[3] He is known for being one of the first to propose a link between abortion and mental health problems, which he dubbed post-abortion syndrome when testifying before Congress in the early 1980s.
[3] Since the 1980s, Rue has, along with fellow anti-abortion activists Priscilla K. Coleman and David Reardon, published a number of studies indicating that abortion increases women's risk of mental health problems, such as major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder,[7] though the Pro-Choice Action Network says that these studies only establish correlation, which does not necessarily prove a causal relationship.
[8] The Guttmacher Institute says that a study published by Rue et al. in the Journal of Psychiatric Research in 2009[9] included all mental health problems with which women were diagnosed over their entire lifetimes, thus negating the argument that these disorders were caused by having abortions.
[10] In 1992, Rue's testimony in the Planned Parenthood v. Casey case was thrown out by a district judge, who concluded that it was not credible.
[11] In 2014, judge Myron Herbert Thompson criticized the state of Alabama for hiring Rue to defend anti-abortion legislation.