Scientific study: Women who have abortions at heightened risk of mental health-related hospitalization

Women who obtain elective abortions are more than twice as likely to be hospitalized for a mental disorder after the death of their child compared with women who carry their pregnancies to term and are hospitalized for mental disorders after delivery, a recent study discovered.

Five researchers investigated 28,721 abortions and 1,228,807 births in Quebec, Canada, between 2006 and 2022. In addition to determining whether women who had abortions were at a higher risk for developing psychiatric disorders, substance use disorders, or suicidal behavior, the researchers also measured how many years after the abortion the risks of mental health disorders continued.

The researchers found that women who had abortions were at a higher risk of hospitalization for mental disorders, with about 104 hospitalizations per 10,000 women in any given year. Women who had live or still births experienced hospitalization for mental disorders at a lower rate: roughly 42 cases per 10,000 women in a year.

Several other factors, including women’s ages at the time of their abortions or whether they had preexisting mental health disorders, also affected their risks of being hospitalized for a mental disorder after their abortions. Women under 25 years old when they had an abortion were among those most likely to be at risk of mental health hospitalization in the following years.

The women included in the study who had abortions were more likely than those who carried their pregnancies to term to have a preexisting mental illness or come from a lower socioeconomic background. Those with preexisting mental conditions were roughly nine times more likely to be hospitalized for mental disorders over time following their abortions. Women who had abortions and did not already struggle with mental disorders were 1.46 times more likely than other women to develop a disorder and become hospitalized.

Women who had abortions were also likely to be pregnant either at a very young age (less than 20 years old) or at an advanced age (over 40 years old). Women under 20 years old at the time of the abortion were 2.53 times more likely to be hospitalized for mental disorders afterward compared with other women, while women aged 40 or older were 1.33 times more at risk.

The researchers also found that women who had multiple abortions or had a live birth from a different pregnancy prior to having an abortion were more likely to be hospitalized for a mental disorder. 

In addition to being at a higher risk for developing mental disorders after abortion compared with birth, the women were nearly four times more likely to develop substance use disorders and roughly three times more likely to attempt suicide. The researchers also found that abortion was more strongly associated with eating disorders, hallucinogen use disorders, and cocaine use disorders.

The women were studied for 17 years, regardless of whether they gave birth or had an abortion. The researchers discovered that women who had abortions were at the greatest risk for hospitalization for a disorder, particularly for substance use or suicide, within five years of the abortion. Five years after the abortion, women who had abortions were still 74% more likely to be hospitalized for a mental health disorder than women who gave birth, but the risk deteriorated over time. At the end of the observance period, substance use was the only risk that remained heightened.