Abortion, depression link questioned

A 2009 study claiming to demonstrate a link between abortion and depression has been the subject of scrutiny and a new report.

The study, conducted by Priscilla Coleman of Ohio’s Bowling Green State University, found that women who had had abortions had higher rates of anxiety, depression and substance abuse when compared to women who had not had the procedure, according to the Huffington Post. However, a report published in a recent issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Research found a flaw in Coleman’s research methods—the 2009 study used data that recorded whether the subjects were mentally ill at any point in their lives, making it impossible to determine “when the mental health outcome occurred relative to the abortion,” said researcher Julia Steinberg, of UC San Francisco’s department of psychiatry.

“This is not a scholarly difference of opinion; their facts are flatly wrong,” said Steinberg.