A pro-choice author, who interviewed dozens of abortion providers, said the following:
“The abortion counselor was typically a person without medical training-who often herself had had an abortion, either legal or illegal-whose role it was the counsel the patient before the procedure, accompany her through the abortion itself, and also “advocate” for patients in general.”
Carole Joffe. Doctors of Conscience: the Struggle to Provide Abortion before and after Roe Versus Wade (Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon press, 1995) 133
Obviously, the counselors were not there to provide qualified mental health counseling for the women. Rather, they were just there to “keep her company” and be there to support her through the process. They were not trained, and were not able to spot women who might be aborting under duress, discuss the reasons for the abortion and whether or not it was right for the woman, or to talk to a woman about alternatives.
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