An academic research focused on the psychological after-effects of abortion on women indicates that trauma is unlikely to develop post pregnancy. The study indicated that mental symptoms only occurred in women refused abortion procedures as it is "too late" for them to undergo the procedure.
According to New York Times, the Turnaway Study published first in psychological academic journal JAMA Psychiatry, showed that women with psychological symptoms are women who wished to have an abortion but were already more than their sixth month of pregnancy -- the cutoff period for safe abortion procedures.
The study focused on 1,000 women who sought abortions in the United States for five years. The results showed that those who had the procedure did not experience further depression, anxiety, low self-esteem or dissatisfaction than those who could not undergo the procedure. The Turnaway Study included the sample's mental health history and focused on women close to the cutoff period and beyond the limit for safe abortion procedures.
The claim by anti-abortion lobbyists that the mental health of women who underwent the procedure is likely to be troubled are likely to change based on these new discoveries. Abortion laws are different in all states of the United States with some prohibiting abortion at certain periods. South Carolina's law requires the pregnant woman to be within her second trimester and not her third to have an abortion. After abortion, the woman is required to go into counseling -- which the Turnaway Study results show as unnecessary.
US President-Elect Donald Trump is against abortion and may possibly reinstate a Reagan-era abortion law. He is rumored to bring in an abortion opponent in the Supreme Court once he takes office as US President. Trump is likely to issue a certain form of "punishment" for medical professionals practicing the procedure and may even include the patient herself.
