A revelatory US study has revealed that 87 per cent of women with abortion histories experienced some form of pressure, personal and/or circumstantial, to have an abortion and consequently experienced a decline in mental health. “Only one in three women described their abortions as both wanted and consistent with their own values and preferences”, the authors observed.

“Abortion pressure and coercion constitute one of the most widespread but hidden epidemics in America”, writes the Charlotte Lozier Institute following a new survey revealing that nearly 87 per cent of surveyed women who had abortions “experienced some form of interpersonal pressure”.

The study asked women to rate the forms of pressure they experienced on a scale of 1 to 100, allowing for a nuanced and detailed survey.

Most strikingly, the survey, polling women aged 41 to 45 in October 2022, found that 45 per cent experienced “substantial or high levels of pressure” to have an abortion from other people, refuting another study’s dubious claim that 99% of women are satisfied with their abortions.

The survey also found that women who felt pressure to abort a child were more likely to suffer negative reactions, especially if pressured by their partner, family or other persons. Negative consequences included disruption of work, relationships and daily life; abortion flashbacks; grief; conflicting thoughts; and a general decline in mental health.

Women who felt pressured to have an abortion also had higher levels of stress when completing the survey. The authors noted that “this last finding is consistent with previous studies suggesting that questionnaire-based studies of abortion and mental health are likely to underreport negative reactions due to self-censure bias”.

Reflecting on the findings, the researchers stated, “All this compels us to ask: in the abortion debate, whose choice is at stake? Is it the woman’s choice – or someone else’s?”

Exposing abortion industry lies

Last year, a poll commissioned by the BBC found that 15% of British women felt pressured in some way into having an abortion.

At last year’s London SPUC conference, bioethicist Dr Greg Pike, Senior Research Fellow at the Bios Centre, commented on how academics have been “enormously downplaying” the reality of abortion coercion, with some even dismissing it as a “myth”.

Dr Pike explained further that one reason for this neglect is that academics simply don’t want to undermine the idea of abortion as a free and fully considered choice, fearing restrictions on abortion might result.

SPUC has reported on numerous cases of abortion coercion shared by brave women, including Amada Rose Pérez, a Colombian actress and former model, who was suicidal after being coerced into an abortion.

“Behind abortion is a big business run by men who make women believe that they’re fighting for their rights, when what they’re doing is harming their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health”, Pérez said.

“Hidden epidemic”

SPUC’s Michael Robinson, Executive Director (Public Affairs and Legal Services), said: “Surveys like this show just how widespread abortion pressure and coercion are in the West. If it is a ‘hidden epidemic’, this is only because media and abortion ideologues have chosen to look the other way.

“Women have been betrayed for the sake of profit and political agendas. SPUC has called on government to address this pressing issue. To find out more about our Abortion and Coercion campaign, please click here.

“SPUC will not cease to report on the daily pressure and coercion that mothers are subjected to. The propaganda that abortion is about ‘choice’ is being shown to be a lie as the facts become startlingly clear.

“Abortion is a destructive act, killing an unborn child, with devastating consequences for the mother and others. At a time when abortion is being further expanded across the world, it is even more vital that we pay attention to what women are saying about their experiences. We must allow these heartbroken women to be heard.”