“In a study of 100 women carried out by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (75 of whom were married or in a committed relationship), 46% agreed that the abortion provoked a major crisis in their lives which frequently followed by an unstable marital or social relationship.”1
Journals, including Family Planning Perspectives and Social Science and Medicine, have reported links to post-abortion couples and the increased likelihood of divorce or separation. The difficulty for many post-abortion women to form lasting bonds can develop from a lowered self-esteem, greater distrust of males, sexual dysfunction, substance abuse, and greater levels of depression, anxiety, and anger.2,3,4,5,6,7
1. “The Abortion Experience in Private Practice”, David H. Sherman, et al., in “Women and Loss: Psychobiological Perspectives”, ed. William F. Finn, et al., The Foundation of Thanatology Series, Volume 3, New York: Praaeger Publications (1985), pp. 98-107
2. Shepard, et al., "Contraceptive Practice and Repeat Induced Abortion: An Epidemiological Investigation," Journal of Biosocial Science and Medicine, 1979, 11:289-302.
3. M. Bracken, "First and Repeated Abortions: A Study of Decision-Making and Delay," Journal of Biosocial Science, 1975, 7:473-491.
4. S. Henshaw, "The Characteristics and Prior Contraceptive Use of U.S. Abortion Patients," Family Planning Perspectives, 1988, 20(4):158-168.
5. D. Sherman, et al., "The Abortion Experience in Private Practice: Women and Loss," Psychobiological Perspectives, ed. W. F. Finn, et al., (New York: Praeger Publishers 1985) 98-107.
6. Belsey, et al., Social Science and Medicine.
7. E. Freeman, et al., "Emotional Distress Patterns Among Women Having First or Repeat Abortions," Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1980, 55(5):630-636.