Depression Risk From Abortion

According to a Danish study involving 400,00 women, abortion doesn’t increase a woman’s risk for depression. The study aims to challenge some arguments that undergoing an abortion can severely affect a woman’s emotional and psychological well-being.

According to new research conducted in Denmark, abortion doesn’t increase a woman’s risk for depression. This study involved almost 400,00 Danish women and the study aims to challenge some arguments that undergoing an abortion can severely affect a woman’s emotional and psychological well-being.

The researchers studied data on Danish women born between 1980 and 1994, tracking any abortions, births and antidepressant prescriptions. They have found that the difference of using a depression medication remained the same the year before or after an abortion. Even after having an abortion, the danger of antidepressant use also fell with time. These women who terminated their pregnancies were more likely to use antidepressants than those who didn’t but their risk didn’t necessarily increase after the procedure.

Dr. Julia Steinberg, assistant professor of family science at the University of Maryland School of Public Health said: “Abortion is not causing depression. Our findings show that women were not more likely to suffer from depression after an abortion compared to beforehand.” She added that these claims that abortion harms women’s psychological well-being have been used to justify extremely stringent laws that restrict women’s access to abortion in the US. These findings could possibly lead to more informed abortion policies in the US, according to the researchers.