Abortion and the Link to Substance Abuse
Posted March 25, 2010
April is national Alcohol Awareness Month, an event dedicated to raising awareness of the devastating effects of alcohol abuse and encouraging those effected to seek help and treatment.
Research shows that women are likely to date the onset of alcohol or drug abuse to a particular stressful event or situation in their lives. For some women, this stressful event may be an abortion.
For example, Monica underwent an abortion at 18. She writes:
... [T]he aftermath affected almost every area of my life. I think alcohol and drug abuse were at the top of the list, but also there were nightmares, uncontrollable fear to the point of a panic disorder, and a deep sadness, the source of which I couldn’t identify or understand.
I frequently thought about killing myself. I had anger and rage, sexual problems, low self-esteem, incredible self-hatred and a depression that came and went like an unexpected wind. But most of all, grief that chilled me to the bone. My grief turned on me like a hungry lion waiting to destroy every area of my life. Drinking and drugs were the only way I could cope.
For many women, using drugs or alcohol after abortion might be a way to cope with a traumatic situation. Writing in Forbidden Grief: The Unspoken Pain of Abortion, Rachel's Vineyard founder Dr. Theresa Burke notes:
The human mind has a tremendous capacity to repress undesirable feelings and re-channel them into more tolerable tortures. If we cannot find a way to work through the trauma with our conscious intellect, our unconscious mind will accomplish the task for us. Trying to cope with these shattered phantoms may invite the abuse of alcohol or drugs, and a vicious, unrelenting cycle of self-destruction, heaping insult on top of injury until awareness of the original problem has been annihilated.
What the Research Says
So far, more than 20 studies have found a strong association between substance abuse and abortion. Among the findings:
One study found that among women without a prior history of substance abuse, women who aborted their first pregnancy had a 4.5 times higher risk of subsequent substance abuse compared to women who carried their first pregnancy to term.1
Another study found that women who had undergone an abortion were over three times more likely to report heavy alcohol use and twice as likely to report cigarette smoking.
A survey of American women who had abortions found that the 27 percent of respondents reported increased use of drugs or alcohol and that they attributed this problem to their abortion.
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.
A study of women whose first pregnancies were unintended found that those who aborted reported more frequent and recent use of drugs or alcohol afterwards compared to women who gave birth.2
Alcohol abuse is likely to affect not only the women themselves, but also their families: Mothers who abuse drugs or alcohol are more likely to "engage in authoritarian and punitive parenting practices," and parental substance abuse increases the risk that the children will suffer abuse or neglect.
There are many risk factors that increase the risk of a woman or girl suffering from post-abortion trauma. These include being pressured or coerced to abort, poor pre-abortion counseling, abortion due to fetal anomalies, and other problems such as a history of past abuse, conflicted feelings about the abortion; having an abortion as a teen; having prior children; having abortion due to poor prenatal diagnosis, and more.
When the most conservative risk estimates are applied to the general population of women, it indicates that at least 150,000 women per year abuse drugs and/or alcohol as a means of dealing with post-abortion stress.1
This coming month is a good time to raise awareness of how trauma from abortion can increase the risks of alcohol abuse among women, and how it effects their families.
~~~
Take Action: Raise awareness at your church or in your community about the link between abortion and alcohol abuse by downloading and sharing this ad/flyer with others.
Make copies to distribute as a flyer, post on bulletin boards or stuff it into bulletins, newsletters or other mailings. You can also post it on your web site, blog or Facebook page. A co-op version is also available that can include information about your organization or resources for help and healing.
Citations
1. David C. Reardon and Philip G. Ney, “Abortion and subsequent substance abuse,” American Journal of Drug & Alcohol Abuse 26(1):61-75, 2000.
2. D.C. Reardon, P.K. Coleman, and J.R. Cougle, “Substance use associated with unintended pregnancy outcomes in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth,” American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse 26(1):369-383, 2004.
