The relationship of abortion to well-being: Do race and religion make a difference?

Women in community psychology: the trailblazer story

“…and I take great satisfaction in having helped contribute to the defeat of that referendum. But again, the fact that my work (particularly Russo & Zierk, 1992;Russo & Dabul, 1997;Russo & Denious, 1998, 2001) is cited in amicus briefs and policy papers means I have become a blip on the pro-life radar screen which means I get pictures of fetus heads in the mail and my work attacked on the Web. Unfortunately, anyone can say anything on the Web with little accountability, and the pro-life forces were quick to use cyberspace to promote their cause.…”

On Individual Difference, Choice, Selection, and Complexity in Adoption Research

“…Unfortunately, such comparisons omit consideration of pre-existing individual differences and life events which lead to category membership. Critically, in the closely related area of abortion research, Russo and Dabul (1997) have demonstrated that wellbeing following abortion was predicted by well-being prior to pregnancy, but not by the abortion experience itself. A second shortcoming of the Main Effects Model is the untenable presumption that individuals are randomly assigned to adoption related categories.…”

“…Were one to search for the etiology of birthmother grief within an Individual Difference paradigm, one might well gather data on pre-existing individual differences in the personality or mental health of prospective birthmothers prior to relinquishment. Recall again that Russo and Dabul (1997) found that well-being following abortion was related to well-being prior to pregnancy but not to the abortion experience itself. In all likelihood, were one to combine the Main Effect and Individual Difference approaches one would account for a greater proportion of the variance, especially if non-adoption post-adoption experience also was included.…”

“…Possible candidates would include longitudinal studies or the records of health plans or health providers. On this point, the Russo and Dabul (1997) study cited earlier used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth to demonstrate that the most powerful predictor of well-being after abortion was a woman's level of well-being before becoming pregnant.…”

Disparities in Access to Reproductive Health Options for Female Adolescents

“…Thus, we need to advocate for equal access to reproductive health services for female adolescents that are on par with the access that adult women are provided. Social work reproductive health advocates must make themselves available to provide policy makers with accurate scientific information about the realities of adolescents' lives and circumstances (Russo & Dabul, 1997). Public health policy should be socially just, not discriminatory and oppressive, regardless of a person's chronological age.…”