In 2014, the abortion rate in the United States was 14.6 abortions per 1,000 women. This is the lowest abortion rate recorded since Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States in 1973. One of the fears of this decision was that it would lead to an increase in abortions and that the termination of pregnancies could have an effect harmful to women who undergo abortions. Although increased access to legal abortion has led to an increase in abortions, a study published in JAMA Psychiatry found that legal abortions did not lead to a significant increase in mental health problems among women who had undergone an abortion. With a long history of trauma and disease that has caused premature death at an extraordinary rate, humans have evolved to overcome trauma. Humans are inherently resilient, largely due to the large number of traumatic experiences our ancestors endured and the genes dedicated to survival that were passed down from generation to generation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'? Get the original essay It is not unreasonable to believe that abortions could have serious consequences on women's mental health. Terminating a pregnancy and losing an unborn child presents a high potential for a traumatic experience that may have long-term effects on mental health. A study published in JAMA Psychiatry followed 1,000 women who sought counseling about the possibility of an abortion. The study followed these women for five years after they had or were denied an abortion. The researchers found that those who had an abortion were no more likely than those who were refused an abortion to have suffered from anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, or feeling of dissatisfaction in life. Only those who were denied an abortion because they were too far along in their pregnancy experienced negative mental health problems, but the study noted that after six months, the negative mental health effects returned within the range observed in other study groups. that humans are extremely resilient and that we often overcome even the most difficult events that may occur in our lives. Modern life is much safer and less trauma-ridden than our past, where mortality rates across the board were much higher. In evolutionary terms, it makes sense that we are so resilient, given that we wouldn't exist otherwise. For obvious reasons, there are no concrete statistics on mortality rates from our ancient past, but they are estimated to be extraordinarily high compared to today, where the global average life expectancy is 71 years. In particular, it is believed that the infant mortality rate was very high in prehistoric times. Even recently, before the advent of standard hygiene standards in hospitals, infant mortality rates were much higher than today. Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis observed in 1846 that the neonatal mortality rate was five times lower when women gave birth in a midwifery clinic, compared to deliveries carried out in hospitals by male doctors. He understood that doctors performed autopsies in hospitals and midwives did not. Semmelweis hypothesized that harmful microbes were transferred from autopsy bodies to women giving birth. When Semmelweis advised doctors to sterilize their hands and tools.