A new study led by David Reardon, an associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute revealed that women who have had abortions are twice as likely to have attempted suicide than those women with a healthy reproductive history. The study surveyed 2,829 American women aged 41 to 45 about their pregnancy histories and asked them to rank how pregnancy outcomes “contributed to suicidal thoughts, self-destructive behaviors, and any attempted suicides.” The responses were then used against the hypothesis that the higher prevalence of suicide attempts in women who have had abortions can be explained by pre-existing mental health conditions.

According to the data, 34.7% of women who had abortions reported that they had attempted suicide. Women who had experienced pregnancy loss such as a miscarriage followed close after at 30%, and 27.9% of those with problematic pregnancies reported suicide attempts. Only 13.4% of those who reported a successful delivery reported having attempted suicide. Of women who’d had abortion, women who wanted the abortion were the least likely to have attempted suicide at 29.5%. Women who did not want the abortion followed next at 33.3%, followed by women who had been unsure at 35.9%. Women who felt coerced into their abortions were the group that had attempted suicide at the highest rate of 46.2%.

Eight point six percent of women who’d had abortions stated their pregnancy outcome/abortion was a major contributing factor to their suicide attempts, as opposed to 5.1% of women who had pregnancy losses and 1.4% of women who delivered. Twenty-five percent of women who felt coerced into their abortions stated their pregnancy outcome was a major contributing factor, while 6.6% of those who wanted the abortion cited it. The numbers were similar when the women were asked how their pregnancy outcomes contributed to suicidal thoughts and self-destructive behaviors.

The study rejected prior claims that abortion has no impact on mental health. “Our first alternative hypothesis, that pregnancy outcomes can affect suicidal risk, is supported by the finding that there were significant differences in regard to self-reported suicide attempts, suicidal thoughts, and self-destructive behaviors across all four pregnancy outcomes,” the study concluded.  Dr. Ingrid Skop, an OB-GYN at Charlotte Lozier Institute, told The Christian Post the study highlighted to need for continued support of women who have undergone an abortion. “We must believe these women who tell us directly that their abortion caused them harm,” said Skop. “The devastating realization that abortion may lead to a woman’s suicide must motivate the pro-life community to continue to provide resources and support to vulnerable women encountering a crisis pregnancy.”