Data analysis shows no increase in mental health prescriptions after abortion
A University of Maryland study using Danish health records found no evidence that abortion, whether medication or procedural, leads to an increase in mental health prescriptions. Researchers observed that mental health medication usage did not rise following an abortion and actually decreased after five years.
Why it matters
This study provides empirical data to address common public health debates regarding the long-term psychological impacts of abortion procedures.
edited by Lisa Lock , reviewed by Andrew Zinin
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Add as preferred source Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain While more women globally are using medication to have abortions, a University of Maryland-led study published today in JAMA Psychiatry found no evidence that a first medication or procedural abortion caused an increase in mental health medication use.
Using records from the Danish health registry, researchers looked to see whether a person's first medication or procedural abortion was related to filling a mental health prescription for the first time as a way to measure whether abortion method affects mental health. The study group had never previously filled a mental health prescription.
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