ABORTION-DEPRESSION LINK CAUSES LEFTY DEPRESSION

There have been a couple of recent posts at Larvatus Prodeo – the home of deep and meaningful lefty discussion – concerning Mifepristone (formerly RU-486), a pregnancy terminating drug widely used abroad. It was argued that politicians, not being health care professionals, were not qualified to discuss the possible adverse health effects of the drug: Australia's parliamentarians' main concerns are scoring political points and controlling women's lives. (The LP posts are here and here.)

LP blog-daddy Mark Bahnisch summarizes:

There are some very serious issues generally, aside from this specific issue, about the increasing willingness to totally disregard expertise in favour of politics...

Naturally, committed leftists that they are, the LP crew is pro-abortion. So, it comes as no surprise they're unhappy with a Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences study linking abortion to depression – New Zealand is a pretty backward place to be sure but I'm going to give the Kiwis the benefit of the doubt on this in assuming the study was conducted by experts.

Study leader Professor David Fergusson, a psychologist and advocate of choice, interviewed earlier today on the ABC's AM, said he was surprised at the study's findings. He comes across as open and honest in noting:

This is probably about the best study that's been done on this topic, but it is not without limitations.

LPer Paul Norton PhD is totally unimpressed, posting a 550 word attack totally disregarding Fergusson's expertise in favour of politics:

I don't have time to do justice to these issues, but it would be the mother of all over-interpretations to conclude that the New Zealand study demonstrates a causal connection between the medical procedure of abortion and subsequent mental health problems.

550 words aren't enough to do this justice? Jeez, lefties must love to type.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, here's where Norton derives his expertise on the psychology of abortion:

He has a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Environmental Science, and did his Ph.D. on the relationship between the environmental and labour movements in the period of the Hawke and Keating Federal Labor Governments.

But, being a super-brained LPer he is no doubt well acquainted with mental health issues.

Update: The Currency Lad has more on the study linking depression to abortion. It's well worth reading, as always.

Update II: The discussion at LP has developed along lefty lines. Take weathergirl's comment as representative:

I speak as someone who had an abortion in my late teens and who was subsequently clinically depressed. I’m certain that the two incidents are not related, only insofar as the scenarios Paul outlines above. I felt nothing but relief when undergoing abortion–the surgeon, in Townsville where I had it, even allowed me to take a peek when he scanned the bunch of cells he was about to remove. I did not for a moment wrestle with any moral question, any more than those sitting down to eat a steak from a sentient animal do. (Although a meat-eater, I find the latter more morally troubling.)

Had I not been an impoverished student, in a relationship with a (suddenly) unsupportive man, in a culture that offers little hope or prospects or support for single young mothers, then, perhaps things would have been different. Of course it was a tough decision—no woman takes such an operation lightly. But I’ve never regretted it...

The removal of that clump of unwanted cells reduced to the level of video gaming. As for her depression, how can she be sure it wasn't a result of the abortion? Regardless, if weathergirl had been a bit more selecive in chosing her partners, and had been responsible enough to take precautions, she wouldn't have needed an abortion in the first place. But, lefties aren't into the personal responsibility stuff.