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Post Abortion Syndrome

Facts and Research

Each day abortion affects more then 3,700 women and as a result many are left dealing with ‘Post Abortion Syndrome’ (PAS). Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers and advocators do not recognize PAS as a valid syndrome, but psychologists are starting to prove otherwise. Take a look at the information below:

  • “Post-Abortion Syndrome (PAS) is a form of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). PTSD is the result of having suffered an event so stressful and so traumatic that the person is taken beyond his/her ability to cope in a normal manner. Victims of PTSD are unable to simply resume their lives where they left off before the traumatic event. Instead they experience a variety of reactions that do not go away merely with the passage of time. Although the symptoms of PTSD (and PAS) are varied, and although they may not surface for years after the trauma, they are nonetheless real and should be dealt with.”
  • Researchers investigating post-abortion reactions report only one positive emotion: relief. This emotion is understandable; especially in light of the high degree of pressure aborting women feel to “get it over with.” (1) Temporary feelings of relief are frequently followed by a period psychiatrists identify as emotional “paralysis,” or post-abortion “numbness.” (2) Like shell-shocked soldiers, these aborted women are unable to express or even feel their own emotions. Their focus is primarily on having survived the ordeal, and they may be, at least temporarily, out of touch with their feelings.
  • Studies within the first few weeks after the abortion have found that between 40 and 60 percent of the women questioned reported at least some negative reactions. (4) In one study of 500 aborted women, researchers found that 50 percent expressed negative feelings, and up to 10 percent were classified as having developed “serious psychiatric complications.” (6)
  • One study suggests that 33 percent of aborted women develop an intense longing to become pregnant again in order to “make up” for the lost pregnancy, with 18 percent succeeding within one year of the abortion. (3, 5, 6) Unfortunately, many women who succeed at obtaining their “wanted” replacement pregnancies discover that the same problems which pressured them into having their first abortion still exist, and so they end up feeling “forced” into abortion a second time as well.

According to Safe Haven Ministries, some common symptoms of Post-Abortion Syndrome are:

  • Depression and Thoughts of Suicide
  • Sad Mood
  • Sudden and Uncontrollable Crying
  • Deterioration of Self-Esteem
  • Disruption in Interpersonal Relationships
  • Sleep, Appetite, and Sexual Disturbances
  • Reduced Motivation
  • Thoughts of Suicide
  • “Anniversary Syndrome” (An increase of symptoms around the time of the anniversary of the abortion and/or the due date of the aborted child.)
  • Re-experiencing the Abortion
  • Preoccupation with Becoming Pregnant Again
  • Anxiety over Fertility and Childbearing Issues
  • Disruption of the Bonding Process with Present or Future Children
  • Survival Guilt: …the decision boiled down to a sorrowful conclusion: “It’s me or you, and I choose me.”
  • Development of Eating Disorders
  • Alcohol and Drug Abuse

For men or women who need help dealing with PAS, please take a look at the following links:

Sources:
1. Francke, The Ambivalence of Abortion (New York: Random House, 1978).
2. Kent, et.al., “Emotional Sequelae of Therapeutic Abortion: A Comparative Study”, presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychiatric Association at Saskatoon, Sept 1977.
3. Pare and Raven,”Follow-up of Patients Referred for Termination of Pregnancy”,The Lancet(1970) vol.1,pp635-638
4. Reardon, Aborted Women-Silent No More, (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1987).
5. Reardon,”Criteria for the Identification of High Risk Abortion Patients: Analysis of An In-Depth Survey of 100 Aborted Women”, Presented at the 1987 Paper Session of the Association for Interdisciplinary Research, Denver.
6. Wallerstein,et.al., “Psychosocial Sequelae of Therapeutic Abortion in Young Unmarried Women”, Archives of General Psychiatry (1972) vol.27.