PSYCHIATRIC INDICATIONS FOR THERAPEUTIC ABORTION AND STERILIZATION

Abstract

Statutes in the United States regarding therapeutic abortion are mostly interpreted to include consideration of the mother''s mental health. The physician must justify a decision for therepeutic abortion in terms of danger to the mother''s over-all health and possibly even to her life if the pregnancy is continued. Factors to be considered besides the patient''s mental condition, include her age, number of children, actual wishes regarding the operation, family relationships, and socioeconomic situation. The social, cultural and personal attitudes of the physician are additional considerations. Each patient presents her unique, individual problems. Therepeutic sterilization has its own indications, both eugenic and psychopathological. It should never be stipulated as a condition for therapeutic abortion. The provisions of the statutes on therapeutic abortion and on therapeutic sterilization in the United States should be more explicit than at present, thereby conforming with current good medical practice. The Scandinavian laws best exemplify the provisions of a modern liberal statute. Such specific indications allow precise evaluation of over-all results.