Truth about Abortion and Depression: Alice may be in Wonderland; I'm Not

This latest "professional" study insults our intelligence when it denies our experiences and blatantly attempts to override truth. We have now had over 50 million abortions performed in our country and unlike years ago, we all know someone who has suffered because of it. Reality can only be denied for so long, yet in spite of more and more women speaking out about the harm abortion has caused them, the American Psychological Association and studies such as this one continue to deny our experiences.

P>BRONX, NY (Catholic Online) - As the product of a teen abortion I take great offense with the findings of the new study, "Do Depression and Low Self Esteem Follow Abortion Among Adolescents?" by Jocelyn Warren, S. Marie Harvey and Jillian Henderson.

For years I walked around like Alice in Wonderland in an upside-down world that made no sense because my experience of abortion was denied and I was made to feel crazy for my feelings. Today I don't know which is crazier; the fact that there is another new study saying abortion does not appear to cause depression and low self esteem in teens, or the fact that news outlets are reporting it without question, expecting us to believe it. 

This latest "professional" study insults our intelligence when it denies our experiences and blatantly attempts to override truth. Women who have had abortions are the true experts on what abortion does. We are not buying falsehoods anymore, and neither are countless other Americans.

We have now had over 50 million abortions performed in our country and unlike years ago, we all know someone who has suffered because of it. Reality can only be denied for so long, yet in spite of more and more women speaking out about the harm abortion has caused them, the American Psychological Association and studies such as this one continue to deny our experiences.

One has to wonder why post-abortion organizations like Operation Outcry, Silent No More, and numerous healing ministries that deal with post abortion trauma are never contacted for these studies. And, we women who speak out about abortion's realities continue to be labeled pro life, as if those words alone take away the legitimacy of our experience.

Also, it does not take more than a brief Internet search to recognize that the women conducting these studies (Brenda Majors, Jocelyn Warren, S. Marie Harvey, etc.) have close ties to a lucrative abortion industry that seeks to keep abortion procurement easy, at the expense of the very women they claim to care about and serve.

One only has to read the second word of the study to see the bias; the "purported" psychological risks of terminating a pregnancy. or in the same paragraph "so-called" partial birth abortion. Perhaps, as stated in the study, two years after abortion these researchers still have not seen the impact on teens because they have been told their depression after abortion is not real. This is perhaps the gravest injustice of it all, to continue to deny the very real effects felt by countless women following abortion.

My abortion as a teenager caused me depression and low self esteem, anxiety and panic attacks, and a host of other issues I had to deal with for many years after. Because society demanded that I deny my feelings, I spent years in a downward spiral before I finally found someone willing to work with me regarding the issues surrounding my abortion. It was only then, and with the forgiveness of God who is merciful, that I was lifted from depression and was able to move on with my life.

We all know abortion is not the easy solution it is made out to be. It is "independent" studies like this that sadly lead suffering teens into despair. Years ago I acknowledged and healed from the hurt of my abortion, but it looks like Alice has some new friends in now, in Warren, Harvey and Henderson. Welcome to Wonderland ladies.
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Theresa Bonopartis is the Director of "Lumina/Hope & Healing after Abortion", 1-877-586-4621, lumina@postabortionhelp.org and the Co-Developer, "Entering Canaan" post abortion ministry.

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