Two abortion clinic workers recount the following story:
They describe how they counseled a woman who comes in for an abortion and is ambivalent.
The woman in described how her boyfriend was mean to her oldest child, who was not his biological child. She discussed the difficulty of wanting to break up with him but not being sure. Of abortion, she said:
“I am against this sort of thing: abortion and adoption. Last time, my mother said, “You will have it. We don’t do things like abortion.” This time, her mother said the same thing but apparently without as much conviction. Her sister supports her, but is worried about how she will do afterwards. “You’re different from me,” she said. “You’re more sensitive and it would be hard on you.” She too was worried about how she would cope. “Do women have a hard time after?” She asked.”
So – obviously, this woman is very ambivalent, and things with her are not going to be easy if she has abortion. In fact, she’s likely to suffer grief and regret. Now, if she was at a crisis pregnancy center, at this point, the counselor would be talking about ways to have the baby. The counselor would be giving her support, describing all the resources that could be utilized, as well as giving her the facts about postabortion syndrome. She would be genuinely helping this woman. Instead, the counselor says
“We talked about how her first responsibility is to her children, especially to her oldest, who was suffering. Could her boyfriend change his heart or his behavior? She thought not, she had tried to talk to him, begged him to change. How would she feel about adoption? It turns out her sister could not conceive; could she give the pregnancy to her sister? Not without his legal permission, I pointed out. Could you sacrifice this pregnancy – this beginning of life, for her other two children and for herself and feels she was doing “the least bad” thing? She would think about it.”
The counselor does not reveal whether or not the woman eventually decided to abort her eight-week-old baby. But it is clear that whatever the woman decides to do, she will be cut loose after her abortion with no counseling, no follow-up, and no help. Whereas the crisis pregnancy center would be offering continuous support for up to a year after the baby was born or even longer.
Krista Jacob. Abortion under Attack: Women on the Challenges Facing Choice (Emeryville, CA: Seal Press, 2006) 146- 147
Read more about biased abortion counseling (and sometimes outright deception in abortion counseling) here.
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