“Sadness and a sense of not being fully informed is consistent among my clients who report having had an abortion,” said Robin Atkins, a licensed mental health counselor who heads the mental health division of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. , said in an email.
Among women who have had an abortion, an analysis of Turnaway data published in 2020 found that five years after the abortion, 84 percent had either mostly positive emotions or no emotions at all about their abortion decision, while 6 percent expressed mostly negative emotions. .
The stress of seeking an abortion
The decision to have an abortion can be emotionally taxing, regardless of whether a person decides to do it or not.
An analysis of Turnaway data published in 2020, led by M. Antonia Biggs, associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco† found that most people who considered abortion experienced some stigma – they felt that people in their community or people close to them would look down on them if they knew they had requested an abortion – and this stigma was associated with mental health problems years later.
Another study by Dr. Also published in 2020, Biggs surveyed 784 people seeking abortions at four institutions in three US states. The women who experienced logistical difficulties, such as spending time seeking care, scheduling an appointment, or traveling — as well as those who felt compelled to wait to have the abortion or tell other people about their pregnancy — were more likely to have symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression.
Having reproductive autonomy “is extremely important in terms of protecting one’s mental health and well-being,” said Dr. biggs.
The more women are denied abortions, experts say, the greater some of these obstacles can become.
In 2017, Catherine Sullivan was 17 weeks pregnant when she learned that her baby is missing an X chromosome, the result of a rare genetic condition called Turner syndrome.