A British reporter visited an abortion clinic and quoted a staff member, identified as “Barb” describing her patients:
“Who comes here? Everybody. We’re dealing with the entire world here. We see lawyers, and women in chains from jail. All of them are very surprised to be here.”
Another clnic worker, “Sally” says:
“It’s a woman’s biggest secret. Whenever I tell someone where I work the stories come out of the closet.”
She goes on to say many women want to keep the whole thing a secret.
“They [women] get post-op instructions, and some will just tip it in the garbage.”
It is unknown how this reluctance to talk about or even think about their experience may effect their health after the abortion or impact their willingness to come forward if medical complicatons from their abortion procedures arise.
The author of the piece goes on to say that some women want to keep their abortions a secret even from their partners.
“If she needs to pretend she had a miscarriage, they tell her what to say.”
These quotes are from the article “A Woman’s Biggest Secret” by Margaret Wente in July 15, 2000 Globe and Mail
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