From: margoli@watson.ibm.com (Larry Margolis)
Subject: Survey says... PAS a myth.
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 08:35:08 GMT
News-Software: IBM OS/2 PM RN (NR/2) v0.16f by O. Vishnepolsky and R. Rogers
Reply-To: margoli@watson.IBM.com
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM
Organization: The Village Waterbed

In <nyikos.728142688@milo.math.scarolina.edu> nyikos@math.scarolina.edu (Peter Nyikos) writes:
>The following excerpts from the foreword to _Aborted Women, Silent No
>More_ detail one of the most devastating cases of moral and psychological
>disintegration I have ever encountered.
>
>I sent a copy of this foreword to Larry Margolis, who by his recent
>posts on this subject seems to have gathered the chaff from this
>foreword and scattered the wheat to the winds.  In particular, he
>insinuates (and indirectly claims) that NancyJo Mann's post-abortion
>syndrome was not due to the abortion, but to other factors in her life.

You skipped some important stuff.  E.g.,
   ... in high school ... in my junior year, I became pregnant.
      My mother was terribly upset.  "Oh, what are the neighbors going
   to say?" she worried.  "You'll shame the family.  You've got to
   have an abortion."
      ... My mother only wanted what she thought was best for me, but
   I *didn't* want an abortion.

[skip past two failed marriages to her third pregnancy, after husband 2 walked]

      I was left five and a half months pregnant, with my two young
   children and no source of income.  I didn't know what to do.  Finally
   I took the kids and drove over to my parents house.  My mother and one
   of my brothers were there.  I was at a loss.  "What am I going to do?
   He left!" I said.  They talked to me for awhile and finally my mother
   said, "Nancy, you're never going to amount to a hill of beans.  What
   man is ever going to want you with three children, let alone the two
   you already have?  With all those kids, you'll probably end up on
   welfare for the rest of your life.  You're never going to be anybody.
   It's obvious that you'll just have to have an abortion."
      If I wasn't upset and depressed enough already, this type of
   "practical" advice made me feel even worse.  I felt totally helpless.
   I was a failure....  How could I resist when everyone was just
   trying to "do the best thing" for me?  They were sincerely trying to
   help me and they were the only sources of support I had.  Upset,
   depressed, tired, desperate, I took the path of least resistance.
   I adopted the attitudes of those around me.  I accepted their decisions
   as my own.  I simply floated along with "what had to be done."

Now, let's see what the professionals have to say about this.  The first
is from an article posted by Adrienne Regard.

   Scientific American, April 1990:

   "Scientific studies on psychological responses to legal, nonrestrictive
   abortion in the United States suggest that severe negative reactions are
   infrequent in the immediate and short-term aftermath, particularly for
   first-trimester abortions.  Women who are terminating pregnancies that
   are wanted, or personally meaningfull, who lack support from their part-
   ner or parents for the abortion, or who have more conflicting feelings
                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   or are less sure of their decision beforehand may be at relatively higher
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   risk for negative consequences.  [emphasis mine]

That certainly seems to describe Nancyjo Mann

   "Case studies have established that some women experience severe distress
   or spychopathology after abortion and require sympathetic care.  As former
   Surgeon General C. Everett Koop testified before Congress regarding
   his review of research on spychological effects of abortion, such
   responses can be overwhelming to a given individual, BUT the development
   of significant psychological problems related to abortion is "miniscule
   from a public health perspective".  [emphasis Adrienne's.]    ^^^^^^^^^

Since the discussion is regarding the existance of a "Post-Abortion Syndrome",
it is appropriate to point out that no matter *what* the cause of Nancyjo's
problems, the evidence that there is no such *syndrome*.

The following is a brief extract from an extremely long article which was, I
believe, originally posted by Phil Buckland.  [Emphasis mine]

   SOURCE:
   the American Journal of Psychiatry, Volume 148, Issue 5, May 1991.
   copyright by the American Psychiatric Association ((C) 1991)
   copied without permission.

   The Psychological Sequelae of Theraputic Abortion - Denied and Completed
   by Paul K.B. Dagg, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai Hospital.

     ...  Not surprisingly, women undergoing mid-trimester abortions
                                             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
     experienced more difficulty with the decision than those having first-
     trimester abortions (25), and they experienced greater ambivalence
     about the pregnancy (52).  They also appeared more likely to experience
     negative reactions after the abortion (25, 30, 53), particularly if
     the late abortion required induction of labor and delivery (54).
     Adolescents who felt that they themselves made the decision to abort,
                               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
     regardless of the length of the pregnancy, without pressure from
                                                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
     parents or others, were less likely to experience negative emotions
     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
     after the abortion (24, 43).

     ... When women experience significant ambivalence about the
     decision or when the decision is not freely made, the results are
                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
     also more likely to be negative.

Women like Nancyjo who are pressured to get an abortion they don't want are
likely to experience negative reactions as a result of this pressure.  Women
denied abortion also show more negative reactions than do women who make
their own decision without pressure.  So perhaps those trying to stop abortion
are planting the seeds for more Nancyjo Manns...
--
Larry Margolis, MARGOLI@YKTVMV (Bitnet), margoli@watson.IBM.com (Internet)
Newsgroups: talk.abortion