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20 / 03 / 2008 - Amazing pro-life victory for truth about damage caused by abortion
In what has been described by pro-life groups throughout Europe as a major victory for the protection of unborn children, the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) in London, to which the Irish College of Psychiatrists is closely affiliated, has issued a statement calling on all doctors to warn their patients of the psychological risks of abortion. The College recently invited submissions from practitioners in both Britain and Ireland outlining their professional views on the role of abortion in mental health. The response was such that the RCP has now advised all medical practitioners who are referring women for abortions that they should, and are ethically obliged to, warn their patients of the potential for adverse psychological events following abortion.
This new position came following a major review of the available evidence on the adverse effects of abortion on women’s mental health. The RCP says that there is a risk of mental health breakdown following abortion and recommends that women should not be allowed to have an abortion until they are counseled on the possible risk to their mental health.
The psychiatrists say that the damage caused by having an abortion outweighs any psychiatric risks of continuing with a crisis pregnancy. The new position is a complete reversal of the view previously held, which was thought to be ideologically motivated and ignored the adverse effects of abortion on women.
Irish pro-life psychiatrist, Dr. Seán Ó Domhnaill, who was involved in the consultation process, welcomed the new statement. ‘We have been warning for many years of the physical and psychological/psychiatric effects of abortion. While the pro-abortion lobby would like to ignore women after abortion, we have always been available to render help and assistance since we first discovered the problems of post-abortion symptoms and syndromes,’ he said.
Further alluding to the RCP statement, Dr. Ó Domhnaill commended the role of Irish psychiatrists who ‘have consistently advocated for the provision of information for women considering abortion.’ He also pointed to the highly-acclaimed report published by the Mother and Child Campaign in 2003 entitled “Women Have the Right to Know”, which documented the physical and psychological effects of abortion and was circulated to all medical and health professionals. ‘The health boards who were sending young children for abortions in England without warning them or their parents of the potential for serious adverse events, received that report,’ said Dr Ó Domhnaill. ‘They were aware of what the evidence showed’.
Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Mother and Child Campaign said that ‘finally the truth which pro-life people have so long championed has been acknowleged and should now be revealed’. She added that ‘the recently reported suicide after abortion by a young woman in England who was so heart-broken after the abortion of her twins that she took her own life, leaving a note to say that she just wanted to be with her babies, shows what many of us have known for years; Abortion kills women and children.’
The spokesman for Youth Defence, Eoghan de Faoite said that the Irish government would now need to give the RCP statement immediate and serious consideration. He said that recent attempts by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency and the Irish College of General Practitioners to bully doctors into collaborating in abortion referral had ignored the evidence now acknowledged by the RCP. ‘We’re writing to the Health Minister immediately to inform her that the agencies are pursuing their own agenda rather than following best medical practice and that they should be stripped of their funding,’ said Mr de Faoite.
The statement by the Royal College of Psychiatrists comes in advance of a vote in Westminster to reduce the maximum age for abortion of children, under the grounds of possible effect on mental health, from 24 to 20 weeks and pro-lifers say it could not have been more timely.
See also THE SUNDAY TIMES - Royal college warns abortions can lead to mental illness
Source : TruthTV Newsroom
This new position came following a major review of the available evidence on the adverse effects of abortion on women’s mental health. The RCP says that there is a risk of mental health breakdown following abortion and recommends that women should not be allowed to have an abortion until they are counseled on the possible risk to their mental health.
The psychiatrists say that the damage caused by having an abortion outweighs any psychiatric risks of continuing with a crisis pregnancy. The new position is a complete reversal of the view previously held, which was thought to be ideologically motivated and ignored the adverse effects of abortion on women.
Irish pro-life psychiatrist, Dr. Seán Ó Domhnaill, who was involved in the consultation process, welcomed the new statement. ‘We have been warning for many years of the physical and psychological/psychiatric effects of abortion. While the pro-abortion lobby would like to ignore women after abortion, we have always been available to render help and assistance since we first discovered the problems of post-abortion symptoms and syndromes,’ he said.
Further alluding to the RCP statement, Dr. Ó Domhnaill commended the role of Irish psychiatrists who ‘have consistently advocated for the provision of information for women considering abortion.’ He also pointed to the highly-acclaimed report published by the Mother and Child Campaign in 2003 entitled “Women Have the Right to Know”, which documented the physical and psychological effects of abortion and was circulated to all medical and health professionals. ‘The health boards who were sending young children for abortions in England without warning them or their parents of the potential for serious adverse events, received that report,’ said Dr Ó Domhnaill. ‘They were aware of what the evidence showed’.
Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Mother and Child Campaign said that ‘finally the truth which pro-life people have so long championed has been acknowleged and should now be revealed’. She added that ‘the recently reported suicide after abortion by a young woman in England who was so heart-broken after the abortion of her twins that she took her own life, leaving a note to say that she just wanted to be with her babies, shows what many of us have known for years; Abortion kills women and children.’
The spokesman for Youth Defence, Eoghan de Faoite said that the Irish government would now need to give the RCP statement immediate and serious consideration. He said that recent attempts by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency and the Irish College of General Practitioners to bully doctors into collaborating in abortion referral had ignored the evidence now acknowledged by the RCP. ‘We’re writing to the Health Minister immediately to inform her that the agencies are pursuing their own agenda rather than following best medical practice and that they should be stripped of their funding,’ said Mr de Faoite.
The statement by the Royal College of Psychiatrists comes in advance of a vote in Westminster to reduce the maximum age for abortion of children, under the grounds of possible effect on mental health, from 24 to 20 weeks and pro-lifers say it could not have been more timely.
See also THE SUNDAY TIMES - Royal college warns abortions can lead to mental illness
Source : TruthTV Newsroom