A new study of over 1.2 million pregnancy outcomes in Quebec, Canada, confirms that psychiatric hospitalization is over twice as likely to occur after induced abortions than after live births (104 versus 42 cases per 10,000 person years). The rates of hospitalization were especially higher for substance abuse disorders and suicide attempts.
The risks associated with abortion remained elevated even after controlling for prior mental health, age, and poverty. But among women with prior mental health issues, psychiatric hospitalization was nine times more likely for those who had abortions. In contrast, among women without prior mental health issues, abortion was linked to only a 50% increased risk of psychiatric hospitalization.
The risk of psychiatric admissions generally declined over time, nearly disappearing after twelve years. The exception was for substance use disorders, which while declining remained significantly elevated throughout the sixteen years examined by the research team.
The study also observed that the risk of psychiatric treatment increased with the number of abortions women experienced. This is a "dose effect." It means each abortion exposure increased the risk of a mental health disorder requiring hospitalization. Observation of a dose effect is generally considered to be strong evidence of a direct causal pathway between a risk factor (abortion) and a statistically associated outcome (hospitalization for mental health).