The Aftermath of an Abortion To have abortion or not is a very difficult choice to make. The final choice comes from religious and ethical beliefs. However, to have an abortion means to participate in a horrendous crime against humanity, God, and oneself. Abortion can also have deleterious effects on the mother’s health and well being. Many of the couples, mainly the mothers, that have an abortion tend to go into a state of depression known as Post-abortion syndrome.
Negative effects on the mother’s body can also stem from using abortion methods, such as the use of RU 486, a controversial abortion pill; increased risk of breast cancer is another effect of abortions. Other side effects of abortion, from emotional scars to a detachment from God and religion can also result. The choice to have an abortion is not only immoral and murder, but it can lead to negative effects on the mothers psychological, physical, and spiritual well being. The health of the mother, should be the main concern governing an abortion.
Many of the pregnant women that have an abortion, tend to regret their decision later on; this regret and state of desolation, as well as depression is known as Post-abortion Syndrome. The Post-Abortion Syndrome, is better classified as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Speckhard, Rue). The symptoms of this syndrome can be characterized as depression, substance abuse, sleep disorders and suicidal thoughts (Speckhard, Rue). Many of the symptoms usually arise after the abortion has been performed. Many of these symptoms, such as suicide can be a threat to the mother’s health (Roleff 165-69).
If the mother decides to commit suicide then that would defeat the whole idea of having an abortion in order to save the mother’s life. Many of the pregnant women that have an abortion justify the action upon unwanted conditions, such rape or congenital defects. In cases pertaining to rape, the pregnant women justify having an abortion as a means to erase the tragic event from consciousness. However, by having an abortion, she is giving up the most important tool to help her in the recovery process (Roleff 130-132) . The unborn child can evoke a sense of loneliness in the mother after the abortion, as well as other conditions of the Post-abortion Syndrome.
One symptom, may be exaggerated response to memories of the abortion experience, meaning she will be more careful about her social activities and will probably live a life of desolation and fear (Speckhard, Rue). This symptom is also prevalent in other abortion cases, such as abortion due to congenital defects. Congenital defects are primarily diseases, such as Downs syndrome, that can be detected early in the pregnancy, through an amniocentesis test (Roleff 123-127). These abortions are carried out to ensure that the unborn child does not live a life of suffering, due to his retarded condition. However, the parents of the child fail to conceive the effects, the suffering, that they will experience by not having that child.
The parents will experience various Post-abortion Syndrome symptoms ranging from difficulty concentrating to physiological reactions to events that symbolize an aspect of abortion (Speckhard, Rue). The physiological reactions might be depression, or states of regret when they observe another’s baby or see a pregnant woman (Speckhard, Rue). The parents of the unborn child, will also forgo the happiness that they could have had by having that child. Teenage pregnancies, in which the teenager decides to have an abortion, will also lead to Post-abortion Syndrome symptoms as that of the abortions due to rape or congenital defects. The main objective of the teenage abortion is to remove a burden, the unborn child, from the teenagers life that will keep her from achieving her goals, such as going to college (Nelson 28-29).
In 1989 teenagers had the highest abortion ratio at 886 abortions per 1, 000 live births ( Fig. 1). Abortions due to teenage pregnancies may also lead to Post-abortion syndrome; the main symptoms include self-devaluation, and inability to forgive the decision to have an abortion (Speckhard, Rue). The self-devaluation can stem from teenagers feeling incompetent, and can lead to periods of depression (Speckhard, Rue).
Teenagers are also more susceptible to periods of depression due to their immaturity, their lack of experience of such events as death. The many symptoms of Post-abortion Syndrome are primarily psychological, but other aspects of having an abortion can have devastating effects on the physical aspects of the mother. After an abortion has taken place, not only is the mother susceptible to psychological disorders, but other negative effect on the body as well, such as increased risk toward breast cancer. A publication by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute on October 4, 1994, revealed that women who had one or more abortions had a significant overall increase in breast cancer (Roleff 156).
The study by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, also concludes that the increased risk is an overall 50 percent to breast cancer, than women that carry out their pregnancy (Roleff 156). The troubles from having an abortion arise from the fact that estrogen (a breast-cancer risk factor) is at high levels during the initial periods of pregnancy, but are counterbalanced by other hormones which converts the breasts into milk-producing organs (Roleff 158). When a woman has an abortion, the large amounts of estrogen can assist abnormal cells into becoming cancerous (Roleff 159). The study also revealed that the number of induced abortions increases proportionally to the risk toward breast cancer (Roleff 159).
Therefore, having an abortion can harm the mother’s body, by increasing the risk toward breast cancer. Abortions that result from using RU 486, can also have various negative effects on the mothers’ body. RU 486, a widely used method of birth control, in some cases even resulted in death (Roleff 150). RU 486, produced by the French manufacturer Roussel Uclaf, works primarily by blocking the hormone progesterone; the hormone is required to develop the uterine lining so that the egg can mature (Raleigh 150). Basically, this drug executes the abortion process by starving the embryo. This drug, RU 486, combined with prostaglandin, will result in an abortion 95 percent of the time; however, if that does not yield an abortion, the child will result in malformations due the volatile effects of these drugs (Raleigh 150-51).
Other than starving an unborn child, RU 486 can also result in severe side effects: sever bleeding, nausea, vomiting, and excruciating pain (Raleigh 150-51). The severe bleeding can last from 10 to 40 days, and some will require blood transfusions (Raleigh 151). Ru 486 also has an identical chemical structure to cortisol, which plays numerous roles in other systems, such as the nervous and metabolic systems; this can be a threat to the mothers’ health because it can also interfere with these other vital systems (Raleigh 151). Abortion, not only harm the mother, but reveal the selfish aspects of the parents, due to their lack of faith in themselves and their unborn child.
In many cases, an abortion can also have various effects on the religious ideals of a mother. Many religions consider it a sin to have an abortion, as in Christianity (Catholic), in which the punishment can usually be excommunication (Siegel 3). Many of the women that feel a sense of guilt after the abortion, will also feel alone, because they feel that they have detached themselves from God (Raleigh 168). They can also develop fears and doubts, about the sin they committed, through the fact that they will not be able to ascend into heaven, but rather to hell (Raleigh 169). Due to their lack of religious beliefs, many other dangerous aspects of depression are exemplified, such as suicide.
These women will also be unable to forgive their actions, until they have established a clear consciousness with their religion and God (Raleigh 170). Apart from the spiritual effects of having an abortion, it may also lead to emotional scars, after the abortion has been performed. These emotional scars are usually detachments from society, due to a lack of confidence (Raleigh 168). Having an abortion not only distance the mother from her spiritual beliefs, but also from interaction with society. Human life begins with the fertilization of the egg by the sperm, resulting in an embryo.
The elimination of that embryo after fertilization is murder, and not justifiable with any irrelevant excuses. An abortion will also have negative effects on the mother, including Post-abortion Syndrome and an increased risk toward breast cancer. Prominent drugs, such as RU 486 can also be a threat to the safety of the mother. Other scars left behind by the traumatic process includes emotional and religious scars; because the mother is unable to cope with the decision, she has made in having an abortion. Overall, the process of having an abortion will not only result in threatening the life of the mother, but will also increase the chance for other risk factors, such as breast cancer and Post-abortion syndrome.
The psychological and physical dangers of having an abortion far outweigh the simple notions for having abortions, such as congenital defects.
