More abortion studies needed, says foundation

People should not jump to conclusions over new research suggesting a link between abortion and mental health problems, the Mental Health Foundation says.

Mental Health Foundation chief executive Judi Clements said more research was needed into the impact of abortion on mental health and other studies had produced varying findings.

Her comments came after anti-abortion group Right to Life spokesman Ken Orr said the results showed 98 per cent of abortions performed in New Zealand could be legally challenged.

Mr Orr said the results undermined the legal basis for the majority of abortions and women should be informed of risks.

He said the Abortion Supervisory Committee, which is responsible for abortion counselling in New Zealand, should ensure the results of this study were available to women considering an abortion.

Ms Clements said the Canterbury research contrasted with a US study released in October which found no credible evidence that women who terminated a first pregnancy were at a higher risk of depression.

"The [US] study's authors found pre-existing mental health to be a better predictor of depression risk than abortion."

The US study also found that women who opted for a termination reported less depression than those who carried on with an unwanted pregnancy.

Ms Clements said abortion could be stressful.

"It is vital that women who have an abortion have access to social and professional support to help them come to terms with what can be a major event in their lives," she said.

"There is also a strong need for education and access to information, to ensure that women are able to make a fully informed choice as to the course of action that is best for them."

Another consideration was that adverse reactions and prejudice about abortion could impact negatively on a woman's mental health.

Family Planning national medical adviser Dr Christine Roke also cautioned against concluding abortions "caused" mental health problems.

"One of the difficulties with these findings is, we can't tell if it is because they have mental health problems or a tendency to mental health problems that they have chosen termination, rather than the termination causing the mental health problem," she said.

"While researchers made some effort to check out whether women had mental health problems at [the] time they were considering termination, it has been very difficult to allow for."

The main weakness in the study was that it did not differentiate between women who had had planned and unplanned pregnancies, she said.

"Clearly you would expect depression and anxiety to be less in women who had planned a pregnancy, which they may very well be doing by age 25."