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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Abortion is also bad for women


Evidence suggests that abortion can be potentially damaging for women’s mental wellbeing, writes Ruth Cullen

Irish Examiner, Tuesday, 20th December 2011


You may have missed it, but the week before last, a doctor working for Marie Stopes International was struck off the medical register in England for almost killing an Irish woman during a botched abortion.

It wasn't especially widely reported, but the UK's General Medical Council withdrew Dr Phanuel Dartey’s licence to practice after he carried out a number of other botched procedures on women including the abortion which led to the Irish woman suffering a perforated uterus and where parts of the unborn baby were left inside her following the procedure.

Marie Stopes claimed this was an isolated incident, and that they have rigorous procedures for vetting staff who work for them. But in 2001, when he worked with the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, Dr Dartey had been involved in a case in which a woman had actually died during an abortion procedure, an inconvenient truth which somewhat undercut Marie Stopes' claims.

The week before last, also saw the publication of a review by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges on induced abortion and mental health.

One of the most notable things to emerge from the review was its finding that abortion provides no mental health benefit to women.

The finding fatally undermined the medical rationale for the most used grounds of Britain’s abortion legislation. Ninety five percent of abortions performed in the UK are performed on the grounds that continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk of injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman.

We already know abortion is never in the best interests of the unborn child. Now we know for a fact it is not in the best interests of the mother either.

Unfortunately, some of the coverage of the report created confusion as to its actual findings. Writing in this paper, columnist Colette Browne claimed the review nailed “the lie that those who opt to terminate their pregnancies are more susceptible to mental illness.”

However, what the review actually said was that particular categories are more likely to suffer mental health problems following an abortion.

This finding is buttressed by a series of robust, peer reviewed studies, published in highly respected publications like the British Journal of Psychiatry, which link mental health problems directly to abortion.

Increasingly, the evidence is giving the lie to the pro-choice slogan of abortion being ‘safe, legal and rare’. Sadly, the facts indicate that, on the contrary, many women suffer severe negative consequences following abortion.

These uncomfortable facts pose a problem for those who wish to see abortion legalised. So instead of engaging with this reality, they seek to dismiss it, insisting that such women simply don't exist. Hence Ms Browne’s offensive question “where are all the mentally ill women hiding?”

It's the same kind of dismissive tone adopted last year by the National Women’s Council following the launch of Women Hurt, a project by women who regret their abortions and wish to share their stories of hope and healing with other women in similar situations.

Abortion advocates claim that they alone speak for women going through unwanted pregnancies. But who they choose to speak for is quite selective.

They don’t speak for the thousands of women who contemplated taking their advice but changed their mind and now cannot believe that they ever considered ending the lives of the children they adore.

The mounting evidence is that abortion doesn't just involve the death of the unborn child, but also damages women. This is on top of the evidence which has repeatedly shown that Ireland without abortion is officially recognised as a safer country for pregnant women than countries like England and Holland, which allow abortion on demand.

This undermines the case of those who want the Government to legislate for abortion on foot of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision in A, B and C v. Ireland.

The Government is not obliged to so legislate. For a start, the ECHR does not take supremacy over domestic law. Secondly, the European court in question did not even request that we introduce abortion. It called on Ireland to clarify its laws regarding abortion.

What the Government is obliged to do is act in the best interests of both mother and child, by protecting the unborn and acknowledging the risks posed to the health of women from legal abortion.

When a clear distinction is made in opinion polls between necessary medical treatment during pregnancy and induced abortion, a clear majority of Irish people consistently oppose abortion.

The Government's approach to abortion must be about having an authentic vision on vindicating the most basic human right of all, namely the right to life at all biological stages and conditions of dependency.

Dr. Ruth Cullen is a spokesperson for the Pro Life Campaign.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Abortion Review: Some Women Likely to Suffer Mental Health Problems after Abortion



The Review on Induced Abortion and Mental Health issued last Thursday by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges found that there is no medical evidence that abortion is in the best interests of women’s mental health. However, the review concluded that women in certain categories are more likely to suffer mental health problems after the procedure.

Commenting on the review, Dr Ruth Cullen of the Pro Life Campaign said:

“The most revealing feature of the review is the fact that there is no mental health benefit to women from abortion. At a single stroke this cuts the ground from under the medical rationale for the main part of Britain’s abortion legislation. We already know abortion is never in the best interests of the unborn child. Now we know for a fact it is not in the best interests of the mother either.”

However, Dr Cullen said “the way the review was presented in certain sections of the media helped create the false impression that whether a woman opted for an abortion or continued with the pregnancy it posed the same risk to her mental health. This of course is not true.”

Pro-life groups have accused some in the media of trying to spin the latest findings in favour of abortion rather than highlighting the fact that the review completely undermines one of the main arguments put forward to justify legalised abortion.

On this feature of the debate, Dr Cullen said: “Not only is there no evidence that abortion improves the mental health of women with unwanted pregnancy, and that it heightens the risk to women in certain instances, but there is mounting peer-reviewed research linking mental health problems directly to abortion. This is the reality behind some of the media spin that seeks to divert attention from the facts.”

Following publication of the review, Professor Tim Kendall of the Royal College of Psychiatrists was reported as saying that the focus of research going forward should be on dealing with the impact of unwanted pregnancy rather than on whether abortion itself causes mental health problems.

Responding to this, Dr Cullen said: “Evidently what is needed is more research not less. I know it makes some defenders of abortion uncomfortable but we owe it to women and their babies to end the cover-up about the negative impact of abortion which has gone on far too long.”

Dr. Priscilla Coleman MD, author of Abortion and Mental Health, a study published in September, which comprised a meta-analysis of 22 earlier studies and which examined 877,000 pregnancies has critisised the Review.  You can read her analysis in full here.

Dr. Patricia Casey, Professor of Psychiatry at University College Dublin has also commented on the review stating that it is crucial that the report is fully understood. Responding to suggestions in some media reports that abortion improves women's mental health, she said that such a reading of the review was “highly misleading”. She said: “While the report suggests that opting for abortion or carrying through with pregnancy has equal effect on mental health, it also acknowledges there are certain groups who are likely to develop mental health problems following abortion. This is in keeping with some of the most up-to-date peer reviewed findings showing the negative effects of abortion for some women. I think it is extremely important that women be fully informed about these likely adverse consequences.”

Professor Casey continued: “One of the clearest points to emerge from the review is that abortion does not improve the mental health of women who have unwanted pregnancy. This would appear to undermine the rationale of Britain's abortion law. The vast majority of abortions carried out in Britain take place under the mental health provision of the 1967 Abortion Act. Abortion is not an indicated treatment for any psychiatric condition.”

The review was commissioned by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and was funded by the British Department of Health. It was carried out by the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH) at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Marie Stopes Doctor Struck Off As Abortion Nearly Kills Irish Woman



A doctor working for pro-abortion group Marie Stopes was struck off the medical register in England today for almost killing an Irish woman on whom he performed a botched abortion. The full details of the story are shocking and make a complete nonsense of the pro-choice slogan about abortion being “safe, legal and rare.” It is shameful the way many in the media continue to defend this dreadfully seedy industry.

Read this evening’s Irish Independent coverage here