Sanctity of the unborn fetus is the widely held reason why pro-lifers oppose abortion. However, PAS puts a new spin on their arguments, and therefore, a new weapon in their arsenal. If abortions cause women serious psychological distress, maybe more people will oppose them. To date, however, no credible scientific research backs their claim. Neither the American Psychiatric Association nor the American Psychological Association recognizes the syndrome as a disease. C. Everett Koop, our former pro-life Surgeon General, issued a 1987 report finding no evidence that abortion causes psychological harm. In 1992, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that there is no evidence of an abortion-trauma syndrome. Other studies have found the same rate of depression and psychological distress in post-abortive women as that experienced by women after childbirth.
These empirical results have most pro-choice groups discounting PAS as a syndrome contrived by the religious right to further their anti-abortion agenda. However, this brings me back to my original kernel of hesitation: is it all so clear-cut?
For instance, by eagerly shooting down the idea of PAS, pro-choicers have failed to acknowledge that some of the “symptoms” of PAS may actually occur. Isn’t it true that some women may be sad after an abortion? Or remember the age that their unborn child would be today? Or wonder whether they did the right thing? I’m not saying these “emotions” should be labeled as “symptoms;” I am suggesting that perhaps they do occur, if only temporarily, in some women.
While surely the abortion recovery activists have spun these normal feelings into a suicide-causing medical scapegoat, advocates on the other side of the argument should not foster the idea that an abortion is something women can simply forget about. Too easily discounting negative post-abortion emotions would be akin to dismissing the difficult decision women made. Reflection and discussion should be encouraged, not left to the pro-life counselors, whose tactics are anything but open-minded.
On the other hand, pro-lifers should recognize their own hand in creating PAS. If a woman feels guilt or shame after an abortion, it is almost entirely due to anti-abortion advocates putting it there. Guilt? Shame? Now why would a woman, told she has been stained by her abortion, called a baby killer, or raised in an atmosphere of abstinence-only or go to hell, feel guilt? Or be too ashamed to tell friends and family about her choice? In fact, I cannot imagine any women feeling good after being told that part of the abortion recovery process (as stated on abortionfacts.org) is, “Counter the denial. Bring this back into your consciousness and admit you were a party to killing your own baby. You must grieve over your lost child.”
