(Aug.03.2010) The Pontifical Academy for Life is preparing a document on the effects
of abortion on women's mental and emotional health. The document is expected to be
published next year, said the new Head of the Pontifical Academy - Archbishop Ignacio
Carrasco de Paula, in an interview with L'Osservatore Romano, Vatican’s semi-official
newspaper. The prelate said "The existence of post-abortion syndrome is a well known
fact that often manifests itself through anxiety, or other more serious conditions
of depression in women, who have undergone an abortion. He said "It is true that
abortion, in addition to killing an innocent person, profoundly affects the conscience
of the woman, who undergoes it. It is a question, then, that cannot be ignored, especially
from a pastoral point of view," he added. Another aspect under consideration, the
Archbishop said, was "the grave phenomenon of the habit of abortion", in which abortions
are so common, that the moral sensitivity to it has been erased. Archbishop Carrasco
expressed fears that the increased use of the RU 486 pill in Europe, would lead to
an increased habit of abortion