Abortion And Mental Health - Guttmacher Institute: Fill & Download for Free

I don't ever want to be pregnant.Frankly, that should be the end of the conversation, but far too many people think of pregnancy as, at worst, a minor inconvenience, as opposed to the massive physical, mental, and financial toll it is. In addition to the endless romanticization of parenthood by popular media, the dark underbelly (pardon the pun) of pregnancy and childbirth is covered up not only by religious and cultural narratives, but also by doctors and other healthcare professionals[1]. As a result, people, men and women alike, are grossly misinformed of the potential risks and consequences. It wouldn't be hyperbolic to think of a fetus as a parasite* and hostile occupant of a woman's body.To start with, legal abortion is safer than pregnancy and childbirth. Based on the data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Guttmacher Institute (among others), a woman is about 14 times more likely to die giving birth than while having an abortion[2]. Granted, this data is from the United States, where access to healthcare and maternal mortality rates are notoriously poor in comparison to other developed nations. But even here in Canada, where it is apparently three times safer to give birth than in the US[3], abortion is still a much safer medical procedure to undergo, with a complication rate of about 2% [4][5]. Because the majority of abortions occur in the first trimester, the actual risks are even lower.While it is true that modern medicine has alleviated many of the more harrowing aspects of pregnancy, there are still a boatload of potential risks, some of them fatal. I don’t even want to experience “minor” side-effects like fatigue, nausea, and cramps — why on earth would I risk conditions like (pre) eclampsia, hemorrhaging, or life-threatening infection? Why would I risk an ectopic pregnancy, auto-immune disease, or post-partum depression? Why would I willingly put myself through the agony of giving birth?** Why would I risk my health (including mental health) and life to bring a pregnancy to term when I could safely terminate?For those who are against abortion, adoption is often treated as some sort of panacea for the problem of unwanted pregnancies, but what many fail to realize is the adoption can only ever be an alternative to parenthood. Certainly, there are many women for whom issues related to potential parenthood, such as lack of financial resources, drive their decision to terminate, but abortion is and always has been an issue of bodily autonomy. Currently, the only alternative to pregnancy is abortion, and it will remain so until the development of artificial incubators (though the legal and ethical implications of such a technology would be undoubtedly complex).In the unlikely event that I became pregnant, I would almost certainly have an abortion, because I don’t want to be pregnant.*I’m aware that a parasite is technically defined as a belonging to a different species than its host, but a fetus does act as a parasite in that it directs nutrients and resources away from the pregnant woman, threaten’s her life and health, etc.**For a more comprehensive list of obstetric complications: List of complications of pregnancy - WikipediaFootnotes[1] Angeli Adeen's answer to What are some strange but true facts about pregnancy doctors rarely talk about?[2] https://scholarship.law.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1159&context=jchlp[3] The Last Person You'd Expect To Die In Childbirth[4] http://www.arcc-cdac.ca/postionpapers/76-Anti-choice-research-dangers-abortion.pdf[5] http://www.arcc-cdac.ca/backrounders/statistics-abortion-in-canada.pdf

Per the Guttmacher Institute's brief on abortion and mental health:"Another comprehensive review of the scientific literature, conducted in 2008 by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, likewise found that “the highest-quality research available does not support the hypothesis that abortion leads to long-term mental health problems. Lingering post-abortion feelings of sadness, guilt, regret, and depression appear to occur in only a minority of women.”The brief is available here: http://www.guttmacher.org/media/evidencecheck/2011/01/31/Advisory-Abortion-Mental-Health.pdf and includes footnotes and cites for other surveys of the literature.

These are the reasons given by US women having abortions, according to a 2004 study by the Guttmacher Institute:Only 1.5% had rape or incest as a reason, and only 8% were influenced by their own health issues. Apart from external pressure to abort, every other motivation for a woman to have an abortion is something that could affect men, while there are additional concerns that a man could have, such as the chance that he might not get to know his child. The situation is similar in the UK: 97.5% of abortions are due to ground C alone: “the pregnancy has not exceeded its twenty-fourth week and that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.” Having children affects men’s mental health too, and supporting a child can involve significant added pressure at work, which would increase the risk of accidents or other health problems.Workplace deaths are 6–7 times as high as maternal mortality rates, so it could easily be argued that this alone puts men’s physical risk on a par with women’s. This is particularly true for poorer people, for at least three reasons:Child support payments are much more likely to seriously affect his income, and he may not be able to support himself. This can lead to serious consequences such as debts, prison and homelessness (which carry their own physical and mental risks), as well as possible health issues that remain untreated because of lack of money. More fathers jailed over child support.Poorer men are more likely to have to work extra to make ends meet, and this is more likely to involve multiple jobs in poorer conditions. It’s also much more likely to involve manual labour and dangerous environments. Their work is also much less likely to pay health insurance. The added stress, the environment and overwork (which affects much more men than women, and not just because they love being at work) all increase the risk of accidents. Injuries or health problems have a more serious impact on ability to work, and therefore a loss of income. Working class jobs are also more precarious and minor setbacks or unemployment are more likely and have a more serious impact (since now you can be jailed for being too poor to pay). In contrast, women with children who are too poor to pay to support their children are given government support.All of this seriously affects people’s security, ability to provide for themselves and mental health. The male suicide rate is much higher than the female rate, but among poorer people it’s insanely high.If this were something that significantly affected women, it would definitely be a feminist issue and a sign of society’s misogyny. One of the problems is that feminist statistics erase these poorer men in the rush to show how bad women have it. Women’s income level is given without calculating in government support, and men’s is calculated without deducting child support, so it looks like women are in poverty more often. Averages also often mask poorer people, since their income is insignificant compared with the mean. This does not mean that their suffering is insignificant, but ‘deadbeat dads’ are widely considered to be the scum of society and definitely not victims – despite the fact that many may not have wanted a child in the first place.Here are some quotes by Margaret Atwood about women’s right to control of their reproduction:I'm waiting for the first lawsuit. I'm also waiting for a lawsuit that says if you force me to have children I cannot afford, you should pay for the process.If men are not given a choice about having a child, should they have to pay for it? This is not taking women’s choice away, just giving men a choice about whether or not to fund women’s choice.They [Texas] should pay for my [a woman's] prenatal care. They should pay for my, otherwise, very expensive delivery, you should pay for my health insurance, you should pay for the upkeep of this child after it is born. That's where the concern seems to cut off with these people. Once you take your first breath, [it's] out the window with you. And, it is really a form of slavery to force women to have children that they cannot afford and then to say that they have to raise them.Often the concern about men is cut off after their financial obligations are listed. How many times have you read a sympathetic article that represents non-custodial parents as people needing support?While some of this logic may seem tortured, part of the reason is that a non-custodial man’s financial contribution is more easily abstracted than a custodial woman’s more direct contribution. The potential harm is also very easy to ignore, because it’s not women’s fault if men commit suicide, go to jail, go bankrupt, become homeless, die younger, are injured or killed at work, have to work long hours and multiple jobs and so on. However, being anti-choice for men has serious consequences for real people.Feminists used to comment that the right to abortion was so important that some women would commit suicide rather than face bringing a child into the world. Many would say that people who are against abortion cannot be feminists, since it’s that central to women’s rights. It is that serious for men too – there are many men who are happy to face considerable sacrifice and risk for a child they have a relationship with (just as many women are happy to go through pregnancy and childbirth), but if they are forced to support a child they didn’t want despite objecting for any of almost all of the reasons that the Guttmacher Institute survey gave, I don’t see how they can be considered deadbeat dads or told that it’s their responsibility to support the child. This is not equality, and it’s one way that society objectifies men.Incidentally, this is not a choice:But he can! He just needs to abstain from sex or have a vasectomy, it's that easy. If you want the pleasure that comes from sex you should be ready to accept the potential responsibility.Now I know why they say that the three worst words you could say to a boy are: 'Be a man”. Women also have all of these choices – have we given up on the idea that they should be responsible too? Or should we rather say that precautions can fail, and unwanted pregnancies can happen. Men and women can be raped or tricked into an unwanted pregnancy despite precautions. There are several ways for men and women to get around a condom without the other person’s consent or knowledge. Economic circumstances can change unexpectedly. Nobody should have to have a vasectomy or tubal ligation because they don’t want a child right now. Kissing someone is not consent to have sex with them, and having sex with someone is not consent to raise a child with them. Nobody should be forced to have a child as some kind of punishment or demand that they be responsible adults, even if they’re not ready for parenthood. I thought this was basic feminism? If men who don’t want children only have the optionsDon’t have sexGet a vasectomyUse a condom, and trust your partnerand no choices at all after sex, then they don’t have meaningful reproductive choice. While there are major differences in men and women’s role during pregnancy and birth, appeals to men’s responsibility to the children is the equivalent of pro-life arguments. If being pro-choice means anything, it means that people don’t have a responsibility to provide for a fetus that they don’t want. While there are different considerations to work through, people who are pro-choice and pro-equality should work toward a solution where men have the same level of reproductive choice as women.Giving men this option might also have some positive effects for women, since they would have more clarity about whether or not the father was committed to providing for the child, and could make a decision accordingly. I imagine that quite a few deadbeat dads never wanted children in the first place.But I doubt it will ever happen, since there’s such a stigma against deadbeat dads and it would entail more money being spent on welfare. Also, many of the people it would affect can’t vote yet or are at an age bracket with low voting numbers.