For most women who have had abortions, the procedure represents a maturing experience. The abortion acts as a successful coping mechanism to a personal crisis situation; an unwanted pregnancy. The most prominent emotional response to abortion is relief. The statistics are overwhelming, 85% of women felt "relief and satisfaction" immediately following and for years after the abortion. The time of greatest distress is likely to be before the abortion. Stress associated with abortion usually ends with the procedure. Anne Catherine Speckhard, author of "The Psycho-Social Aspects of Stress Following Abortion" claims that "abortion functions as a major stressor"(Speckhard, 1985). However, Speckhard drew her conclusions from a pool of 30 women who had experienced high stress abortion situations. For example; having an abortion because of a rape , because of a physical or genetic problem, or when feeling pressured by parents or partners. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan asked Surgeon General C. Everett Koop to study the effects of induced abortions. Koop quickly responded saying he could not form a conclusion on this topic. A year later Koop disappointingly admitted to representatives of Ohio Right to Life and Toronto ON Right to Life that, "Significant emotional problems were miniscule from a public health perspective. Assumptions of psychological risks and abortion acting as a stressor have been based upon small, uncontrolled, and non representative samples. They cannot be predictive of national estimates"(Koop, 1987).
Koop did not initially release his study because it did not support his, nor Reagan's, anti-abortion position. .
The most important factor in the emotional well being of women following an abortion is their emotional well being before the procedure. Women who were depressed after an abortion were depressed prior to the abortion. Women who had low self esteem post-abortion had low self esteem pre-abortion.
