Abortion does not increase women's risk of suicidal ideation
What is it about?
The idea that abortion causes mental health harm is used to defend laws that restrict women’s access to abortion. This study relies on data from the Turnaway study, a five-year longitudinal study of nearly 1,000 women who have an abortion and of women denied abortions. The five-year suicidal ideation trajectories of women who have an abortion are compared to those denied an abortion, in order to assess whether having an abortion increases women's risk of suicidal ideation.
Why is it important?
This study improves on the methodological shortcomings of the existing literature by accounting for pre-exisitng risk factors, comparing women have an abortion to women denied an abortion, and following women prospectively over five years. Abortion was not found to be associated with an increased risk of experiencing suicidal thoughts over the five-year period. Suicidal ideation, did not increase, but rather decreased over time.