One health risk is psychological damage to mothers who had abortions. Chittom and Newton (2016) reported that “sadness, depression, guilt, anxiety, numbness, and shame are just a few of the psychological effects common to women who had abortions.” According to “Should Abortion be Legal” (2016), a study done by BMC Magazine reported that women who had abortions often have higher anxiety levels and are 154% more likely to commit suicide than other women. The Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology reported a study on the effects on men whose partners had abortions and it found that 51.6% had regrets, 45.2% felt sadness, and 25.8% experienced depression (“Should Abortion be Legal,” 2016). Chittom and Newton (2016) note that Pro-Life activists often explain the long term emotional, spiritual, psychological, and physical trauma after the procedure as post-abortion syndrome, which is not officially recognized by the medical world. Besides psychological damage, abortion can also lead to future health issues for the mother. The article “Should Abortion be Legal” (2016) published a 2003 study done by the International Journal of Epidemiology, which found that 15% of first trimester miscarriages are mostly caused by previous vacuum aspiration abortions. The same article also noted a 2014 study published in the Cancer Causes and Control Journal that showed a link between abortions and breast cancer. The …show more content…
Rich and Wagner (2016) argue state that in a 2004 survey on women who had abortions, 92% reported they had the procedure because of social reasons rather than medical reasons or sexual assault. The primary social reasons provided were “the timing being wrong for having a child, not being able to afford a baby, having relationship problems with the father, or not feeling mature enough to raise a child” (Rich and Wagner, 2016). Furthermore, abortion is used to escape responsibility and the consequences of a mistake. An unborn child should not be punished for the parent’s failure to realize the risk of pregnancy during sexual activity. Additionally, the article “Should Abortion be Legal” (2016), also gives substantial social arguments. For one, abortion limits the amount of adoptable children, which denies families wanting children the pleasure of adopting. In 1971, 90,000 US infants were put up for adoption versus only 18,000 in 2007 (“Should Abortion be Legal,” 2016). Additionally, abortion eliminates any “potential societal contributions of the future human being” (“Should Abortion be Legal”, 2016). Think about our world today without a particular individual. To put this into perspective, imagine our society without the contributions of Celine Dion, Cher, Justin Bieber, and Steve Jobs, whose mothers actually considered having an abortion for various reasons (“Should Abortion be Legal,”