Friday, October 22, 2010

Common cause rather than direct causality?

Numerous studies (anybody have links handy) have found that women are significantly more likely to commit suicide after an abortion than they are either after carrying to term or if they haven't been pregnant.

I haven't read the whole article (it's a pay article, with just a teaser freebie), but this bit in the sidebar got my attention:

A motivation to die, often fueled by mental illness, is only part of the problem. To intentionally end their own life, people need the will to carry out their plans. This resolve depends on factors such as fearlessness and being able to tolerate pain and to act impulsively.


Abortion is encouraged as a comparatively impulsive act, with staff pointing out that delays in deciding mean increases in price and risk. The same woman who signs for an abortion, then later turns out to still be pregnant, can choose to carry that same pregnancy to term after having had the additional time to reflect (albeit on a pregnancy she thought she'd ended).

Does poor impulse control contribute to both abortion and suicide?

I'd love to see some research.

2 comments:

Cecilia said...

Christine says: "Does poor impulse control contribute to both abortion and suicide?"

If a mom has poor impulse control, the abrtionists will certainly take advantage of that, as they will any perceived weakness, to sell her an abortion. But if a woman has strong moral values, that will help her resist temptation and make up for poor impulse control, at least where moral issues are concerned.

Christina Dunigan said...

I don't think it's a matter of moral values. All of us are capable of great evil, given the right (or should I say, wrong) circumstances. It's more a matter of "Forewarned is forearmed." Knowing that abortion might seem like a good idea at the time, but that the idea will pass, is probably the best inoculation against abortion. Which is why I try so hard to put out the information about psychosocial adaptation in pregnancy -- that ambivalence, fear, and even rejection of the pregnancy are very common and normal, and that they pass as the woman prepares for the child's birth.

And that's why abortion facilities and proponents are very careful to keep that most crucial piece of information buried so deeply.