Prolonged Grief is Highly Prevalent and Dependent on Abortion Decision Type
The findings revealed that high levels of grief are reported across all the groups studies, but were increasingly common relative to the degree that the abort was less free and in greater conflict with a woman’s values.
For the majority of women who had abortions, the decision was inconsistent with their values: 70.2% reported the abortion as inconsistent, unwanted, or coerced. These decision types showed significantly higher mean grief scores compared to the minority who had wanted abortions. Their levels of grief were similar to, and sometimes greater than that reported for natural losses.
Women whose abortions were coerced (12.7% of the abortion group) faced the highest risk, with 53.8% of this subgroup reporting grief scores indicating a high risk of prolonged grief disorder. In contrast, 13.9% of women who reported that their abortions were freely wanted had high risk of prolonged grief disorder, approximately half the rate (28.8%) reported by women who had natural pregnancy losses.
Overall, 39.1% of the women reported that the worst of their negative feelings continue to persist an average of 20 years after their loss.
High levels of grief were also associated with related symptoms, including intrusive thoughts, nightmares, or flashbacks (Intrusion) and negative interference with daily life, work, or relationships .
These findings support the critical need for pre-abortion screening to identify patients who feel pressured to abort contrary to their own values due to the associated greater risk of subsequent grief and negative reactions that may persist for over twenty years. Moreover, the study’s author recommends that mental health professionals should routinely inquire about a history of all pregnancy losses, including elective induced abortions, to invite patients to share any hidden layers of unresolved grief.
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References
Degrees of grief and complicated grief self-attributed to natural and induced pregnancy losses in a national population of 41–45-year-old females. Reardon, D. C. (2025). Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology, 46(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/0167482X.2025.2503286
