(Few experts are better qualified to discuss the unexpected ways that
legalized abortion has affected women's lives than David C. Reardon,
Ph.D., an internationally-known researcher, speaker, and author on
post-abortion issues. He has explored how a rising generation of
disgruntled post-abortive women are changing abortion politics.)
During 2002 alone, Dr. Reardon
was the lead or second author on five new studies published in major peer
review medical and psychological journals:
a. Among women delivering their first
pregnancy, those with a prior history of abortion are 5 times more likely
to use illicit drugs and 2 times more likely to use alcohol during the
first pregnancy they carry to term. The use of drugs or alcohol, of
course, places their newborn children at higher risk of congenital
defects, low birth weight, and death. (American Journal of Obstetrics and
Gynecology).
b. Compared to women who carry their first
unintended pregnancies to term, women who abort their first pregnancy have
significantly higher rates of clinical depression as measured an average
of eight years after their first pregnancies. (British Medical Journal)
c. Compared to delivering women, women who
have abortions have an elevated risk of death from all causes which
persists for at least eight years. Projected on the national population,
this effect may contribute to 2,000 - 5,000 additional deaths among women
each year. One factor in the elevated mortality rates was a 154 percent
higher risk of death from suicide. (Southern Medical Journal)
d. Compared to delivering women, women who
have abortions subsequently require more psychiatric care. (American
Journal of Orthopsychiatry)
e. The children of women who have abortions
have less supportive home environments and more behavioral problems than
the children of women without a history of abortion. This finding supports
the view that abortion may negatively effect bonding with subsequent
children, disturb mothering skills, and otherwise impact a woman’s
psychological stability. (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry)
(Learn more about these studies at www.afterabortion.org/news)
Dr. Reardon has been studying women’s reactions to abortion since 1983
and has authored numerous articles and books on the subject, including the
most recent, Forbidden Grief: The Unspoken Pain of Abortion, with Theresa
Burke, Ph.D. (Acorn Books, 2002). In 1987, he founded the Elliot Institute
for Social Sciences Research, a non-profit organization dedicated to
researching the effects of abortion and raising awareness of its impact on
women, men,
families, and society.
In 1996, Dr. Reardon was featured in a Newsweek article on the
"kinder, gentler pro-life movement." The article followed
publication of his book, Making Abortion Rare: A Healing Strategy for A
Divided Nation, which presented a "pro-woman/pro-life" strategy
for reducing abortion. Dr. Reardon shows how we can put an end to the
stalemate that pits the woman against her child, and instead focus on
solutions that respect the rights and needs of
both the mother and the unborn child.
With 20 years of experience in post-abortion issues, Dr. Reardon is an
ideal expert to comment on questions such as the following:
a. How is has the spread of post-abortion
healing programs changing the pro-life movement away from an anti-abortion
message to a pro-woman message?
b. How does abortion effect women? What does
the research show about the physical and psychological impact of abortion?
c. What did C. Everett Koop really say about
post-abortion syndrome?
d. Will the Bush administration follow
Koop’s recommendations for more research in this area?
e. How do women who have experienced a sexual
assault pregnancy feel about abortion?
f. How pervasive is the problem of unwanted
abortions, when women submit to the pressure of others to abort wanted
pregnancies?
g. How has the experience of abortion by 25
million women, or more, influenced the views of the middle majority of
Americans on abortion — and why is this important?
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