Expert finds 65 percent of women who have had abortions have PTSD symptoms

Madrid, Spain, Nov 5, 2008 / 16:47 pm

Sixty five percent of women who abort suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome after undergoing the procedure, according to psychiatrist and member of the Right to Life Committee, Carmen Gómez-Lavín.

Gómez-Lavín said the risk of developing clinical depression is 65% greater in women who abort than in those who give birth, according to data published in the Medical Science Monitor by Doctors J.R. Cougle, D.C. Reardon and P.K. Coleman.

She pointed out the “paradox” that in Spain 97% of the more than 100,000 annual abortions are practiced for supposedly grave physical or psychological reasons, “when the fact is that all the scientific literature points out significantly and conclusively that the greatest risk for women comes after an abortion,” she added.

She also pointed to a comparative study on abortion and cases of diagnosed post-abortion syndrome in women in the United States and Russia, published by V.M. Rue in the Medical Science Monitor in 2004, which showed that 60% of women who undergo an abortion say, “Part of me died,” after the procedure.

The same article, Gomez-Lavin said, shows that “64% of pregnant women who underwent an abortion felt pressured to do so. In some cases the coercion became violent and life-threatening.”  “52% said they made the decision in haste and 54% were unsure of their decision at the moment of abortion.  67% had not received any previous counseling,” she added.