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January 21, 2007
Choosing the correct null hypothesis
"[T]he idea that abortion is at the root of women’s psychological ills is not supported by the bulk of the research. Instead, the scientific evidence strongly shows that abortion does not increase the risk of depression, drug abuse or any other psychological problem any more than having an unwanted pregnancy or giving birth."
NY Times
That doesn't sound like the right question to test against. We should not treat the test for psychological wellbeing after getting an abortion against actually having a baby, even one you don't want. Oh, I understand the appeal of an argument like that, after all if you don't get an abortion, you are probably going to end up a mother, but that's not the way real women deal with abortions, at least in my experience. In any case, the answer to that question isn't enough.
Women mostly get abortions in order to avoid the life changing maelstrom that is motherhood. These women hope that everything is going to be as before they got pregnant, not that it will merely be better than being pregnant. It would seem to be more appropriate to compare the mental well being of women who get abortions with those that are otherwise identical but don't get pregnant. Telling women that are thinking about having an abortion that they won't be any more messed up than real mothers is something, I suppose. But suppose women who get abortions were substantially more unhappy than women who never get pregnant in the first place. Many women would make use of that. Perhaps some would say "Oh, well since I cannot go back to the way things are, and to some extent I'm going to be more unhappy now anyway, maybe I should see if I can find the energy and resources to figure out if I can have this baby." That would make abortions less attractive on the margin. On the other hand, if you could get an abortion and you psychological profile became identical to women who had never been pregnant, then getting an abortion does put Humpty back together again, and you'd expect more frequent abortions.
Posted by OneEyedMan at January 21, 2007 12:49 PM
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