Denmark: Abortion in first trimester does not raise risk of mental illness return

US News & World Report

Women with a history of mental illness do not seem to be at increased risk of readmission to a psychiatric hospital after having an abortion in their first trimester, a new study suggests.

The findings, which appear in the February issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, support several previous studies showing that women who undergo abortion do not face a higher risk of mental health problems afterwards.

But anti-abortion advocates say the psychological risks of abortion are still not fully understood.

"The take-home message from our study is that having a first-time, first-trimester induced abortion does not influence readmission risk, since risk of readmission is similar before and after the abortion procedure," said study author Dr. Trine Munk-Olsen, an epidemiologist at Aarhus University in Denmark.

Women in this latest study were considered at risk because they had a record of at least one previous admission to an inpatient psychiatric facility. "We speculate that having mental health problems influences women's decision to have an induced abortion, but this decision did not appear to influence the illness course in this group of women," Monk-Olsen said.

Rachel Jones is a senior research associate at the Guttmacher Institute in New York City, which says it works to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights. "This is one more piece of good-quality research showing that there isn't an increased risk of serious mental health problems after abortion. The findings should provide further reassurance that abortion does not cause significant mental health problems," she said.

Source: http://www.choiceireland.org