Post-Abortion Stress Syndrome: A Lasting Legacy

Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones Oct 27, 2008

Just over 20 women out of every 1000, aged between 15 and 44 has had an abortion at some time in their lives. (See http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/08/03/ab_incidence.pdf) for abortion statistics.

In the USA, 1,287,000 abortions were carried out in 2003.

Leaving the pro-life argument aside, many women, even those who are happy with their decision, can develop post abortion stress syndrome after a termination of pregnancy. This syndrome, which doctor's won't tell you about, includes a variety of symptoms:

1. Anxiety and panic
2. Frequent crying
3. Difficulty sleeping and nightmares about the abortion, or flashbacks
4. Depression
5. Distress at seeing pregnant women and other women's babies
6. Inability to be around babies and children, or to see them on TV
7. Problems caring for any existing children
8. Anger
9. Inability to work or concentrate
10. Turning off sex, or becoming sexually indiscriminate
11. Atonement pregnancy: getting pregnant or trying to become pregnant, usually within a year of the termination
12. Distress in subsequent pregnancies
13. Having many subsequent pregnancies, usually carried to term
14. Extreme feelings of guilt
15. Suicide or attempted suicide. The rate for suicide after termination is 34.7% out of every 1000 women (M. Gissler, Abortion/Suicide Link,Br. Med. J., Dec. 6, 1996).

If you have had an abortion and you feel like this, please talk to the PASS Foundation who are neutral in their opinion of abortions.

P.O.Box 2275

Glen Burnie, Md 21060

email: help@passhugs.com

fax: (801)457-9081

http://www.afterabortion.com/foundation.html