A study, published in the journal of the American Psychological Association, of nearly 5,300 women shows that having an abortion does not cause emotional trauma for young women. Researchers Dr. Nancy Felipe Russo and Dr. Amy Dabul Marin interviewed 773 women who had had abortions and compared them to women who had not had abortions. The women, originally between the ages of 18 to 24 in 1979, were interviewed every year between 1980 and 1987; the interview included the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, a standardized test which measures overall well-being. The study found that higher self-esteem resulted mainly from having being employed, income levels, education levels, and having fewer children. The study did not find any evidence that young women who were emotionally well-off before having an abortion, were not emotional well-off after having had one. The study concluded, “Given the persistent assertion that abortion is associated with negative outcomes, the lack of any results in the context of such a large sample is noteworthy.”
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