CAN THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (APA) BE TRUSTED TO ISSUE AN UNBIASED EVALUATION OF ABORTION TRAUMA?

- Update 9/6/08 - From the Family Research Council:

Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of psychology and fellow for psychology and public policy at Grove City College's Center for Vision and Values, does a great job of highlighting the major flaws of the recent APA (American Psychological Association) report on abortion and mental health in a Washington Times op-ed today.

He exposes the organization's conflicting position since 1969 holding abortion as a civil right, the fact that APA leadership has continually refused to meet with women who claim adverse health effect following abortion, the one study basis of report headline conclusion, and other criticisms by pro-choice researcher/reviewer Fergusson.

-Note my previous post (March 16, 2008): "Royal College of Psychiatrists Warns Abortions can Lead to Mental Illness"

- The Family Research Council categorized a recent  APA report as "biased" and issued the following press release:

The Family Research Council (FRC) today criticized the American Psychological Association (APA) for minimizing the psychological harms of abortion to women in a report issued this week at the APA's annual conference. The report claims that there is "no credible evidence that a single elective abortion of an unwanted pregnancy in and of itself causes mental health problems for adult women."

"This conclusion does not follow from the literature reviewed, and the overall review process was riddled with shifting standards of evaluation to fit a pro-abortion agenda," declared FRC President Tony Perkins. "Other experts have noted that the selection criteria

for including studies in the review was enormously biased, and that the report did not quantify the numbers of women likely to be affected by abortion. Consensus exists among many social and medical science scholars that a minimum of 10 to 30 percent of women who abort suffer from serious, prolonged, negative psychological consequences."

While the APA's conclusion flies in the face of established scientific research to the contrary, it also ignores the high prevalence of women affected by repeat abortion. According to a 2005 Alan Guttmacher report, 48% of American women currently seeking an abortion have already had one abortion.

"The APA recklessly dismisses an established body of scientific research. A number of studies have shown abortion in women to be associated with increased risks of major depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, and suicidal behaviors," said Perkins. "The report also ignores a substantial and growing body of evidence consisting of testimonies based on women's real-life experiences, as cited by the Supreme Court in the Gonzales v. Carhart decision last year which upheld the federal ban on partial-birth abortion."

"For the APA to simply restate its previous position of almost two decades ago shows that the group is blind to the scientific evidence and callous towards the well-being of women," said Perkins.