Women not misled on abortion trauma

SO Alison McCulloch (Letters, November 17) believes there is no connection between abortion and suicide risk.

A 1987 study by David Reardon, entitled ‘A Survey of Psychological Reactions’, found that of the women who suffered from post-abortion trauma, 60% had suicidal tendencies and 28% had attempted suicide.

According to a 13-year Finnish study published in the European Journal of Public Health in 2005, women who have an abortion have a 248% greater risk of suicide in the following year than those who do not.