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Originally Posted by willravel
You don't think that abortion can and has caused stress or emotional problems for some girls/women?
There is no scientific law about a specific occurrence's effect on someone's mental health because there are too many variables in psychology. What may be totally fine for one person could cause PTSD in others. As such, a ruling such as the one you listed above is irresponsible because it's misleading. For some women, abortion can be much worse than bringing an unwanted child to term, thus making that ruling incorrect in some cases.
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I agree....I was responding to Ustwo's comment "Abortion has a lasting effect on women too." Maybe, maybe not....maybe the effect on a woman's mental health is negative, maybe its positive.
As you say....the effects vary. But there is an intent by many who oppose abortion to generalize and politicize the issue by using anecdotes and flawed data to suggest that abortions pose a direct threat to a woman's mental health. IMO, that was Ustwo's intent..but I could certainly be wrong.
You might find this interesting, particularly as it described the study done by pro-life Surgeon General C Everett Koop:
Despite years of trying, antiabortion activists failed to gain any traction with the nation's major medical groups in alleging that abortion posed a direct threat to women's health, especially their mental health, so they turned to the political process to legitimize their claims. In 1987, they convinced President Reagan to direct U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop to analyze the health effects of abortion and submit a report to the president. As Koop had been appointed to his position in no small part because of his antiabortion views, both prochoice and antiabortion factions believed the outcome to be preordained. (An eminent pediatric surgeon as well as an outspoken abortion foe, Koop had no prior experience or background in public health; both public health and prochoice advocates in Congress vehemently opposed his appointment, delaying his confirmation by several months.)
Koop reviewed the scientific and medical literature and consulted with a wide range of experts and advocacy groups on both sides of the issue. Yet, after 15 months, no report was forthcoming. Rather, on January 9, 1989, Koop wrote a letter to the president explaining that he would not be issuing a report at all because "the scientific studies do not provide conclusive data about the health effects of abortion on women." Koop apparently was referring to the effects of abortion on mental health, because his letter essentially dismissed any doubts about the physical safety of the procedure.
Prochoice members of Congress, surprised by Koop's careful and balanced analysis, sought to force his more detailed findings into the public domain. A hearing before the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations was called in March 1989 to give Koop an opportunity to testify about the content of his draft report, which had begun to leak out despite the administration's best efforts. At the hearing, Koop explained that he chose not to pursue an inquiry into the safety of the abortion procedure itself, because the "obstetricians and gynecologists had long since concluded that the physical sequelae of abortion were no different than those found in women who carried pregnancy to term or who had never been pregnant. I had nothing further to add to that subject in my letter to the president"
Abortion and Mental Health: Myths and Realities
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I'm not suggesting an equal voice. I can't remember anyone mentioning equal rights. I created this thread because men have no rights. I'd like less than half, but more than zero.
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Rights are a legal issue and there are no legal half rights.
As I said,the man should be allowed to be involved in the decision-making, but ultimately, a woman's reproductive choice is hers.