Could limiting the right to abortion have consequences for mental health and the suicide rate?

A study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry and carried out by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia wanted to demonstrate whether there is a link between the suicide rate and the question of access to abortion. : “Denialization of an abortion opportunity is linked to increased stress and anxiety among women of childbearing age. Yet no studies have tested whether access to reproductive care is linked to suicide. »

It is a cross-check that allowed the researchers to focus on this aspect in particular. It is first by looking at the impact of sexual and reproductive rights restrictions on gender inequalities, as well as environmental stressors and how they affect parenting and child development that we are questioned: what consequences Roe’s firing may have had v Wade in June 2022 and its impact on various abortion laws in the United States, in terms of mental health and more specifically suicide (which, let us remember, is the third leading cause of death among 25-44 year olds).

Significant increase in suicide rate detected

Ran Barzilay, study co-author and a child and adolescent psychiatrist who has specifically researched factors influencing the trajectory of mental health and suicide risk, offers some insight into the initial findings:

“Stress is a key factor in mental health burden and a major factor in increasing the risk of suicide. We found that this particular stressor — the restriction of abortion — affects women of a specific age and with a specific cause of death, which is suicide. It is a general overview. »

Examining data collected over a period from 1974 to 2016, the researchers noted that, by comparison, women who experienced the shock of a change in the law to limit abortion rights experienced a significant increase in the suicide rate.

It is still too early to determine whether the number of suicides has actually increased in the last six months with the drastic turnaround in the United States.

Photo credit: Gayatri Malhotra via Unsplash