Abortion, motherhood, and mental health: Medicalizing reproduction in the United States and Britain

Abortion, Motherhood, and Mental Health: Medicalizing Reproduction in the United States and Britain. Ellie Lee. New York: Aldine de Gruyter. 2003. 293 pp. ISBN 0-202-30681-X. $22.95 (paper). A woman's very ability to reproduce puts her at an increased risk for mental health problems. If a woman carries a pregnancy to term, she may suffer from postnatal depression. If a woman decides to abort, she may suffer from postabortion syndrome (PAS). In Abortion, Motherhood, and Mental Health: Medicalizing Reproduction in the United States and Britain, Ellie Lee investigates sociopolitical origins, transmission of PAS from the United States to the United Kingdom, and how U.S. and U.K. political leaders and activists have employed PAS in abortion conflicts. Lee finds that in both the United States and the United Kingdom, everyday life experiences are problematized. Thus, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its cousin PAS are considered valid responses to distressing, yet not uncommon, experiences. An important difference between their sociopolitical landscapes is that abortion continues to be debated as a moral and "rights" issue in the United States, while abortion predominantly is a medical issue in the United Kingdom. Lee characterizes the United States and the United Kingdom as "syndrome societies"; people's experiences are generally and extensively medicalized in both countries. PAS is a form of ill health that a woman suffers after having an abortion. PAS is similar to PTSD, which was first diagnosed among World War II soldiers, although similar diagnoses were made much earlier. According to DSM III, an individual suffering from PTSD will relive a traumatic event through dreams, will avoid stimuli associated with the event, and will experience sleeplessness and weepiness. PAS is characterized by similar symptoms, including reliving trauma, feeling guilt, and suffering from depression. Lee argues that scientific evidence supporting PAS claims is virtually nonexistent; many groups, including the American Psychological Association, have attempted to refute PAS. Nevertheless, antiabortionists and even U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop have expressed concerns about the mental health of women who have terminated pregnancies through abortion. Abortion, Motherhood, and Mental Health tells the story of the transition of antiabortionists' arguments from moralistic, woman-blaming claims revolving around a fetus's personhood, which were less concerned with a woman's well being, to psychomedical misgivings for the woman who has an abortion. Much less attention is paid to the personhood of the fetus; much more attention is given to the mental health of the woman who has had an abortion. In contemporary debates, women are viewed as victims. It is a woman's significant others and societal pressures that have forced her to have an abortion. This shift toward women as victims has largely taken place because moralist claims have failed, especially in Britain. Some opponents have encouraged women who apparently suffered harm from abortions to take legal action against providers. …