St. Louis, MO (Feb. 1, 2023)—Women who feel pressured to have abortions blame their abortions for a decline in their mental health, according to a new peer reviewed study. They were also more likely to say their abortions led to more frequent feelings of grief, loss, and disruption of their lives and relationships.

“Over 60% of women who had abortions reported feeling high levels of pressure to abort from one or more sources,” said the lead author David Reardon. “Only 5 percent reported little or no pressure. Those who felt pressure to abort had more negative reactions across ten different scales.” 

The Unwanted Abortion Studies are a series of studies designed to investigate the prevalence and effects of abortions that conflict with women’s own maternal preferences and moral beliefs. The new study asked women to rate the degree of pressure, if any, they faced from each of five sources: their male partner, family members, other people, financial concerns, and other circumstantial pressures. 

Data was collected using the online survey tools of a national marketing firm drawing on their sample of over 28 million U.S. residents. Women 41-45 years of age were invited to participate until 1,000 surveys were fully completed. Respondents were not informed of the survey topic until they had completed at least one page of background information.

There was a 96% completion rate, with 22.6% reporting a history of abortion.  Those who reported an abortion were four times more likely to drop out once additional questions were asked about their abortion experiences. 

“This is why surveys about abortion will always underreport negative outcomes,” said Reardon. "It is precisely the women feeling the most negative emotions who are most likely to not want to talk about it.”

“It is our hope that this research will point a spotlight on an area of common ground for people on both sides of the political debate over abortion,” said Reardon.  “Surely, everyone can agree that efforts should be made to prevent unwanted and unsafe abortions.” 

Readers are invited to review and rate the importance of this study at the journal Cureus.

Citing: 

Reardon D C, Longbons T (January 31, 2023) Effects of Pressure to Abort on Women’s Emotional Responses and Mental Health. Cureus 15(1): e34456. doi:10.7759/cureus.34456

Online version