Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Abortion causes mental problems...NZ study

Hop on over to Life Site and catch the article: Abortion Causes Mental Disorders: New Zealand Study May Require Doctors To Do Fewer Abortions

It makes very interesting reading!

A study in New Zealand that tracked approximately 500 women from birth to 25 years of age has confirmed that young women who have abortions subsequently experience elevated rates of suicidal behaviors, depression, substance abuse, anxiety, and other mental problems.

Most significantly, the researchers--led by Professor David M. Fergusson, who is the director of the longitudinal Christchurch Health and Development Study--found that the higher rate of subsequent mental problems could not be explained by any pre-pregnancy differences in mental health, which had been regularly evaluated over the course of the 25- year study.

They had a hard time getting their research published as they had "politically incorrect results"!

The research team of the Christchurch Health and Development Study is used to having its studies on health and human development accepted by the top medical journals on first submission. After all, the collection of data from birth to adulthood of 1,265 children born in Christchurch is one of the most long-running and valuable longitudinal studies in the world. But this study was the first from the experienced research team that touched on the contentious issue of abortion.

Ferguson said the team "went to four journals, which is very unusual for us -- we normally get accepted the first time." Finally, the fourth journal accepted the study for publication.

I would like to see genuinely objective studies being recognised when their results go against the grain of what is politically acceptable. This business of what's "politically correct" needs to be acknowledged as forcing a bias onto what is supposed to be scientific research. The two do not make honest bedfellows!

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