Most of the remaining symptoms below result from listening to that mental tape day in and day out. The woman will often express her guilt and shame through anger at herself and others involved in the abortion decision such as her parents, friends, doctor, the baby's father and men in general. She may also be angry with her children or future children, which often results in abuse. Studies indicate that child abuse is more frequent among mothers who previously had an abortion. This is due to the guilt and depression hindering the mother's ability to bond with her children.
Anxiety is defined as an unpleasant emotional and physical state of apprehension.
The conflict between a woman's moral standards and her decision to abort generates much of this anxiety. Very often, she will not relate her anxiety to a past abortion, and yet she will unconsciously begin to avoid anything having to do with babies. She may make excuses for not attending a baby shower, skip the baby aisle at the grocery store and so forth. Abortions performed with the hope of saving a relationship seldom succeed. Pro-abortion advocate Linda Bird Franck notes that almost every relationship between single people broke up either before or after the abortion.