How does abortion affect your emotions?
Research on the links between abortion and mental health
By Dr Stephen Sammut B.Pharm PhD.
Professor of Psychology, Franciscan University of Steubenville
As a neuroscientist who has a great interest in understanding human behaviour, I have always understood the necessity for evidence-based-practice.
However, for several decades now, arguments have gone backwards and forwards as to whether induced abortion (termination of pregnancy) has any negative effects. In all of this, one aspect of scientific evidence has been missing – pre-clinical data.
Pre-clinical research – what is it?
As scientists, we are not given a free-for-all capacity to do what we wish. There are rules and ethics that we must observe, no matter what the research is, and no matter who our subjects are.
Experiments and research on humans, and especially experiments on vulnerable populations including pregnant women, fetuses and children are highly restricted. In fact, some things cannot be tested on humans at all.
Pre-clinical research, refers to the research that takes place before (pre) research on humans (clinical). This allows us to understand what may be happening in a disease, or how a drug works.
These investigations often use animals with the same condition that we want to research in humans, for example pregnancy in rats. We give animals a treatment to see how they react.
We can do this because of the similarity between animals and humans in the way they function. Of course, this must be conducted humanely. Poor care of animals leads to useless results. We owe respect to the animals used in research, given the millions of lives that have been saved as a result.
Rats and abortion
As I indicated earlier, in relation to abortion, such research is absent. Most available research shows us the success of inducing abortion, but there is limited research about the consequences and risks of abortion.
In addition to the human research, tests from animal models show us that there are negative consequences of abortion. Rats which had their fetuses removed by hysterectomy at mid-pregnancy were less protected from mammary cancer — breast cancer. [1]
However, the possible psychological consequences of abortion had not been addressed at the pre-clinical level. That was the goal of my research [2].
In humans, emotional ills, including depression and anxiety, show specific behaviours that are replicated in animals. [3, 4]
Our study looked at the consequences of terminating a pregnancy using the same drugs that humans use in early pregnancy misoprostol and mifepristone. The results showed that rats that had medical abortion showed signs of a psychological impact, including:
Reduced health and reduced general well-being
they did not groom themselves [5],
Depression-like behaviour
they did not eat, they showed a decreased interest in sugar-solution [5-7]
they showed decreased exploratory behavior [5]
they had reduced movement even in their home cage [5]
Anxiety-like behaviours.
they spent more time at the back corner of the cage (closest to the wall) in which they were tested; other rats spent an approximately equal amount of time in all corners measured [8]
These examples show some of the immediate short-term effects. However this study also found long-lasting effects (equivalent to years in humans). By undertaking biochemical measures of the abortion group - tests which measure different substances that occur in the body to regulate normal functioning - we found evidence of oxidative stress of the abortion group.
What does this mean for humans?
Overall, the study showed that the abortion pill has significant negative effects on rat behaviour that are potentially reflected in humans following an abortion.
Rats are not influenced by social or religious norms, nor by human philosophy or morality. In humans, these social and cultural factors may add to the physiological and emotional experience of an abortion.
The effects observed in rats were purely associated with the effects of abortion on their physiology and the resulting effects on behaviour.
This study suggests that the effects experienced by women who undergo an abortion are potentially a result of the negative physiological effects resulting from the abortion procedure itself.
This research provides some important things for women to process and thinking about if they are considering an abortion for an unexpected or accidental pregnancy. Thinking about the long term health effects in order to process their options for an unplanned pregnancy.
For more support:
If you are experiencing feelings of depression or anxiety connected with an abortion, please consult the resources in our Mental Health and Counselling list.
About the author:
Dr Stephen Sammut B.Pharm Ph.D is the Professor of Psychology at Franciscan University of Steubenville.
https://sammutlab.com/ you can also access his profile on
Researchgate and Linkedin.
References
[1] Russo J, Russo IH. Susceptibility of the mammary gland to carcinogenesis. II. Pregnancy interruption as a risk factor in tumor incidence. The American journal of pathology. 1980;100:497-512.
[2] Camilleri C, Beiter RM, Puentes L, Aracena-Sherck P, Sammut S. Biological, Behavioral and Physiological Consequences of Drug-Induced Pregnancy Termination at First-Trimester Human Equivalent in an Animal Model. Front Neurosci. 2019;13:544. Available open-access from: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2019.00544/full
[3] Willner P. Animal models of depression: an overview. Pharmacol Ther. 1990;45:425-55.
[4] Willner P. The chronic mild stress (CMS) model of depression: History, evaluation and usage. Neurobiol Stress. 2017;6:78-93.
[5] NIH. Guidelines for Endpoints in Animal Study Proposals. Morbidity: NIH; 2016.
[6] American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). 5th Edition ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2013.
[7] Willner P, Towell A, Sampson D, Sophokleous S, Muscat R. Reduction of sucrose preference by chronic unpredictable mild stress, and its restoration by a tricyclic antidepressant. Psychopharmacology. 1987;93:358-64.
[8] Sestakova N, Puzserova A, Kluknavsky M, Bernatova I. Determination of motor activity and anxiety-related behaviour in rodents: methodological aspects and role of nitric oxide. Interdiscip Toxicol. 2013;6:126-35.