We were very pleasantly surprised when
the Royal College of Psychiatrists came out with their report.
The guidance that's come out now is saying
that we need to do more research to be certain
but yes, abortion does cause
significant mental health problems for some women.
The report's findings were inconclusive.
I think it's fair to say that
if there are already mental health issues with a woman
they could be exacerbated by both abortion
but also by continuing with the pregnancy.
FPA doesn't believe that abortion causes depression in women
any more than we know that
often a pregnancy leads many women to feel depressed.
For example, post-natal depression
is a very well known and understood symptom
that many women experience after pregnancy.
My own view from ten years in general practice
is that a significant proportion of women,
the seriousness of what has happened, plays on their minds subconsciously.
The anniversary of the abortion happening,
the anniversary of when my child would have been born.
They find they can't go and spend time with friends who have young babies
because grief overwhelms them.
I think the most important study is one done in New Zealand in 2006.
It's a culture very like much of Britain
where it's been shown that women who have had abortions
are more likely to be admitted as psychiatric inpatients,
more likely to need outpatient treatment
and more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol
as a consequence of the abortion.
Research in America showed that women that were denied access to abortion
and had to proceed with the pregnancy that hadn't been wanted,
34% of those women reported extreme negative feelings toward the children
and extreme feelings of resentment towards those children.
That obviously has a very detrimental impact for the woman psychologically.
Since the Abortion Act was passed 40 years ago
there's been a frequent seven million abortions in this country.
If there was a significant issue
in relation to abortion linked with depression
I think there would have been far more obvious signs of it by now.
Why haven't we become aware of these problems before?
There's been a culture of silence.
There's been guilt about having done it.
It's not been OK to talk about it.
Scientists haven't looked for it and therefore haven't found it.
II think currently the notion of abortion
is quite a hot topic in the press.
People that are seeking to reduce women's rights to have an abortion
are finding ways that they can in the media
represent abortion in a negative way.
It's a very difficult problem and I think we cannot go on
sweeping it under the carpet in society.