Editing Abortion (section)

===Mental health===
{{Main|Abortion and mental health}}

Current evidence finds no relationship between most induced abortions and [[abortion and mental health|mental health problems]]<ref name=BMJ2014/><ref name=Hor2017>{{cite journal | vauthors = Horvath S, Schreiber CA | title = Unintended Pregnancy, Induced Abortion, and Mental Health | journal = Current Psychiatry Reports | volume = 19 | issue = 11 | page = 77 | date = September 2017 | pmid = 28905259 | doi = 10.1007/s11920-017-0832-4 | s2cid = 4769393 }}</ref> other than those expected for any unwanted pregnancy.<ref name="apa-press"/> A report by the [[American Psychological Association]] concluded that a woman's first abortion is not a threat to mental health when carried out in the first trimester, with such women no more likely to have mental-health problems than those carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term; the mental-health outcome of a woman's second or greater abortion is less certain.<ref name="apa-press">{{cite press release |publisher=American Psychological Association |title=APA Task Force Finds Single Abortion Not a Threat to Women's Mental Health |date=12 August 2008 |access-date=7 September 2011 |url=http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2008/08/single-abortion.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906022824/http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2008/08/single-abortion.aspx |archive-date=6 September 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/abortion/mental-health.pdf |title=Report of the APA Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion |publisher=American Psychological Association|location=Washington, DC |date=13 August 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615020211/http://apa.org/pi/women/programs/abortion/mental-health.pdf |archive-date=15 June 2010 }}</ref> Some older reviews concluded that abortion was associated with an increased risk of psychological problems;<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Coleman PK | title = Abortion and mental health: quantitative synthesis and analysis of research published 1995-2009 | journal = The British Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 199 | issue = 3 | pages = 180–186 | date = September 2011 | pmid = 21881096 | doi = 10.1192/bjp.bp.110.077230 | doi-access = free }}</ref> however, later reviews of the medical literature found that previous reviews did not use an appropriate control group.<ref name=Hor2017/> When a control group is utilized, receiving abortion is not associated with adverse psychological outcomes.<ref name=Hor2017/> However, women seeking abortion who are denied access to abortion have an increase in anxiety after the denial.<ref name=Hor2017/>

Although some studies show negative mental-health outcomes in women who choose abortions after the first trimester because of fetal abnormalities,<ref name="apa-2008">{{cite web |title=Mental Health and Abortion |url=http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/abortion/index.aspx |publisher=[[American Psychological Association]] |year=2008 |access-date=18 April 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419174044/http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/abortion/index.aspx |archive-date=19 April 2012}}</ref> more rigorous research would be needed to show this conclusively.<ref name="Steinberg2011">{{cite journal |vauthors=Steinberg JR |title=Later abortions and mental health: psychological experiences of women having later abortions--a critical review of research | journal = Women's Health Issues |volume=21 |issue=3 Suppl |pages=S44–S48 |year=2011 |pmid=21530839 |doi=10.1016/j.whi.2011.02.002}}</ref> Some proposed negative psychological effects of abortion have been referred to by anti-abortion advocates as a separate condition called "[[post-abortion syndrome]]", but this is not recognized by medical or psychological professionals in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Kelly K |title=The spread of 'Post Abortion Syndrome' as social diagnosis |journal=Social Science & Medicine |volume=102 |pages=18–25 |date=February 2014 |pmid=24565137 |doi=10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.11.030}}</ref>

A 2020 long term-study among US women found that about 99% of women felt that they made the right decision five years after they had an abortion. Relief was the primary emotion with few women feeling sadness or guilt. Social stigma was a main factor predicting negative emotions and regret years later.  The researchers also stated: "These results add to the scientific evidence that emotions about an abortion are associated with personal and social context, and are not a product of the abortion procedure itself."<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Rocca CH, Samari G, Foster DG, Gould H, Kimport K | title = Emotions and decision rightness over five years following an abortion: An examination of decision difficulty and abortion stigma | journal = Social Science & Medicine | volume = 248 | page = 112704 | date = March 2020 | pmid = 31941577 | doi = 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112704 | doi-access = free | quote=We found no evidence of emerging negative emotions or abortion decision regret; both positive and negative emotions declined over the first two years and plateaued thereafter, and decision rightness remained high and steady (predicted percent: 97.5% at baseline, 99.0% at five years). At five years postabortion, relief remained the most commonly felt emotion among all women (predicted mean on 0-4 scale: 1.0; 0.6 for sadness and guilt; 0.4 for regret, anger and happiness). Despite converging levels of emotions by decision difficulty and stigma level over time, these two factors remained most important for predicting negative emotions and decision non-rightness years later. }}</ref>