Abortion - the right to chose

Abortion - The right to chose

By Charlotte Fantelli - Mental Healthy

And Julia Acott - CareConfidential

Counselling and information provided by the NHS has been deemed grossly inadequate with a recent study showing that fewer than 14% of women who had had an abortion saying that they had received adequate pre-abortion counselling or information on alternatives or the physical and emotional risks.

This is backed up by the experience of Julia Acott from CareConfidential: “The post-abortive clients I see generally say they have not received sufficient counsel before their abortion and on investigation of services I have identified this to be true”.

With private centres and charities offering advice, it is very unfortunate that a lot of these institutions could be seen as having hidden agendas.

For example, BPAS and Marie Stopes are charities but are also abortion clinics that you either pay yourself or the NHS pays to ‘treat’ you!

You also have some pro-life organisations that offer free pregnancy tests and counselling, these are anti-abortion and may not offer abortion as an option in a balanced way, nor help you access the right help if this is what you choose.

Again family and friends may have their own views, and it is very important that you get to explore your needs and mind and come to a decision that is ultimately right for you and your particular situation.

Julia Acott takes us through the following:

Abortion - the choice

Abortion is a contentious issue, arousing deep feelings in many people, based around moral, spiritual, religious and even legal values.

Before its legalisation in 1967, abortion was a backstreet, often dangerous procedure. Since then, it has increasingly taken on political and economic overtones.

Few women readily choose to have an abortion but, when facing an unplanned pregnancy they can sometimes feel there is no alternative. The pressure of circumstances can seem overwhelming and there is often lack of support at this critical time.

More than six million women and their families in the UK have experienced the effects of an abortion. It is estimated that a third of women below the age of 45 have had at least one abortion and the number of women opting for an abortion continues to rise.

Counselling around 200 women a year, I find that those facing unplanned pregnancy are initially often in a state of crisis and need information and opportunity for exploration, as well as needing time to connect their heads with their hearts and engaging with their internal belief system.

I believe it is helpful – but rarely done – to explain the stages of a crisis within decision making, to try to avoid people reacting in panic to ‘fix the problem’.

A lack of information and support

If a woman is not given all the information, but instead led down the 'simplest route for the NHS' or the most profitable route for an 'abortion clinic/charity' they are being denied access to other help and services.

How can a woman chose what she wants to do if she does not see all the options on the table. Considered and impartial counselling is the only true way that a woman has 'the right to chose.' This, unfortunately is being denied most of the women who find themselves in 'crisis pregnancy' today.