Editor's note. Please send any thoughts or comments to daveandrusko@hotmail.com.

The headline from an article in the Sunday [London] Times absolutely stunned me: "Royal college [of Psychiatrists] warns abortions can lead to mental illness."

Not the substance of the observation--that "The Royal College of Psychiatrists says women should not be allowed to have an abortion until they are counselled on the possible risk to their mental health"--mind you. That only makes sense.

What threw me for a loop was that for once a medical authority in Great Britain (a) did not march in lockstep with the pro-abortion lobby, and (b) did so as Parliament is considering its first major change in abortion law in 20 years.

The Royal College recommends that abortion information leaflets be updated to include details of the risks of depression. "Consent cannot be informed without the provision of adequate and appropriate information," it says.

What could overthrow what health editor Sarah-Kate Templeton described as a long-standing consensus that  "the risk to mental health of continuing with an unwanted pregnancy outweighs the risks of living with the possible regrets of having an abortion"?

Based on the Times story, it seems to be a combination of two elements.

First, scientific studies, including research published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry in 2006, which "concluded that abortion in young women might be associated with risks of mental health problems."

While this kind of dispassionate inquiry is essential, the reality of the association between abortion and depression was personalized earlier this year in a powerfully vivid way. As we discussed in this space, an inquest was held into the suicide of Emma Beck, who was transfixed by grief after aborting her twins.

Before hanging herself. Beck, 30 at the time, left a note which read, "Living is hell for me. I should never have had an abortion. I see now I would have been a good mum. I want to be with my babies; they need me, no one else does." [For more on this tragedy, go to www.nrlc.org/news_and_Views/Feb08/nv022508part2.html]

The Royal College's recommendation is hugely important, since, as the Times writes, "More than 90% of the 200,000 terminations in Britain every year are believed to be carried out because doctors believe that continuing with the pregnancy would cause greater mental strain."

Dr Peter Saunders, general secretary of the Christian Medical Fellowship, told the Times, "How can a doctor now justify an abortion [on mental health grounds] if psychiatrists are questioning whether there is any clear evidence that continuing with the pregnancy leads to mental health problems."

MP Nadine Dorries also welcomed the Royal College's revised stance "For doctors to process a woman's request for an abortion without providing the support, information and help women need at this time of crisis I regard almost as a form of abuse," she said.

Any ideas or suggestions, please send them to daveandrusko@hotmail.com