Abortion and suicide studies 

FINISH STUDY : 1996

Examining the recent medical history of suicide victims, researchers in Finland found a strong association between abortion and suicide. In their findings, published in the British Medical Journal (Mika Gissler, Elina Hemminki, Jouko Lonnqvist, "Suicides after pregnancy in Finland: 1987-94: register linkage study" British Medical Journal 313:1431-4, 1996) they report that "The suicide rate after an abortion was three times the general suicide rate and six times that associated with birth."

These findings are consistent with previous studies that have found that giving birth reduces the risk of suicide compared to the "normal" population while abortion increases the risk of suicide. Unfortunately, this study looked for an abortion only in the one year before the suicide. Because most women report a delayed post-abortion reaction, it is very possible that most abortion related suicides would occur in subsequent years.

WELSH STUDY : 1997

Christopher LI Morgan Research officer, Marc Evans Research registrar, John R Peters Consultant physician of the Department of Medicine, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff conducted a study in their health authority during the years 1991 - 1995 (population 408,000). They linked admissions for miscarriage, induced abortion, and normal delivery to admissions for suicide attempts in their health authority (population 408 000) during 1991-5. Their study was reported in the British Medical Journal Volume 314, 22 March 1997

The age standardised relative risk of admission for attempted suicide compared with the non-gestational female population (ages 15-49) followed a similar pattern to that reported for mortality from suicide; it was 2.17 (95% confidence interval 1.45 to 3.24, P<0.001) for women admitted for miscarriage, 1.92 (1.29 to 2.88, P<0.001) for those admitted for induced abortion, and 0.94 (0.73 to 1.20, NS) for those admitted for normal delivery.

The age adjusted relative risk of suicide admission for women admitted for miscarriage compared with women admitted for normal delivery was 2.84 (1.67 to 4.81, P<0.001) before the event and 2.29 (1.13 to 4.65, P<0.05) afterwards. For induced abortion the relative risk was 1.72 (0.92 to 3.17, NS) before and 3.25 (1.79 to 5.91, P<0.001) afterwards.

The non-significant increase in the induced abortion group before the event could be explained by the fact that six (46%) admissions for attempted suicide occurred within 90 days of the termination. In these cases, attempted suicide may be a consequence of the pregnancy rather than a feature of underlying mental illness. In the miscarriage group three (17%) admissions for attempted suicide occurred within 90 days before the miscarriage compared with none in the normal delivery group.

The increased risk of suicide after an induced abortion may therefore be a consequence of the procedure itself. The non-significant increase in admissions before an induced abortion is possibly explained by factors relating to the pregnancy. Hence this group of women in general does not seem to be at increased risk of suicide. Interestingly, this does not seem to be the case for women who miscarry spontaneously; their suicide rate is greater before miscarriage and reduced afterwards.

Their data suggest that a deterioration in mental health may be a consequential side effect of induced abortion. Furthermore, poor mental health, as measured by suicide admission rates, seems unlikely to predispose to abortion. The relation between mental health and miscarriage, however, requires further investigation.