Key Factors in Understanding Women’s Mental Health After Abortion
Dr. Shuping presented this article at a United Nations workshop in March 2011, and at the June 2011 meeting of the Association for Interdisciplinary Research on Values and Social Change.
In 1973, as a 19-year-old undergraduate student, I worked as a volunteer at a clinic that helped women to access abortion services. I received one evening of training in which I was taught that abortion was a safe, simple procedure, and there were no side effects.
I was incorrectly taught that the developing baby was nothing more than a clump of cells.
After that, I was considered to be a qualified pregnancy counselor, and I helped some women to obtain abortions.
Thirty-eight years later, many abortion counselors are still giving women that same misinformation. But today I know that many women have adverse psychological reactions following abortion.
I have known more than one thousand post-abortive women who have been unhappy about their abortions. Much of my professional life has been spent in helping women to deal with the emotional impact of abortion…
For remainder of article, visit link below.
[Martha Shuping, M.D., http://www.abortionresearch.us/images/Vol23No2.pdf ]