The Unwanted Pregnancy

There are no clear-cut psychiatric indications for therapeutic abortion. The risk of precipitation or exacerbation of an existing psychosis is small and unpredictable, and suicide is rare. "Humanitarian" reasons frequently determine the decision although they may masquerade under psychiatric labels. Little new psychiatric illness appears after therapeutic abortion that can be related to the procedure. Women who seek abortion, for whatever reason, may prove unsatisfactory mothers if forced to carry their pregnancy to term. Their emotional symptoms may subside more quickly if they are granted their wish. Any change in the abortion law should include a "social clause" such as that promulgated in Britain. This recognizes the risk of an unwanted pregnancy to the physical and mental health of the existing children and allows consideration of overcrowding and strain on the mother. Such a change would facilitate a more candid appraisal of the problem as a therapeutic rather than medicolegal one.