Post-abortion drug and alcohol abuse New website, www.hopeafterabortion.com, offers in-depth research on the psychiatric and social consequences of abortion from journals of medicine, psychology and the social sciences. A new study, not mentioned on the site, was just published in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. It breaks the barrier of political correctness that seems to be the editorial policy of many American psychology journals. Authors David Reardon, Ph.D., founder of the Elliot Institute, and Philip Ney, MD of the University of British Columbia, reported the results of a survey conducted to measure drug and alcohol abuse as a means of alleviating stress among women following an abortion. They found that “women who terminated their first pregnancy were five times more likely to report subsequent substance abuse than women who carried their pregnancy to term and were four times more likely to report substance abuse than those who had suffered a natural loss of their first pregnancy (i.e. due to miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or stillbirth)." Their findings support previously cited studies showing such a link. The authors caution that the risk of drug and alcohol abuse may actually be much greater than revealed in survey responses for several reasons. Previous studies have shown that surveys seeking information on past abortions have a poor response rate and, even among those willing to participate, have a high "concealment" rate. Only 14.6% of the 1,526 pregnancies reported in the survey were reported terminated, substantially below the estimated national rate of 25%. And “demographic comparisons of women who conceal past abortions or who decline to participate in post-abortion research suggest that they are more likely to match the profile of participants who report greater post-abortion distress.” The final survey question asked respondents whether they found answering the survey questions "emotionally difficult or disturbing." Those who admitted terminating their first pregnancy and those who reported substance abuse were much more likely to answer yes to this question. The authors estimate that at least 150,000 American women can be expected to be at risk of substance abuse each year as a means of coping with abortion-related stress. Disclosure of this risk should be part of informed consent for women considering abortion, and physicians and therapists who treat patients with a history of substance abuse or abortion should be prepared to address both issues with the patient..