Surprisingly, no. In an American study, researchers tracked women who had planned to abort their baby, but were turned away from the abortion clinic because their pregnancy was beyond the prescribed time limit. They found that the women who couldn’t have the abortion they wanted had “comparatively few negative psychological outcomes.”

The women in this study spoke about how they were glad that they did not abort their baby and said that the baby had a positive effect on their life. This is what some of the women said:

Julia, aged 26, said: “I bring down tears sometimes when I see him, oh my God, how could it pass my head to have an abortion, and now I have a lovely son, you know, I adore so much, that I love so much.”

Camilla, aged 22, said: “It’s just something that opens you up and changes you when you find out that you’re going to be [a mother] … and that there’s nothing you can do about it. You know, this is your new life, and this is just what’s going to happen. And a sense of peace came over me.”

Jenny, aged 20, said: “… once it was reality, like I’m having this baby, I’m going to be a mom, it was like a kick in my butt to get me motivated to do something, to further my career so that I could support her.” Jenny reported that she now works as a dental nurse.