Researchers want to examine the impact that restrictions on access to abortion might have on the number of suicides, especially with regard to the dismissal of Roe v Wade in the United States.
A study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry and carried out by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia wanted to show if there is a link between the suicide rate and the question of access to abortion: “Being denied the opportunity to have an abortion is linked to increased stress and anxiety among women of childbearing age. Yet no studies have tested whether access to reproductive care is linked to suicide. »
It is a cross-check that has enabled researchers to focus on this aspect in particular. It is first by observing the impact of restrictions on sexual and reproductive rights on gender inequalities, as well as environmental stressors and how they influence parents and child development that they are questioned: what consequences might have had the removal of Roe v Wade in June 2022 and its impact on the various laws on abortion across the United States, in terms of mental health and more specifically suicide (which, let us remember, is the third cause of death among 25-44 year olds).
Significant increase in suicide rate spotted
Ran Barzilay, study co-author and a child and adolescent psychiatrist, who has notably researched factors that affect mental health trajectory and suicide risk, give some clarification on the first observations:
“Stress is a key factor in the burden of mental health and an important driver in increasing the risk of suicide. We found that this particular stressor — abortion restriction — affects women of a specific age and with a specific cause of death, which is suicide. It’s a general overview. »
By examining data collected over a period from 1974 to 2016, the researchers observed that, by way of comparison, women who experienced the shock of a change in the law to restrict the right to abortion experienced a significant increase in the suicide rate.
It is still too early to determine whether the number of suicides has actually increased over the past six months with the drastic reversal that has taken place in the United States
“Women who abort do not take contraception” and other misconceptions regarding abortion debunked
Photo credit: Gayatri Malhotra via Unsplash
