Addiction, Depression Common Among Women Who’ve Had Abortions: Study

About one in four U.S. women who have had an abortion sometime in their lives reported having alcohol or other drug problems, compared to 7 percent of women who had not had abortions, according to researchers from the University of Manitoba in Canada.

The Winnipeg Free Press reported May 1 that the study also found higher rates of depression among women who had had abortions, and somewhat elevated rates of mood and anxiety disorders.

Researchers said that while the study shows an association between abortion and behavioral-health problems, it does not mean that having an abortion leads to addiction or mental illness, or vice-versa.

The study did not look at whether abortions were medically necessary or elective, or whether the women’s addiction and mental-health problems were present before or after their abortions.

The study authors recommended that doctors screen women with addiction or mental-health problems to determine if they had a history of abortion.

The research was published in the April 2010 issue of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.