One problem with the study by David Reardon and associates,1 which Brenda Major2 mentions only briefly in her commentary, is that the most relevant comparison was not performed. Reardon and associates compared women who delivered babies with women who had abortions. Compared with women who are willing to have babies, women who abort their pregnancies may indeed experience greater psychological suffering. However, it might be more appropriate to ask about the differences between women who undergo abortion and those who want to have an abortion but choose not to because of external pressures or guilt. In such a study, it might be found that abortion was in fact a relatively healthy psychological event.
Aaron Keshen Third-Year Medical Student Dalhousie University Halifax, NS
References
- 1.Reardon DC, Cougle JR, Rue VM, Shuping MW, Coleman PK, Ney PG. Psychiatric admissions of low-income women following abortion and childbirth. CMAJ 2003;168(10):1253-6. [PMC free article] [PubMed]
- 2.Major B. Psychological implications of abortion — highly charged and rife with misleading research [editorial]. CMAJ 2003;168(10):1257-8. [PMC free article] [PubMed]