Psychological Research on
Abortion and its Dubious
Influence on Policy Makers
Myretha McInnis
November 8th
Overview
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Relevant philosophical views on abortion
The state of abortion in the Canadian legal
system
Some relevant psychology research
The debate on morals and psychological
research
Definition – the term ‘abortion’ will refer to
only induced abortions and not
spontaneous abortions in this presentation
Philosophy and Abortion
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the moral status of the fetus
Sumner (1974)
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Conservative view on abortion - the fetus is a human being
thus abortion is the moral equivalent of murder and should
therefore never be accepted unless the life of the mother is
in danger.
Liberalist view of abortion - the fetus has no moral value,
therefore the question of abortion has no moral value.
Abortion is acceptable unless it puts the woman in danger.
Moderate view - the fetus only has moral value after it
develops and central nervous system (allowing for sensations
of pain) and a brain. Therefore, anytime before this
development an abortion should be permissible and anytime
after this development, an abortion should not be allowed.
Philosophy and Abortion con’t
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Sherwin (1991) - an account of the feminist perspective.
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The three above mentioned views on abortion are incomplete
because they ignore the pregnant woman as an active member of
the relationship. She is opposed to the tendency of these
discussions to see the pregnant woman as being a passive vessel
for the fetus
The moral status of the fetus is irrelevant.
Only the pregnant woman can know if the fetus she carries should
be brought to term or terminated because she is the only person
who can know her situation.
Conservative view of abortion is typically referred to as the prolife position
Liberalist, moderate and feminist views are often considered prochoice position on abortion.
Abortion and the Law
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1988 - abortion was completely removed from
Canadian criminal law. (M. Ramsay, personal communication, November 11, 2005)
It is not illegal for women in Canada to receive
an abortion
She also does not have a right to an abortion
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Women in Canada can receive an abortion at any
time during her pregnancy.
Because there is no right to an abortion in Canada,
hospitals do not have to ensure that they staff a
doctor who will perform abortions.
Provinces are not required to fund any abortions
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The cost for an abortion at a Morgentaler private clinic
can cost anywhere from $300 to $900 (Morgentaler, 1998).
Not all provinces have private clinics for abortions.
Most are located in large cities, not in rural areas, this
limits access to abortions for some (i.e. the poor who
live in rural areas) and not for others.
 The Canadian health Act requires that Canadian
citizens should have equal access to health care
procedures (Government of Canada, Canada Health Act)
 Therefore some standard must be agreed upon by the
federal government in order to insure equal treatment
of all women regarding abortion policies.
Psychological research on Abortion
Nordal Broen, et al (2005)
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Emotional distress after an abortion (10 days, 6 moths,
and 2 years after their abortions) N= 80 – Location,
Norway.
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Researchers related the emotional distress of women at these
times to the reasons women give for having an abortion.
Strongest relationship to a negative outcome for women was
reporting the reason for abortion as “pressure from male
partner” similarly the reason “male does not want a child at the
moment” was also strongly correlated to negative effects.
This research implies that outcomes of abortion may be linked to
issues besides the abortion itself
What issues might be linked to these findings other
then the abortion?
State-funded abortions versus deliveries: A
comparison of outpatient mental health claims over
4 years (Coleman et al. 2002)
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N = 249,625 – Location, California
A comparison of abortions and live births on participants mental
health.
First time mental health claims with diagnosis of one or more of the
following;
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adjustment reactions, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, non-organic
psychoses, alcohol and drug abuse, psychalgia, acute stress reactions
and schizophrenia.
Women who have a history of abortion have a significantly higher
rate of first time outpatient treatment then women who gave birth.
(this is true, 90 days, 180 days, 1 year, and 2 years after the target
event, but there was no significance after the 3rd and 4th years).
Diagnosis that were found to be significant were; adjustment
reaction, bipolar disorder, neurotic depression, and schizophrenic
disorder.
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Implications – a woman found to have one of the above diagnosis might
be part of a population that is more prone to negative adjustment after
an abortion.
‘Violence in the lives of women having abortions: implications for
practice and policy’ (Felipe Russo, & Denious, 2001)
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N= 2,525 – Location, USA
Question; Is there a relation of increased violence in the lives of
women who have abortions? Even when variables are controlled?
 Other variables include: race (white v. other women),
income, education, marital status, and parental status (i.e.
having children under the age of 18 living in the home)
 Violence variables include: childhood physical and sexual
abuse, partner violence, and rape.
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Abortion is related to increased violence
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These women are more likely to have partners who refuse to
were condoms
Abortion is related to psychological distress (such as
suicide ideation, anxiety or depression and lower life
satisfaction).
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Once variables such as race, education, having a violent
partner, a history of physical or sexual abuse and/or a history
of rape and sexual assault were controlled for, abortion was
no longer correlated with psychological distress
Born Unwanted: Observations from the Prague study
(David, Dytrych, & Matejcek, 2003)
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N= 220 pairs – location – Prague (Czech Republic)
Unwanted pregnancy = mother applied to have an abortion and was denied
‘unwanted pregnancy’ (UP) in a longitudinal study (birth to age 35).
Includes a group of children who were accepted- pregnancies (AP).
These AP were pair-matched with the UP children.
UP and AP children were compared with their siblings at follow ups
4 and 5 (ages 30 and 35 respectively).
 Age 30 (1992-1993) - UP adults were found to have less
favorable psychosocial adaptations then the AP adults.
 Siblings of the UP children had lower scores on scales such as
lower scores on social integration scales (based on, absence
from criminality, and alcohol abuse, etc.)
 There were non-shared effects among males siblings as well,
such as on anxiety and depression scales (UP child scored
similarly to their sibling and to AP males). In females however,
the reverse was found.
 Age 35 (1996-1997) – UP adults were found to have become
psychiatric patients more often then both the AP adults and their
siblings. UP adults and their siblings were found to be undersocialized in comparison to the AP adults and their siblings.
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From the limited research available on children
who are born unwanted and are raised by their
birth mothers, it would seem that there are
negative outcomes for these children when
compared to children of accepted pregnancies
and when compared to their own siblings on
some measures. However, there are similarities
in the scores of UP adults and their siblings that
indicate a common environmental effect on their
development.
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In general psychological research seems
to indicate that the negative effects often
seen after a woman has an abortion may
be due to other factors such as; abuse,
being coerced into having an abortion, or
preexisting dispositions that make it more
likely for them to suffer from negative
diagnosis (i.e. depression).
Implications of psychological research for
public policy makers
Any Guesses?
Psychology and the Ethics of
Social Policy (Kendler, 1993)
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Because of the empirical nature of most psychological research, it
can not be used to guide moral debates.
Kendler writes that even when a moral question seems to be
‘proven’ by research, it is not. Research can not prove a moral to be
right or wrong.
An example: evidence supporting the benefits of segregating
children on the bases of language – even though their test scores
may go up when segregated this does not ‘prove’ that children
SHOULD be segregated. This is a moral question.
Kendler makes a distinction between better and good.
 Applied to the topic of abortion- it may be better for woman if
she is given complete say over her reproduction, but the
question of whether that is good or not can not be answered
with empirical research
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It is stated in the Canadian Code of Ethics
(IV)- researchers have a responsibility to
society.
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it can be assumed that it was this principle
that Felipe Russo and Denious were appealing
to when they wrote the section “implications
for public policy” in their study.
Graduate Studies
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Marc Ramsay Ph.D.
Acadia University
Interests include: Ethics and philosophy of law, including constitutional rights and judicial
review, children's rights, philosophical issues in the private law, and theories of equality.
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Ishtiyaque H. Haji Ph.D.
University of Calgary
Interests include: Ethical theory, action theory, philosophical psychology, free will
and moral responsibility.
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Elizabeth E. Brake Ph.D.
University of Calgary
Interests include: Ethics, political philosophy, and feminist philosophy.
References
Coleman, P.K., Reardon, D.C., Rue, V.M., & Cougle, J. (2002). State-funded
abortions versus deliveries: A comparison of outpatient mental health claims
over four years. American journal of orthopsychiatry, 72 (1), 141-152.
David, H.P., Dytrych, Z., & Matejcek, Z. (2003). Born unwanted: Observations from
the Prague study. American psychologist, 58 (3), 224-229.
Felipe Russo, N., & Denious, J.E. (2001). Violence in the lives of women having
abortions: Implications for practice and Public Policy. Professional psychology:
Research and practice, 32 (2), 142-150.
Government of Canada, Canada Health Act. In E.H.W. Kluge (Ed.) Readings in
biomedical ethics: A Canadian focus (3rd ed.). (pp. 52-57). Toronto, Ontario:
Pearson.
Kendler, H.H. (1993). Psychology and the ethics of social policy. American
psychologist, 48 (10), 1046-1053.
Morgentaler, H. 1998, The Morgentaler Clinic. Retrieved November 3, 2005, from
http://morgentaler.ca/morgentaler.htm
Nordal Broen, A., Moum, T., Sejersted Bödtker, A., & Ekeberg, Ö. (2005). Reasons
for induced abortion and their relation to women’s emotional distress: a
prospective, two-year follow-up study. General hospital psychiatry, 27, 36-43.
Sherwin, S. (1991). Abortion through a feminist ethics lens. In E.H.W. Kluge (Ed.)
Readings in biomedical ethics: A Canadian focus (3rd ed.). (pp. 339 – 352).
Toronto, Ontario: Pearson.
Sumner, L.W. (1974). Toward a credible view of abortion. In E.H.W. Kluge (Ed.),
Readings in biomedical ethics: A Canadian focus (3rd ed.). (pp. 324-339).
Toronto, Ontario: Pearson.