PSYCHIATRIC ASPECTS OF ABORTION

Objective: To examine the evidence concerning the psychological conseq uences of abortion. the risk of suicide in pregnancy and the psycholog ical consequences for the mother and the child in cases of refused abo rtion. Method: An extensive literature search was undertaken and key r elevant papers were examined and analysed. Results: Legal abortion has become more widely available throughout the western world and the act ual reported incidence of cases of refused abortion is low. The majori ty of studies indicate that the psychological consequences of abortion itself are in the main mild and transient but there is evidence that women who have strong religious or cultural attitudes negative to abor tion do experience high levels of psychological stress following abort ion. The risk of suicide is low in pregnancy and suicide is a rare out come of refused abortion. There is evidence-of psychological and socia l difficulties experienced by mothers of unwanted pregnancies forced t o proceed to term and by many offspring of such unwanted pregnancies. Conclusions: Definitive conclusions are difficult to draw from the pub lished studies of refused abortion and many studies are over thirty ye ars old.