This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal

Kenneth H. Talan, MD; Chase P. Kimball, MD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1972;26(6):571-577.

Abstract
This study reviews the emotional response of 22 of 100 women voluntarily undergoing therapeutic abortion. One hundred women completed a pre-abortion questionnaire concerning their reasons for, expectations of, and knowledge of abortion. This group was also evaluated by a psychiatrist. Twenty-two patients participating in the follow-up study evaluated their experience through questionnaire and interview. Personal history, emotional response (grief, sadness, relief, elation), willingness to go through an abortion again, and evaluation of treatment were reviewed. On the basis of this information, a composite description of a typical patient in each of four categories was made: single nulliparous, single multiparous, married multiparous, and divorced or separated multiparous. Two subgroups are identified in the postabortion sample: those willing to have an abortion again and those unwilling to repeat the experience.

Author Affiliations
New Haven, Conn

From the departments of psychiatry, medicine, and obstetrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication Feb 11, 1972.

Reprint requests to the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar St, New Haven, Conn 06510 (Dr. Kimball).