We have been hearing a lot recently about how overturning Roe v. Wade would lead to “back alley” abortions, and hurt women. Lately, we’ve heard the stories of abortion advocates wearing gowns with blood stains accross the stomachs, brandishing coat-hangers. I even read a story that talked about a woman decorating here hair with coat hanger replicas(I’m really confused by that one). The abortion advocates conveniently forget that abortions hurt women as well.
An article in this week’s World Magazine discusses the emotional pain many women who have abortions experience. The story begins by recounting the experience of Myra Myers, a now 61 year old woman, who had an abortion at the age of 28:
Hours before Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito’s confirmation hearings began Jan. 9 on Capitol Hill, Myra Myers sought a hearing of her own on the steps of the Supreme Court. She carried her message on a dark blue sign that read: “My abortion hurt me.”
Mrs. Myers, now 61, was 28 and married when she learned she was pregnant with her sixth child in January 1973. Just weeks after the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Roe v. Wade, her husband persuaded her to have an abortion and later reassured her, “It was the only thing that could be done.”
“I thought that because it was legal it might be OK,” Mrs. Myers told WORLD. “And I believed the lie that the child I was carrying was not a baby.” Both spouses now say it was the worst decision they ever made.
Later, the article discusses other harm that is done to women that choose to have abortions:
Adding to the shift are the testimonies of thousands of women who have experienced the negative abortion fallout firsthand. Groups like the Silent No More Awareness Campaign and Operation Outcry are publicizing what they experience after exercising their right to choose: infertility, severe depression, substance abuse, and relentless self-loathing.
Additionally, there’s plenty of scientific evidence of the emotional harm done to women who have abortions. According to a recent article by Dr. Warren Throckmorton, a psychology professor at Grove City College,
Recent research from Norway and New Zealand has reported an association between abortion and subsequent mental health problems. Although the two investigations are not the first to suggest such a relationship, they are well-designed studies suggesting that abortion may be linked to negative mental health reactions for some women.
The Norwegian study, published online by the journal BMC Medicine, compared the experiences of women who had miscarriages with those who had abortions. Six months after pregnancy termination, women who had a miscarriage were more distressed than women who had abortions. However, after 5 years, women who had abortions were more likely to suffer anxiety and intrusive thoughts of the event than women who miscarried.
The New Zealand study, published by the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, found that mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse and suicidal thoughts, were more likely to occur among women who had an abortion than women who had never been pregnant or pregnant women who did not terminate the pregnancy. The study concluded, “Abortion in young women may be associated with increased risks of mental health problems.”
Maybe we need to change our strategy as pro-lifers. Women contemplating abortions are only thinking of themselves at that moment…often, abortion is what they think seems best for themselves. Maybe we need to use this selfish mindset to stop abortions…calling women who have abortions murderers isn’t going to change their minds, but maybe if we show them how much their decision may hurt them in the long run they’ll make the choice to save their babies.