For five years, researchers tracked nearly 1,000 women who either
received or were denied abortions from 30 facilities in 21 U.S.
states.
Altogether, 273 women received an abortion in their first trimester,
413 received an abortion within two weeks of the facility's
gestational limit, and 231 were denied an abortion because their
pregnancy fell within the three weeks after the facility's limit.
A week later, compared to women who received abortions, those who
were turned away were more likely to report anxiety symptoms, lower
self-esteem and lower life satisfaction.
"Those differences disappear after six months to a year," said lead
author Antonia Biggs of the University of California, San Francisco.
By six months, women who had abortions and those who were turned
away had similar mental health profiles.

Nine states have laws that force healthcare providers to tell women
that having an abortion will increase their risk for mental health
problems, Biggs and her colleagues point out in JAMA Psychiatry,
online December 14th.
"This research shows the information they are mandating women
receive (is)inaccurate and out of date," Biggs told Reuters Health.
"We don’t have evidence that abortion leads women to have worse
mental health."
"It’s true that we haven’t had great evidence looking at this
particular question before," she said. "Now that we do, we should
really go back and think about the information we’re giving women
and making sure it’s accurate and up-to-date."
Biggs and colleagues write that numerous studies of the mental
health effects of abortion on women found no evidence that it leads
to poor outcomes, but those studies were often flawed. This new
study, Biggs said, addressed limitations in past research. Women
seeking abortions were compared to other women seeking abortions,
and not women who wanted their pregnancy. Additionally, the
comparisons were made among women who were around the same point in
their pregnancies.
[to top of second column] |

In a statement, the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood
Federation of America said the results show why politicians should
not play doctor.
"Every woman should have accurate information about all of her
options," said Raegan McDonald-Mosley in the statement. "That
information should support a woman, help her make a decision for
herself, and enable her to take care of her health and well-being.
It should not be provided with the intent of coercing, shaming, or
judging a woman."
The researchers caution that the new study can't say denying women
abortions caused the increase in symptoms. Additionally, only 40
percent of invited women agreed to participate in the study, and
nearly a third of participants did not complete all five years of
follow-up.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2gKe9m3
JAMA Psychiatry 2016.
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reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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