The Connection Between Mental Health and Abortion Rights

The landmark case of Roe v. Wade constitutionally secured a woman’s right to choose. However, "the leak heard 'round the world," revealed that the Supreme Court is likely to overrule Roe’s authority despite precedent since 1973. The loss of control over one’s body regarding reproductive freedom may trigger individuals to experience feelings of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), ideation, and suicidality, amongst other potentially disabling mental health disorders.

Threats to physical and mental health and well-being

The American Psychological Association (APA) cites decades of research demonstrating the harm to females’ mental health if abortion is outlawed. Argues APA President Frank C. Worrell, “Rigorous, long-term psychological research demonstrates clearly that people who are denied abortions are more likely to experience higher levels of anxiety, lower life satisfaction, and lower self-esteem compared with those who are able to obtain abortions.”

Worrell also concluded that overruling Roe and making access to abortions more difficult could prove potentially lethal for females, given the realm of domestic abuse: “There is a strong relationship between unwanted pregnancy and interpersonal violence. Specifically, psychological science suggests that the inability to obtain an abortion increases the risk for domestic abuse among those who are forced to stay in contact with violent partners, putting them and their children at risk.”

The Turnaway Study

Studies have shown how criminalizing abortions can affect an individual’s mental health, and the outcome is acutely bleak. The infamous Turnaway Study conducted at the University of California, San Francisco, compared the mental health trajectory of women denied abortions to those who were allowed to receive them. This research, which concluded in 2016, analyzed one thousand women from clinics in 21 states who closely resembled the population seeking abortions in the United States.

Researchers found that losing autonomy over one’s body predicts potentially developing mental health issues.

The findings of the Turnaway Study made clear that individuals who were disallowed the procedure were prone to higher stress, anxiety, severe depression, and lower self-esteem than those permitted an abortion. They were also placed in a more volatile situation regarding intimate partner abuse. Further, this research demonstrated that females denied an abortion were more likely to experience the following detrimental mental health problems:

1 Living in poverty, including not having enough money to cover basic living expenses like food, housing, and transportation.

2. Raising children alone, without family members or male partners.

3. Failure to establish or maintain maternal bonding with a baby from an unwanted pregnancy due to feelings of being trapped and resentment.

4. The children of women, when denied an abortion, were less likely to flourish than those of mothers allowed the procedure.

5. Reporting more life-threatening complications associated with pregnancy like eclampsia and postpartum hemorrhage.

6. Physical symptoms including chronic headaches, migraines, joint pain, and gestational hypertension

7. Increased domestic violence from the partner who impregnated them.

8. A higher prevalence of alcohol and drug use.

9. An increase in suicidal ideation.

In addition to the findings from the Turnaway Study, females who live in restrictive states regarding reproductive rights may internalize a loss of agency over their lives, eroding their psychological stability. Dr. Amy Addante, an OB-GYN and fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health, stated that forcing women to have unwanted pregnancies will have a “severe toll on their mental health.” As a former rape and sexual assault prosecutor and a clinician who has worked with multiple victims, I have witnessed firsthand that a sense of control over one’s body is crucial for healing and empowerment after being violated.

Laws restricting access to safe, legal abortions will primarily affect those living in poverty, people of color, sexual and gender identity minorities, and individuals living in rural or medically underserved locations. The financial cost of commuting to a less prohibitive state, and taking time off employment, compounded with procuring childcare, may increase stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and possible suicidality. In the case of adolescents and women who have been raped or impregnated by incest, forcing them to go forward with pregnancy is tantamount to the trauma that resulted in conception; maybe worse.

Overall, there is compelling empirical evidence that disempowering females will profoundly affect their mental health and sense of well-being.