A new meta-analysis of psychiatric literature has confirmed that women are at risk of depression after undergoing an abortion, despite frequent claims to the contrary from the abortion industry.
Published last month in BMC Psychiatry, the study authors noted that post-abortive depression is a “common problem for all women of reproductive age.” In order to see if those trends held up globally, they analyzed 15 studies across the world — specifically, China, Germany, Iran, Australia, Kenya, Jordan, Kosovo, Denmark, Lithuania, Turkey, and the Netherlands.
Overall, the rate of post-abortion depression ranged from as low as 8% to as high as 85%; on average, the prevalence of depression after abortion was found to be 34.5%. The study authors further found that depression rates tended to be highest in Asia, and lowest in Europe. Looking at World Health Organization (WHO)-designated regions, the Mediterranean region — which consists of West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and Central Asia — had the highest interval rate, with the European region having the lowest. The authors noted they could not find a study on post-abortion depression from the WHO Regional Office for South East Asia and the Region of the Americas.
READ: Abortion did not solve my ‘problem.’ It sent me into a deep depression.
Furthermore, women from lower-income nations were more likely to experience post-abortion depression compared to women from higher-income nations, though even for higher-income nations, the rates were higher than those found in previous analyses. The study authors concluded, “Individuals who have undergone an abortion should receive additional care and psychological support from healthcare providers, as well as their spouse, family, and community.”
Studies have long found a link between abortion and depression, despite the problem-riddled Turnaway Study, which claimed that women are damaged when they are denied abortions. Whether the pregnancies were wanted or unwanted, women still had much higher risks of depression and suicidal ideation after abortion. Yet there is a concerted effort to hide these results, which interfere with the narrative that abortion doesn’t affect women in any way.
One researcher, David Fergusson, said he was pressured not to publish his study, which he refused to do, despite being pro-abortion. He explained, “I’m pro-choice but I’ve produced results which, if anything, favor a pro-life viewpoint.”
