OPINION: The much-vaunted concern of abortion advocates for
women has not been evident
I AGREE with David Robert Grimes’s assertion (Irish Times,
June 29th) that no one has the right to their own facts. It is ironic, then,
that Grimes proceeded to cherry-pick those facts that best suit his agenda.
He sidesteps the fact that science has clearly shown that
human life begins at conception, and that abortion takes the life of an unborn
baby. Like many other abortion advocates, he also conveniently disregards the
wealth of studies which have shown that women are adversely affected by
abortion.
The growing body of peer-reviewed scientific research which
shows negative mental outcomes for women following abortion cannot be ignored
by any serious commentator or policymaker. It’s revealing that those who claim
to see abortion as a woman’s right are also most anxious to downplay or dismiss
these findings.
Surely any negative consequences for women should be a
matter of concern for all, even if recognising those negative effects
undermines support for legalised abortion? Recently a 13-year epidemiological
study was published in the European Journal of Public Health. It looked at data
between 1987 and 2000 on all deaths among women of reproductive age, and
included all women in Finland.
The research found that the suicide rate among women who had
abortions was six times higher than that of women who had given birth, and
double that of women who had miscarriages.
The findings of the research carried out by Dr David Fergusson
and others, and published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2008, were
equally troubling. They found that women who had abortions were 30 per cent
more likely to experience mental disorder.
Fergusson’s research was a particularly robust 30-year
longitudinal study with impeccable controls. The results are hugely
significant, and there are many other such studies published in leading
journals.
In fact, the Irish experience bears out what the growing
scientific evidence tells us. Recent research by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency in
Ireland showed that 44 per cent of women who had abortions experienced either a
lot or some regrets.
Interestingly, Revision Notes in Psychiatry (the most
popular textbook among Irish and British psychiatric trainees) informs medical
professionals that one in 10 women who aborted suffer “severe and/or prolonged
psychological sequelae”, a devastating experience, as any psychiatrist will
tell you.
Grimes not only refuses to acknowledge the published
research, he also claims that the “pro-life” awareness adverts produced by
Youth Defence and the Life Institute are harmful to women who have had
abortions.
But the adverts were inspired by a woman who told me that,
after her abortion, she felt as if her own life, and that of her unborn child,
were torn apart. I remember the conversation vividly because her pain was raw
and her grief seemed like an open wound.
Further, the much vaunted concern of abortion advocates for
women has been less than evident recently. They were silent last year when an
Irish woman almost died following a botched abortion in Britain. They said
nothing when an investigation into Britain’s abortion clinics revealed
widespread illegal activities, such as failing to counsel women and pre-signing
consent forms. And their silence in the face of the monstrous forced abortion
policy in China is shocking.
The truth is that abortion supporters object to our campaign
because it does something they want to avoid at all costs: it brings the
reality of abortion into focus. So they’re issuing complaints to the
Advertising Standards Authority and, following much bravado and blustering on
social media, have vandalised one or two “pro-life” billboards. So far, so
predictable; though it’s always ironic to see just how intolerant of free
speech these self-styled liberals and left-wing activists are.
It’s interesting too that the outrage is almost entirely
orchestrated, and is confined to a small group of abortion campaigners. We have
been inundated with support from the public, while Youth Defence’s Facebook
page has grown to some 58,000 supporters.
In the Seanad last week Senators confirmed they had received
no complaints from the public about the Youth Defence/Life Institute
billboards. Senators were responding to the extraordinary demands that the
advertising authority’s powers be extended to censor messages opposing
abortion.
At the heart of these demands is a desire to give abortion
advocates the power to set the parameters of any debate. Those parameters would
exclude any discussion of what abortion does to a baby, and the denial of
evidence that women can be hurt by it. That, of course, would not be a debate;
it would be a sham. The Irish people deserve better.
Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute has a powerful
article in yesterdays Irish Times and it is elicting a huge response.We have reprinted the article in full below and it is also available on this link