Study Finds Higher Rates of Suicide Attempts for Women Who Have Abortions

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In a new topic-blind study, 2,829 American women between ages 41 and 45 were surveyed about their reproductive health and suicide attempts. Authored by Elliot Institute Director David Reardon and published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology, the study found that women who had abortions or natural pregnancy loss were twice as likely to attempt to end their lives.

The research sought to discern whether post-abortive suicide attempts are “entirely incidental and most likely fully explained by preexisting mental illness” (as some have claimed) or directly related to the loss of life in the womb. To garner unbiased results, the respondents were completely in the dark as to what the purpose of the research was.

Among women with a history of abortion, 35% of them had attempted suicide. Even women who did not have abortions but lost their babies due to miscarriages or problematic pregnancies had suicide attempt rates of roughly 30%. Notably, the research found that women who were coerced into having abortions had the highest rates — 46% of whom tried to end their own lives. Only 13% of women who had successful deliveries with no abortions, miscarriages, or problems within the pregnancies were found to have made suicide attempts — the lowest rates among all surveyed women.

While some mainstream outlets have cited certain studies claiming over 90% of women don’t regret their abortions, experts analyzing the data argue the evidence is clear: women who experience abortion are significantly more susceptible to suicidality. As the study concluded, “Aborting women, especially those who underwent coerced or unwanted abortions, were significantly more likely to say their pregnancy outcomes directly contributed to suicidal thoughts and behaviors compared to women in all other groups.” It added that “these findings should be used to improve both pre-abortion screening and counseling and post-abortion care.”

“We must believe these women who tell us directly that their abortion caused them harm,” Dr. Ingrid Skop, an OB-GYN who serves as vice president and director of medical affairs at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, told The Christian Post. “The devastating realization that abortion may lead to a woman’s suicide must motivate the pro-life community to continue to provide resources and support to vulnerable women encountering a crisis pregnancy.” Ultimately, she added, “we must walk with these women through their pregnancy decision and childbirth, even into the early years of their child’s life, as so many pregnancy resource centers do.”

Mary Szoch, director of Family Research Council’s Center for Human Dignity, characterized the results of this study as both “devastating” and “tragic.” As she told The Washington Stand, “This highlights how terrible abortion is for women. The impact of cutting short the life of an unborn child on a woman’s physical and mental health cannot be understated. Sadly, women who experienced miscarriage also had an alarmingly high rate of suicide attempts.”

Whether a child in the womb loses its life via abortion or natural causes, Szoch emphasized that this study “points to the reality that the loss of every unborn child is a tragedy,” and it’s “one that should be met with true love and care — especially for the mother.” She added that “while a country that has had legalized abortion since 1973 often dismisses both the unborn child brutally and tragically killed by an abortion and the one who tragically dies in a miscarriage, these statistics suggest that mothers certainly do not.”

According to Szoch, “More research should be done as to the impact of both abortion and miscarriage on a woman’s physical and mental health.” At its core, she observed, “a suicide attempt is a desperate cry for help. Americans should take this study’s results seriously and recognize the need to protect unborn life — not only because to do so respects the dignity and life of the unborn child, but also because to do so respects the dignity and life of the mother.”

Rather than “devoting millions of dollars to funding big abortion groups like Planned Parenthood,” Szoch explained that “American legislators should spend that money on research to determine how to prevent miscarriage and help women carry their children to term.” But even beyond the need for more research, as well as increased care for struggling mothers, Szoch stated that, “most of all, this study points to the need for God.”

“Suicide is never the answer,” she urged, and “with God, there is always hope; suffering has meaning. As we enter Lent, let’s pray for all mothers who have experienced the loss of an unborn child either through miscarriage or abortion — may they unite their suffering to the Cross and, one day, experience the glory of the Resurrection with Christ.”