2008 Study Shows Abortion Increases Mental Health Concerns
“Abortion was found to be related to an increased risk for a variety of mental health problems (panic attacks, panic disorder, agoraphobia, post traumatic stress syndrome, major depression…) and substance abuse disorders…” write the authors of a new study published in the Journal of Psychiatry. You can read the study by clicking the following link:
The study concludes, among other findings, that women who have had a abortions have:
- a 120% increased risk of alcohol abuse.
- a 145% increased risk of alcohol dependence.
- a 126% increased risk of drug dependence.
- a 167% increased risk of major depression.
The late Dr. George Tiller routinely performed abortions on viable unborn children for temporary mental health concerns despite Kansas law that only allowed such abortions if two doctors found that the mother “would suffer severe and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.”
Criminal investigations of Dr. Tiller revealed that he performed abortions for temporary depression, anxiety disorder and adjustment disorder. Dr. Paul McHugh, who was hired by former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline to review Tiller’s files, concluded that Tiller’s diagnosis’s were not supported by the files. Dr. McHugh also found that even if the diagnoses were supported by the files that the temporary mental health concerns did not support a late-term abortion under Kansas law. You can view a video of Dr. McHugh stating his conclusions here.
Based on Dr. McHugh’s review, in December of 2006, AG Kline filed 30 criminal charges against Dr. Tiller for violating Kansas late-term abortion laws. The charges were filed after Sedgwick County District Court Judge Eric Yost reviewed Kline’s evidence and found probable cause to believe that Dr. Tiller violated Kansas law.
The following day, however, Tiller ally and long-term Sedgwick County prosecutor went to a different Judge and without informing Kline and without the Judge reviewing the evidence, obtained a dismissal of the charges claiming that the Attorney General did not have authority to pursue such charges. Kline appealed the dismissal, however, he was defeated for re-election under an avalanche of pro-abortion monies and his successor in office, pro-choice Paul Morrison, dismissed the appeal.
As a result, the only substantive charges ever filed against Dr. Tiller and the evidence supporting those charges never reached court. You can read a previous story on this study by clicking here.