]. Moreover, it has been argued that post‐abortion sequelae are influenced by cultural factors [19], making generalizations between different countries difficult.…”

Abortion in young women and subsequent mental health

“…Despite such claims, the evidence on the linkages between abortion and mental health proves to be relatively weak with some studies finding evidence of this linkage (Gissler, Hemminki, & Lonnqvist, 1996; Reardon & Cougle, 2002; Reardon et al., 2003) and others failing to find such linkages (Gilchrist, Hannaford, Frank, & Kay, 1995; Major et al., 2000; Pope, Adler, & Tschann, 2001; Zabin, Hirsch, & Emerson, 1989). Furthermore, the studies in this area have been marked by a number of design limitations, including the use of selected samples, limited length of follow‐up, retrospective reports of mental health prior to abortion, and failure to control confounding (Adler, 2000; Major et al., 2000).…”

Abortion and regret

“…10 A yet more recent study published in the British Journal of Psychology in 2009 found that 90% of the 500 women sampled still believed, in retrospect, that having an abortion was the right decision, although its findings also 'clearly suggested' that unwanted pregnancy leading to abortion heightened the risk of developing subsequent mental problems, 'whereas unwanted pregnancy leading to live birth was not a risk factor for these problems'. 11 The results broadly indicated 'a mixture of both positive and negative emotions' associated with abortion, with researchers pointing out that the 'accumulated evidence' on this topic is not consistent with claims by pro-life advocates that large numbers of women regret having abortions or their depiction of abortion as having 'devastating consequences for women's mental health'.…”