The Patriot Post® · NY Times Dismisses Abortion Trauma

By Culture Beat ·
https://patriotpost.us/articles/46480-ny-times-dismisses-abortion-trauma-2016-12-15

Coming right alongside Barack Obama’s last-minute move to fortify funding for Planned Parenthood is another New York Times trope downplaying the well-documented consequences of abortions on women’s health. Highlighting new research supposedly “considered to be the most rigorous to look at the question in the United States,” the Times says, “Researchers followed nearly 1,000 women who sought abortions nationwide for five years and found that those who had the procedure did not experience more depression, anxiety, low self-esteem or dissatisfaction with life than those who were denied it.”

The study is being portrayed as a breakthrough against abortion foes. After all, the Times claims, “It’s an idea that has long been used as an argument against abortion — that terminating a pregnancy causes women to experience emotional and psychological trauma.” It’s also being used to try to hamstring pro-life President-elect Donald Trump, who is “promising to nominate an abortion opponent to the Supreme Court after taking office next month.”

Currently, the Times continues, “Women seeking abortions are required to be counseled about possible emotional or psychological effects in 22 states, nine of which focus almost entirely on potential negative effects, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.” Proponents of the new study suggest these regulations are unnecessary and serve only to hinder a supposedly safe procedure (safe, that is, unless you’re the unborn baby being aborted). These so-called experts also promote the idea that gender confusion should be respected and even inculcated. And they also claim the science is settled on climate change.

The truth is that myriad other studies cast concrete doubt on these claims. For example, a 2011 study published in The British Journal of Psychiatry found, “Women who had undergone an abortion experienced an 81% increased risk of mental health problems, and nearly 10% of the incidence of mental health problems was shown to be attributable to abortion.” But these conflicting studies aren’t allotted the same courtesy as politically correct ones. As Michael J. New wrote in National Review, “Within the past few years, both the New York Times and the Washington Post have run stories about research that indicated that abortion had little effect on the mental health of women. Furthermore, the mainstream media diligently avoids covering any studies on the harmful effects of abortion.”

Because abortion is the taking of life, it is mentally debilitating to many women who choose the procedure and end up doubting it morally. We don’t need studies to prove it. Reaching out to some women at your local church will suffice. The Times recently pledged to “rededicate ourselves to the fundamental mission of Times journalism. That is to report America and the world honestly, without fear or favor.” It can start anytime.