Steinberg Finds No Increase In Mental Health Medication Use After Abortion

As more women globally turn to medications to have abortions, questions remain about whether abortion may affect mental health. Previous research has examined the relationship between abortion and mental health outcomes, but less is known about whether abortion is associated with subsequent use of mental health medications. Understanding this relationship is important given ongoing claims that abortion may increase the risk of mental health problems.

In this study, Faculty Associate Julia Steinberg and her Danish colleagues use data from the Danish health registry to examine whether a first medication or procedural abortion was followed by a first mental health prescription. The researchers focused on women and girls ages 12 to 38 who had an abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy between 2000 and 2018 and who had never previously filled a mental health prescription. The study examined prescriptions for a wide range of psychiatric conditions, including depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and ADHD.

Steinberg and her colleagues compared mental health prescriptions during the year before an individual’s abortion with prescriptions during the first year, one to two years, two to five years, and more than five years after the abortion. The researchers examined both overall mental health medication use and medications specifically targeting anxiety and depression.

Within the first year after a first abortion, the data showed a slight increase in psychiatric prescription use. However, after applying a statistical adjustment to account for the large number of variables and comparisons in the analysis, the increase was no longer statistically significant. From one year after the abortion onward, the researchers found no statistically significant increase in mental health medication use. More than five years after the abortion, prescription use decreased after applying the same adjustment.
Overall, the team found no evidence that either medication or procedural abortion caused an increase in the use of psychotropic medications. These findings add to research examining the relationship between abortion and mental health and provide evidence against claims that abortion, particularly medication abortion, increases the risk of mental health problems. 

The researchers note that the study does not examine social factors, such as cultural stigma surrounding abortion, that may affect mental health following an abortion. The study also used data from Denmark, where more than 94% of the population is white and where the cultural, legal, and health care environments differ from those in the United States. Future research could examine how social and cultural factors influence mental health outcomes following abortion across different populations and settings.

Steinberg JR, Laursen TM, Lidegaard Ø, Munk-Olsen T. Medication and Procedural Abortion and Risk of Psychotropic Medication Use. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online July 22, 2026. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.3698
 

Published on Tue, 08/18/2026 - 15:15