Abortion Study Causes Stir in New Zealand
by Mary Rettig
March 1, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The director of the Elliot Institute says a New Zealand study could have a big effect on abortion around the globe. The study reports that women who have abortions have a higher rate of subsequent mental problems that couldn't be explained by any pre-abortion mental issues. Dr. David Reardon, a pro-life researcher from Illinois, has published reports in the U.S. on the effects of abortion on women. He says the lead researcher of the New Zealand study, Professor David Fergusson -- an abortion supporter -- had a difficult time trying to publish his findings. Reardon explains why that occurred.
"He ran into [something] we've long known about, which is that there's a bias against any research that questions that abortion is the greatest thing since sliced bread," Reardon says. "He had three rejections before he was finally accepted."
According to Reardon, under unbiased conditions the study's results would have been given quick approval for publishing. "Because of the unique status of the Christchurch study -- this major longitudinal study from birth through over 25 years of age now -- normally [researchers] get their studies published the first time everywhere they submit because it's a very important data set."
But that did not happen in Reardon's native country. He explains that in New Zealand abortions are allowed to protect women's physical and mental health.
"In New Zealand, the law requires that abortion can only be performed when doctors agree that it's likely to benefit the mental health or physical health of women -- and [Fergusson's] study shows that it's likely to hurt rather than help women," he says. "And therefore the doctors who are saying that abortion is probably going to produce mental health benefits don't have a leg to stand on anymore."
Reardon says this study may have some impact on the abortion debate in America. In fact, he notes, it was given as evidence during the Senate confirmation hearings for now-Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
