"This study is part of a growing body of research which challenges the current popular misconception that abortion carries no risks to the health and wellbeing of women."

(Dunedin, New Zealand)—Women who have an abortion face a 30% increase in the risk of developing common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, according to a new study from the University of Otago, Christchurch.

The study, led by Dr. David Fergusson and funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand, was published in the December issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry.

The conditions most associated with abortion included anxiety disorders and substance use. In contrast, none of the other pregnancy outcomes was consistently related to significantly increased risks of mental health problems.

The researchers estimated that exposure to abortion accounted for between 1.5% and 5.5% of mental disorders in the general population. The research findings could have implications for the legal status of abortion in New Zealand and the UK, where over 90% of abortions are authorized on the grounds that the pregnancy poses a serious threat to the woman's mental health. This research indicates than in many cases the opposite may be true: that terminating the pregnancy is in fact the riskier choice for the woman's mental health.

Professor David Fergusson, John Horwood and Dr Joseph Boden, studied the pregnancy and mental health history of over 500 women, who have taken part in the long-running study from birth to the age of 30.

The researchers took into account factors which might be associated with increased risks of abortion and/or mental illness, including childhood environmental factors, adolescent and parental adjustment, individual characteristics, and achievement in school.

This newest study backs up other research which concludes that having an abortion may be associated with increased risk of mental health problems. An article recently published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, summarizing a survey headed by Prof. Priscilla K. Coleman of Bowling Green State University, concluded that abortion could be blamed for an increase of various anxiety, mood, and substance abuse disorders.

In August, a study of 768 women by the University of Oslo in Norway also determined that abortion specifically puts women at higher risk for mental health disorders.

The University of Otago, Christchurch, previously the Christchurch School of Medicine, is part of one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the southern hemisphere, boasting New Zealand's highest average research quality.

"This study is part of a growing body of research which challenges the current popular misconception that abortion carries no risks to the health and wellbeing of women," said Family Life International NZ spokesman Brendan Malone.

Malone also emphasized that the rigorous methodology of the study pinpointed abortion, and not contingent factors, as specifically causing the increased mental illness—avoiding a common criticism from abortion advocates against similar studies.

Source: LifeSiteNews.com

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"It wasn't just me that was amazed, just about everybody in the village was, including an elderly Inuit hunter who told me that he had never seen anything like that before in his life." Don't you just love it when God—out of the clear blue—takes our breath away?

(Greenland)—Award winning photographers Bryan and Cherry Alexander have worked in the Arctic for 37 years and have taken their share of amazing pictures during that time, but a recent sunrise over Inglefield Bay was so unusually spectacular—with clouds described as terrifyingly beautiful by Daily Mail reporters Caroline Graham and Claire Bates—that Bryan Alexander says he couldn't believe his eyes.

"It was just before dawn," explained Mr. Alexander, when "I went outside and was immediately stunned by the beautiful and dramatic cloud formation...I have worked in the Arctic regularly for the past 37 years and I had never seen the sky like it. It looked apocalyptic and like a scene from one of the Lord of the Rings movies." (Photo: Barcroft Media/Bryan & Cherry Alexander)

According to a report in The Telegraph, he called it a once-in-a-lifetime photographic event. "It was an incredible experience and one which I describe it to my friends as a 'once in a lifetime sky'. It wasn't just me that was amazed, just about everybody in the village was, including an elderly Inuit hunter who told me that he had never seen anything like that before in his life."

That, and other pictures can be viewed by CLICKING HERE.

Source: Staff - The Telegraph U.K.

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Officials say there may still be five terrorists at large as the nation raises its threat level to "war" status.

(Mumbai, India)—The world watched in horror last week, as terrorists stormed several locations in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India, killing 172 and injuring many others.

Indian security forces claimed to have killed 9 terrorists and captured one alive. According to reports on Monday, the fishing boat used by the gunmen to approach Mumbai, contained 15 lifejackets and even toothbrushes, suggesting that there were still some who had not been apprehended or killed.

The Indian government has subsequently raised the security level to "war" status.

In the meantime, the bodies of some of the victims killed in the attack have been flown home for burial, including those of Rabbi Gavriel and Rebetzin Rivka Holtzberg who were beloved emissaries at the Chabad House—a Jewish center in India. (Holtzberg orphan, Moshe/AP Photo)

The Holtzbergs' two-year-old son, Moshe Tzvi, was present with his parents at the time of the attack, but his babysitter, Sandra Samuel was able to rescue him and bring him to safety.

Source: The Times, FOX News

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