Vatican to study impact of abortion on women

(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