May kicks off a month-long educational event known as Better Sleep Month. Millions of Americans reportedly have trouble sleeping due to stress, lack of time or various sleep disorders. But for many for many women, a sleep disorder may be the result of something deeper: trauma as a result of abortion, including coerced and unwanted abortions.

A 2006 study published in Sleep, the official journal of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, found that women who experienced abortion were more likely to be treated for sleep disorders or disturbances compared to women who gave birth.1

The researchers examined medical records for 56,284 low-income women in California who gave birth or underwent an abortion in the first six months of 1989. They excluded women who had been treated for sleep disturbances or disorders in the 12 to 18 months prior to abortion or delivery.

The data showed that, up to four years later, women who underwent abortions were more likely to be treated for sleep disorders afterwards compared to those who gave birth. The difference was greatest during the first 180 days after the end of the pregnancy, when aborting women were approximately twice as likely to seek treatment for sleep disorders. Significant differences between aborting and child-bearing women persisted for three years.

More research is needed to to see if women who have abortions are more likely to experience specific symptoms of sleep disturbance and whether those symptoms could be markers for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other problems.

In the book Forbidden Grief, author and therapist Dr. Theresa Burke notes that nightmares and insomnia a commonly reported among women after abortion. She writes: "When the conscious mind sleeps, the defense mechanisms in charge of repelling unwanted thoughts are relaxed. This is why intrusive thoughts related to a suppressed trauma often arise in the form of dreams or nightmares."3

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Learn More/Take Action: Find and share information on these issues with our Fact Sheets on the Physical and Psychological Risks of Abortion.

More research is also available at www.AbortionRisks.org. Find studies, contribute information on new studies, and read articles and commentary on important issues.

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May is also Mental Health Month, a good time to draw attention to the risks to mental health that can be caused by abortion, including coerced and unwanted abortions.

A recent study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research found that women who have abortions are at higher risk for various mental health disorders, including anxiety disorders, mood disorders—such as depression and bipolar disorder—and substance abuse. Overall, the risk for mental health disorders was 17 percent higher among women who had abortions, and researchers found that abortion made a "significant contribution" in 12 out of the 15 disorders studied. Abortion was also more likely to cause mental health problems than was a history of other traumas such as rape, childhood abuse or physical violence.

While many abortion advocates claim that abortion is better for women than unplanned pregnancy, studies comparing women who abort unplanned pregnancies to women who carry unplanned pregnancies to term (with no history of abortion) reveal that aborting women have more subsequent depression, anxiety and substance abuse, and that teens who abort an unintended pregnancy are more likely to experience negative mental health outcomes than teens who carry an unplanned pregnancy to term.

Further, a New Zealand research team led by a pro-choice professor wrote in a recent paper in the British Journal of Psychiatry:

"In general, there is no evidence in the literature on abortion and mental health that suggests that abortion reduces the mental health risks of unwanted or mistimed pregnancy. ... [T]here is nothing in this study that would suggest that termination of pregnancy was associated with lower risks of mental health problems than birth following an unwanted pregnancy."

Indeed, their research found that, after controlling for other variables that could influence mental health, abortion was linked to a variety of mental health disorders, including alcohol and drug addiction, suicidal thoughts, anxiety disorders and major depression. In contrast, giving birth or having a miscarriage were not "consistently related" to an increase in mental health problems.

Studies have also linked abortion to other problems such as substance abuse, suicide, and higher rates of psychiatric care. Further, many women abort because of pressure, coercion, disinformation and even force from others. In one survey, 64 percent of women who had abortions reported being pressured by others, while 84 percent said they did not receive enough counseling to make a decision.

Men Suffer After Abortion, Too

Men can be negatively impacted by abortion as well. A new study that is one of the first to examine the impact of abortion on men's relationships found that abortion was linked to higher rates of subsequent domestic violence for both men and women, and that men who had been involved in an abortion were more likely to report problems with their partner over jealousy, children and drug use.  Experts who work with men after abortion have also described deep, often hidden feelings of pain, grief, and loss following abortion, and note that men are often given no say in an abortion decision.

Women and men being screened and treated for mental health disorders could be helped if mental health professionals ask about a history of abortion and other pregnancy loss, and help provide resources to help them work through unresolved issues related to the abortion.

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Learn More/Take Action: For more information on these and other studies, download and share our Recent Research fact sheet.

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Airman Sentenced in Forced Abortion Case

A member of the U.S. Air Force has been sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison for attempting to kill his unborn child after he secretly gave his wife a drug that caused her to miscarry following her refusal to have an abortion.

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