Pro-lifers excluded
There is still a lack of proper debate on abortion at a higher level, a blog post published on the Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF) web site has claimed.
Citing an article by consultant psychiatrist Pravin Thevathasan, the post highlighted the influence of the one-sided report by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AMRC).
The AMRC, together with the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP), brought out a systematic review last year claiming there was no causal link between abortion and subsequent mental ill health.
According to the CMF blog’s author, Mr Thevathasan is concerned that there are no speakers lined up to present any alternative views or research coming to different conclusions.
An international congress of the RCP in Liverpool will feature pro-abortionists in its abortion and mental health presentations, namely Ian Jones, Rock Cantwell and Trine Munk-Olsen. Pro-life professionals will not be presenting anything.
Quoting Mr Thevathasan, the blog said, ‘Given there is good evidence to show some women are hurt by abortion, it is surprising there will be such a one-sided presentation that aims to influence psychiatrists from many countries’.
The organisers didn’t even invite Professor David Fergusson to present his research reported in 2008 in the British journal of psychiatry (BJP). In this, Prof. Fergusson wrote that women who have abortions are twice as likely to suffer mental health issues and three times more likely to suffer specifically from depression than women who have either given birth or never been pregnant.
The blog said, ‘This ideological drive to shut down any real debate, and to state there are no psychological consequences to having an abortion, will reach an influential audience of psychiatrists.
‘Yet if it were accepted that, at the very least, abortion may be associated with a small increase in risk of mental disorders, then the congress could focus on how to develop care pathways for those women at risk of psychiatric morbidity, post-abortion’.
