A prominent study claiming to have disproven research linking abortion to elevated risks of suicide has itself been proven to be inaccurate and deceptive, according to a new reanalysis of Turnaway Study data.
The original analysis, conducted by Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), reported no significant differences in suicidal thoughts between 717 women who had abortions and 160 women who had been turned away by abortion providers. This lack of any difference led them to conclude that dozens of studies linking abortion to elevated rates of suicide were in error.
But a new analysis of the same data reveals that the weak suicidality scales employed in the Turnaway Study required interviews with at least 7,644 women, and preferably 141,308, before the authors could have detected any significant differences.
"The Turnaway Study is simply too small, and uses scales that are too insensitive, to identify any meaningful results," said David Reardon, the author of the new study and over 40 other peer reviewed medical studies examining the harms of unwanted abortions on women.