According to the Herald Sun, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has pledged to provide Australia with a $277 million suicide prevention package, aimed at boosting psychiatric services and expanding 'Lifeline' to reach out to Australians at risk.
Ms Gillard promised that Labor would make services for men a priority and that the party would also fund programs in schools where student communities are affected by suicide. Ms Gillard rightly states that "Every suicide is a tragedy'' and that "Every year we lose 2,000 Australians to suicide, that means six more people today, tomorrow and each day after."
While considering Australian suicide rates and necessary funding, Ms Gillard should take a close look at the research conducted in Finland and California, that showed a dramatic increase in suicide statistics for women post abortion.
The Elliott Institute reports: (Nov. 29, 2005) — Compared to women who have not been pregnant in the prior year, deaths from suicide, accidents and homicide are 248 percent higher in the year following an abortion, according to a 13-year study of the entire population of women in Finland.
The study also found that majority of the extra deaths among women who had abortions were due to suicide. The suicide rate among women who had abortions was six times higher than that of women who had given birth in the prior year and double that of women who had miscarriages.
In addition, researchers examining death records linked to medical payments for birth and abortion for 173,000 California women found that aborting women were 62 percent more likely to die than delivering women over the eight year period examined. That study also found that the increase risk of death was most prominent from suicides and accidents, with a 154 percent higher risk of death from suicide and an 82 percent higher risk of death from accidental injuries.
The lead author of the California study, David Reardon, Ph.D., stated that "Women seeking abortions should be informed that abortion is associated with significant physical and mental health risks, and it also deprives them of numerous physical and mental health benefits associated with childbirth."
Mr. Reardon also said "It is especially important for health care providers to be aware of these risks and the risk factors which identify those women who are at highest risk. Providing women with the resources to help them resolve emotional issues relating to past abortions will not only increase their well-being but may possibly save their lives".
Given that Ms Gillard is a founding member of EMILY's List, it is unlikely that any such counseling (warning of the risks and follow up care) would be forthcoming for pre or post abortive women. Any genuine effort to address risk factors for these women, including suicide, would also be unlikely, due to Ms Gillard's loyalty to EMILY's List, which so passionately supports abortion at any time, for any reason.
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