Abortion Bias in Academia

In a new study sure to capture the Left’s attention, a research team at Johns Hopkins is attempting to persuade policymakers that abortion does not cause emotional distress, despite strong evidence to the contrary.

As many acquainted with this Johns Hopkins research team can attest, there is much more to “Abortion and long-term mental health outcomes: a systematic review of the evidence” than meets the eye. The university department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, where three of the four study authors hail from, is funded by Planned Parenthood of Maryland. Raising more suspicions about the validity of the study is the presence of co-author Robert Blum, who heads up one of the most heavily funded population control programs in the world — worth roughly $1 billion. Blum has been a long-time supporter of unrestricted abortion, including his service on the Guttmacher Institute’s Board of Directors from 1989 to present and as Chair from 1999-2002. He has testified in several statutory challenges against any parental involvement in a minor child’s abortion decision.

Not surprisingly, the Hopkins study is severely tainted by the team’s pro-abortion bias. As our experts have been quick to point out, Blum’s review of 21 surveys conveniently omitted the stacks of research published in peer-reviewed journals that showed an association between abortion and negative mental health effects. He and the other authors claim that any studies showing a link between abortion and depression are politically motivated, but considering the Department’s ties to Planned Parenthood, theirs is living proof!

As more evidence pours in contradicting Blum and company, this is just poor science. Just this week, two new articles add to the body of research demonstrating that abortion is associated with increased risk of adverse mental health effects. The two peer-reviewed papers were published in the British Journal of Psychiatry and the Journal of Psychiatric Research. Both had strong methodology and controls for confounding or alternate variables.

Tony Perkins heads the Family Research Council. This article is excerpted from the Washington Update that he compiles for the FRC.