An Australian woman, identified as Genevieve, describes the “counseling” she received in an abortion clinic:
“I collapsed in sheer exhaustion. I told her that I had been outside for hours. I cried hysterically, curled over with my head in my hands on my knees. I said that “I feel that I’m depriving my child of life.” I stopped crying in disbelief when the counselor told me that if I was going to abort that I would have to do it right now. The counselor said, “Look, I’ll give you five minutes to think about it when I come back, I want your answer.” I couldn’t believe it. Now I was going into a state of panic and shock. I could now barely speak… The counselor glared at me, sighed a deep sigh, and impatiently said, “Look, they’re all waiting for you, you know…” They seemed angry at me. They were sick of me and in the end I weakly obeyed their commands.”
Submission to National Health and Medical Research Council, Draft Documents As Services for the Termination of Pregnancy in Australia: a Review, 266 (later titled, “An Information Paper to Termination of Pregnancy in Australia,” and since withdrawn)
Quoted in:
Melinda Tankard Reist Giving Sorrow Words: Women’s Stories of Grief after Abortion (Springfield, IL: Acorn Books, 2007) 181-182
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