Abortion Counseling

Deficiencies of Abortion Counseling

1. For most women, abortion is a complex decision and has numerous implications as how she sees herself. Is she taking control or losing control over her life? Is she acting morally, or immorally? Responsibly or irresponsibly? Is she good or bad, honorable or dishonorable? Is she betraying her maternal desires or honoring them by putting off being a mother until she is better able to be a good mother? Or is she a mother, already, despite whatever she does, and will she mourn as a mother? All of these are tough questions that many struggle with before as well as after an abortion.

1. For most women, abortion is an emotional decision. Emotions and logic may conflict on many levels and emotions may affect the logic. This is one reason so many report great ambivalence. The strength of their opinion for or against abortion can be swayed every day, just by mood, or just by little incidents which tilt the balance one way or the other.

1. If abortion is a complex decision, how can counselors give well informed, good advice unless they explore that complexity and help the woman to sort through it. How can you give good advice on a complex, nebulous, emotional issue in just five or ten minutes....especially if you are avoiding asking questions that may "aggravate" the complexity of the issue?

1. If abortion is an emotional issue that is often surrounded by ambivalence, isn't it even more vitally important for the physician to bring a cool, unemotional perspective to the table to help the woman in the decision making process to bring as much foresight to the decision as possible? How can a doctor give good counsel without asking good questions?

1. Abortion clinics like to pretend that the women who come to them have already thoroughly thought through their decisions. They like to think that their job is not to explore the decision but rather to simply help women to get through the day with as little stress, questioning, and discussion as possible. That's a nice fantasy. And it is also a way of avoiding getting involved in complex, emotional realities.

1. If an abortion can have such a dramatic effect on self-perception, isn't it irresponsible for doctors to allow people to rush into it in a state of panic and fear? Especially when young women are being pressured into it by confused parents and boyfriends?

1. Arguably, the only other operations that can impact self perception as much as an abortion are a radical mastectomy and a sex change operation. Doctors don't ignore the psychological effects of those procedures. Why should they ignore it for abortion?