October 29, 2009

House Health Care Bill Mandates Study Of Mental Health Outcomes of Abortion, Adoption

Just putting this out there in as non-confrontational a way as one can: Beginning on page 1420, the House health care reform bill rolled out earlier today requires NIMH to study the mental health outcomes for women who have abortions or otherwise "resolve" a pregnancy. The bill is downloadable here.

"It is the sense of the Congress that the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health may conduct a nationally representative longitudinal study (during the period of fiscal years 2011 through 2020) on the relative mental health consequences for women of resolving a pregnancy (intended and unintended) in various ways, including carrying the pregnancy to term and parenting the child, carrying the pregnancy to term and placing the child for adoption, miscarriage, and having an abortion. This study may assess the incidence, timing, magnitude, and duration of the immediate and long-term mental health consequences (positive or negative) of these pregnancy outcomes."

I have no idea why this is included in a bill that's supposed to reform our health care system--for good or ill. Maybe I'm missing something. The bill requires NIMH to report back to Congress on study progress and findings within three years.

Of course, the relative psychological impacts of abortion are some of the most heated aspects of the abortion debate. Pro-lifers often claim that women who undergo abortions often end up depressed while pro-choicers often claim that there's no psychological detriment. I've seen competing evidence in the medical literature on this point over the years. I'll leave it at that.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at October 29, 2009 03:17 PM
StumbleUpon Toolbar del.icio.us Digg it reddit
Comments

Resolve a pregnancy, hmmm, what bizarre language. Looking at the listed options, doesn't seem like unresolved pregnancy is possible. Does sound like this might mean that women who get pregnant and experience any outcome whatsoever will be subjected to invasive mental health screening. What about men, I suppose there's no mention of the psychological effects on men of their "participation in the pregnancy resolution process."

Posted by: Sally at October 29, 2009 04:25 PM

What a waste of time and money. How pray tell are they going to USE this information? Sounds like something the anti-abortion movement dreamed up. In any case, the mental health effects of whatever choice one makes are going to vary according to the individual, duh!

Posted by: Miranda at October 31, 2009 10:08 AM

"Pro-Life" groups have plenty of literature that states "men suffer in the aftermath of abortion as well as women."

I can only guess that this study to come from NIMH is part of the "common ground" the democrats have been striving for with anti-choice groups.

Posted by: Ann Neumann at October 31, 2009 10:50 AM

Thanks so much Philip for taking what had to be an enormous amount of time to break out portions of this bill.

The authors no doubt hoped that nobody would have the time to do it.

This whole portion of the bill is utterly ridiculous. How much more personal can they get?

Who exactly writes this crap, does anybody know?

Posted by: Evelyn Pringle at November 1, 2009 03:54 AM
Post a comment









Remember personal info?






pic1.jpg

Winter Fundraiser Underway!!!
Patient Blogs. Sites.
Doctor Blogs. Sites.
Activists. News.
Social Networking. Forums.
Science. Big Pharma. Ethics.
Current Affairs
Seattle Stuff
Smoking. Stuff.

Info
About Furious Seasons
Email
Other Articles
ZYPREXA Documents
Alt ZYPREXA Documents Source
Blakemore-Brown Transcript

 Subscribe in a reader

Recent Entries
Winter Fundraiser, An Early Start
Reasons To Be Skeptical Of "Female Viagra" Drug, Big Pharma's Spanish Fly
Medical Marijuana For Autism?
AstraZeneca Whines About Chicago Tribune's Seroquel Coverage
Big Pharma's Sneaky Trick
Researchers Ignore Problems With Meds In Early Deaths, Blame Smoking, No Exercise
Researchers' New Pediatric Bipolar Disorder Symptoms Include Bed Wetting, Nightmares
Fort Hood Shooting: Was Psychiatrist-Shooter Psychotic Or A Terrorist?
Yale Researcher Links Childhood ADHD To Adult Crime, Drug Dealing
Senator Wants Pentagon To Account For Troop Anti-Depressant Use, Suicide Link
British Government To Limit Antipsychotic Use For Dementia
Child Psychiatrists Behaving Badly With Children
Utah Settles Zyprexa Claims For $24 Million
Psychiatrist Got $490,000 Pimping For Seroquel, Engaged In Wide Off-Label Use
Why Auto Insurance And Health Insurance Aren't The Same, Mr. President
Recent Comments

Evelyn Pringle on House Health Care Bill Mandates Study Of Mental Health Outcomes of Abortion, Adoption

Ann Neumann on House Health Care Bill Mandates Study Of Mental Health Outcomes of Abortion, Adoption

Miranda on House Health Care Bill Mandates Study Of Mental Health Outcomes of Abortion, Adoption

Sally on House Health Care Bill Mandates Study Of Mental Health Outcomes of Abortion, Adoption

Archives
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
Resources
Mental Health America
National Alliance on Mental Illness
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
National Institute of Mental Health
McMan Web
Search


Powered by
Movable Type 3.2