A controversy has risen over a recent study that cited abortion as non-detrimental to a woman's mental health and psychological well-being. The findings have been splashed all over mainstream media, which has alarmed pro-life groups in the medical community.
The said study, which has been published on the JAMA Network by researchers Dr. M. Antonia Biggs, Dr. Ushma D. Upadhyay and Dr. Charles E. McCulloch, took into account the different health outcomes of women who have either gotten or denied abortions, whether early in the pregnancy or during a late term. Some 1,000 women whose profiles have been obtained from abortion clinics across the country participated in the research for a period of five years
In their findings, the study authors debunked previous notions that abortion has a negative psychological effect on women. It concluded that denying women abortion draws almost similar effects as women who have had abortions, if not worse. "The effect of being denied an abortion may be more detrimental to women's psychological well-being than allowing women to obtain their wanted procedures," the study authors wrote in their report, according to CBS News.
Such a conclusion, however, has drawn flak from pro-life groups. Family Studies expert Dr. Priscilla K. Coleman addressed these points in a piece published on the World Expert Consortium for Abortion Research and Education (WECARE).
Coleman cited that the JAMA study had an outright bias in favor of abortion. She questioned how the researchers compared their findings on only one previous study for support.
"Courts throughout the U.S. have concluded that women should be appraised of the risks before consenting to abortion," Coleman cited. "It is absurd that these researchers have attempted to shift the tide based on this one study."
Coleman proceeded to cite the study's inconsistencies and the researchers' flaws in methodology. She said that it is not reflective of actual experiences of women who have undergone abortion. She called out the entire report for its slant in its agenda for abortion, rather than doing actual behavioral research.
According to the National Health Review, the JAMA study was done by researchers who have ties with the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health. The institution is known to support abortion.
