Study: hospitalization rates due to mental health problems doubled in women who aborted

A recent one study carried out in Canada revealed that the hospitalization rate due to mental health problems doubled in women who aborted, compared to those who gave birth.

The study, published this summer in the magazine Journal of Psychiatric Researchcompared abortions with other pregnancies in Quebec (Canada) hospitals, between 2006 and 2022, tracking women’s data for 17 years.

The study, which compared more than 1.2 million women who gave birth in Quebec hospitals with more than 28,000 women who aborted, revealed that “hospitalization rates due to mental health problems were higher after induced abortions than in other pregnancies.”

Abortion was associated with various mental health problems, including hospitalization due to psychiatric disorders, substance consumption disorders and suicide attempts, according to the study.

This association was especially high in women who were under 25 years old at the time of abortion, as well as in patients who already suffered from mental illness.

The risk of hospitalization due to mental health problems was higher within five years after abortion. The risk gradually decreased after five years, but only after 17 years began to resemble pregnancies, according to the study.

Tesa Cox, associated senior researcher at the Center for Studies Charlotte Lozier InstituteHe said the study was “particularly forceful.”

“This recent study in Canada, which has more complete medical care data than those of the US, adds to a growing number of research that suggests that abortion can harm women’s mental health,” Cox said.

“The abortion industry minimizes evidence, so the fact that this new study included more than one million women and consider previous mental health and other related factors makes it particularly forceful,” he told CNA, Ewtn News English agency.

“Women deserve to have all the information, and both women and men who have been harmed by abortion need to know that forgiveness and healing are possible,” said Cox.

Another researcher described the study of “solid”, highlighting that this followed the data for a prolonged and constant period that allowed the information to be more precise.

Michael New, associated senior researcher at the Charlotte Lozier Institute and attached professor at the Catholic University of America, said the study “provides solid statistical evidence that abortion increases the risk of various mental health problems.”

New said that the study had many strengths, such as the great size of the sample, the way in which women were monitored for a prolonged period and how the authors analyzed this data.

This method was rare, according to the study, which pointed out that “large -scale population studies with long -term monitoring are rare, but necessary to understand the mental health needs of women after abortion.”

New described the results of this “solid” study, noting that the investigation remains firm in the face of criticisms that have faced similar studies.

The study is one of several who have investigated the correlation between mental health and abortion problems.

“While other research has discovered that women who undergo abortions are prone to mental health disorders, who criticize these studies argue that women with mental health problems are more likely to abort,” said New.

“The most important thing is that it remains constant, regardless of whether the women of the study had been previously hospitalized due to mental health problems,” he added about the Canadian study.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.