Abortions Often Linked to Relationship Problems, Study Says

April 7, 2009 - PRLog -- Eager to please their boyfriends or spouses, women often choose abortion to keep the relationship steady. But that can’t be counted on, say researchers at Bowling Green State University in a recent study.

When a woman gets an abortion, the couple is more than twice as likely to argue when discussing future children, and nearly three times as likely to experience domestic violence, compared with women who carry the pregnancy to term and raise the child, according to the peer-reviewed journal Public Health published Mar. 24.

“Abortion may play a vital role in understanding the aetiology [cause] of relationship problems,” the journal stated. The study said that abortion within a current relationship causes 116% more arguing when discussing future children, and 196% more domestic violence.

The study was carried out by Dr. Priscilla Coleman, professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Bowling Green State University, KY; Vincent Rue of the Florida-based Institute for Pregnancy Loss; and post-abortion researcher Catherine Coyle. The researchers found that abortion affected future relationships as well.

"For both men and women the experience of an abortion in a previous relationship was related to negative outcomes in the current relationship,” they wrote.

Although neither the Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned Parenthood, nor the sexuality website RH Reality Check commented on the study yet, the Planned Parenthood website states on its health topic answers that, “For some women, having an abortion can be a significant life event, like ending a relationship, starting or losing a job, or becoming a parent. It can be very stressful and difficult. Other women have an easier time after abortion.”

(See also articles on the WomanCare Services website on Glamour magazine and the emotions surrounding abortion, and how feelings of liberation from pregnancy following an abortion can cause unexpected results.)

Women in Berwyn, Cicero, North Riverside, Forest Park and other Chicago-area communities who want to learn more about such after-effects to better enable them to make an abortion decision should contact WomanCare Services in Berwyn at 708-795-6000. Or go to http://www.womancare.org.

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WomanCare Services, of Berwyn, IL provides help to women with unexpected pregnancies. You don't have to wait to be seen by one of our team members. Often, you can make an appointment for the same day. Our consultations are confidential. Call 708-795-6000.