A 2019 analysis of suicide deaths in Italy found that in the year following a pregnancy, women who had an abortion were 2.3 times more likely to commit suicide than women who gave birth.

This is just the latest of numerous studies linking abortion to higher rates of suicide and elevated risk of death overall.

Large-scale studies of maternal death rates in the U.S., Finland and Denmark have found higher death rates among women who had abortions compared to those who gave birth, including higher suicide rates.

The U.S. study examined Medi-Cal records for more than 173,000 low-income California women who had experienced abortion or childbirth. Linking these records to death certificates, the researchers found that women who had state-funded abortions were 2.6 times more likely to die from suicide compared to women who delivered their babies. Giving birth, on the other hand, was shown to reduce women’s suicide risk compared to the general population.

Abortion advocates have frequently argued that abortion is necessary to protect women’s mental health, or even beneficial.

But a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that 10 percent of mental health problems among women, including 35 percent of suicidal behaviors, may be attributable to abortion. These findings were based on the combined results of all studies published between 1995 and 2009 that met strict inclusion criteria. The resulting analysis included 877,181 women from six countries.

Women who aborted were 81 percent more likely to experience mental health problems compared to all other control groups, and 55 percent more likely to have problems compared to women who delivered an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy.

Further, a meta-analysis combining the results of eight studies of women who experienced unwanted pregnancies concluded that “there is no available evidence to suggest that abortion has therapeutic effects in reducing the mental health risks of unwanted or unintended pregnancy.”

Lead author Professor David Fergusson, who has described himself in interviews as a pro-choice atheist, also led the research team in an earlier study that concluded that women who continued an unwanted or mistimed pregnancy did not experience a significant increase in mental health problems. Further, having an abortion did not reduce their mental health risks.

“In general, there is no evidence in the literature on abortion and mental health that suggests that abortion reduces the mental health risks of unwanted or mistimed pregnancy,” the authors wrote. “Although some studies have concluded that abortion has neutral effects on mental health, no study has reported that exposure to abortion reduces mental health risks.”

The Elliot Institute has called for congressional hearings to investigate the risks of suicide and other mental heath problems after abortion.

1. Lega et al. Maternal suicide in Italy. Arch Womens Ment Health. 2019 May 18