Spanish group offers help in overcoming post-abortion syndrome

Madrid, Spain, Nov 30, 2003 / 22:00 pm

In the face of growing numbers of women who suffer from post-abortion syndrome and the lack of specialized studies on this problem that affects almost 1 million Spanish women, a new association has been founded to provide research and assistance from various metal health professionals.

The association is assisted by a group of psychologists and psychiatrists that has launched a website where international research on the affects of abortion will be posted.

Through the website, www.nomassilencio.com, women suffering from the syndrome can obtain psychological help, and professional health workers who are interested can fill out a form online to collaborate in scientific studies on the affliction.

Consequences of abortion

A study carried out by the Royal Academy of Obstetrics claims that 59%, or 7 of every 10 women, who abort have high risk for developing serious and permanent psychiatric problems.

The psychiatric disorders that result from abortion are known as post-abortion syndrome, a type of post-traumatic stress disorder.  Some of the symptoms associated with the affliction include anxiety, aggressive behavior, nightmares, suicidal thoughts or actions, bulimia, anorexia, alcohol and drug abuse, and divorce. 

Symptoms may not appear for years after an abortion due the repression that many women suffer as a defense mechanism.  Juan Cardona Pescador, a psychiatrist who specializes in post-abortion syndrome, says that “after the trauma of abortion, affection, love and willpower all begin to deteriorate, and everything else begins to follow: successive failures in relationships, depression and other negative consequences.”

Concerning spousal relationships, Doctor Emily Milling found that 70% of the 400 couples in her study separated within one year after the abortion. 

Suicide also becomes much more common among women who have aborted.  The Finnish researchers Spekhard and Vaughan have confirmed that the rate of suicide the year after an abortion was three times higher than the average women in general and seven times higher than the average for women who have carried their babies to term. 

International abortion organizations have recognized the existence of psychiatric disorders associated with abortion.  Planned Parenthood International did such in their Triennial Plan for the period of 1990-1993, in which it said:  “A series of studies and polls by those opposed to abortion has shown that the incidence of post-abortion trauma can affect up to 91% of cases.  Recent reports by the Alan Guttmacher Institute which have not been published indicate the extent of the problem may have been correctly calculated in those studies.