Physical and Psychological Consequences of Abortion for Women

1. 31% of women having abortions report suffering physical health complications (1) 2. 10% of women having abortionssuffer immediate, potentially life-threatening complications (2, 3, 4) 3. Women have a 65% higher risk of clinical depression following abortion vs. childbirth (5) 4. 65% of women suffer symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after abortion (1) 5. Womens death rates from various causes after abortion are 3.5 times higher than after giving birth (6, 7) 6. Many women describe their experience as a nightmare, which can hardly equated with choice. 60% of women surveyed after abortion responded that: Part of me died (1) 7. Suicide rates among women who have abortions are six times higher than those who give birth (7, 8) 8. Abortion increases a womans risk of future miscarriages by 60% (9)

The above figures, referenced below from anElliott Institute publication, are eight evidence-based facts about the consequences of abortion for womens health.
References
1.Source: Rue et. al., Induced abortion and traumatic stress: A preliminary comparison of American and Russian women,Medical Science Monitor10(10): SR5-16, 2004. 2.Frank, et.al., Induced Abortion Operations and Their Early Sequelae,Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners35(73):175-180, April 1985. 3. Grimes and Cates, Abortion: Methods and Complications, inHuman Reproduction, 2nd ed., 796-813. 4.M.A. Freedman, Comparison of complication rates in first trimester abortions performed by physician assistants and physicians,Am. J. Public Health76(5):550-554, 1986). 5.JR Cougle et. al., Depression Associated With Abortion and Childbirth: A Long-Term Analysis of the NLSY Cohort,Medical Science Monitor9(4):CR105-112, 2003. 6. M Gissler et. al., Pregnancy Associated Deaths in Finland 1987-1994 -- definition problems and benefits of record linkage,Acta Obsetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica76:651-657, 1997. 7.M. Gissler, Injury deaths, suicides and homicides associated with pregnancy, Finland 1987-2000,European J. Public Health15(5):459-63, 2005. 8.Gissler, Hemminki & Lonnqvist, Suicides after pregnancy in Finland, 1987-94: register linkage study,British Journal of Medicine313:1431-4, 1996. 9.N. Maconochie, P. Doyle, S. Prior, R. Simmons, Risk factors for first trimester miscarriageresults from a UK-population-based casecontrol study,BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Dec 2006. Note: Studies 6, 7 and 8 looked at death rates for an average for up to one year after the end of the pregnancy. Another study found that looked at suicide rates for up toeight yearsfound that, compared to women who gave birth, women who had abortions had a 62% higher risk of death from all causes and a 2.5 times higher suicide rate. Source: DC Reardon et. al., Deaths Associated With Pregnancy Outcome: A Record Linkage Study of Low Income Women,Southern Medical Journal95(8):834-41, Aug. 2002.