Sunday, April 26, 2009

Termination counseling 101

What do I do when I disagree with a woman’s reasons for choosing an abortion?

Funny you should ask: This does not happen to me. I don’t and can’t see why anyone would ever doubt a woman who did not wish to grow life inside of her body, to raise that child in this world.

I think I do what I do—I can’t be entirely sure—because I can easily find a woman where she is when she’s in an abortion clinic. I can’t do this for others or myself always in the rest of my life, but when I sit down to talk about pregnancy termination, I can take whatever comes from her and ask a woman to admire herself for what I hear she is doing.

I would say it’s a thing inside my blood but it’s not. It’s a spirit thing.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not tooting my saintly horn—sometimes I don’t like the woman. But, let’s be honest: in those cases shouldn’t I agree with her even more?


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2 comments:

  1. vulva flowerApril 29, 2009 at 12:24 AM

    Great post DoW!

    I couldn't agree with you more. I decided a long time ago that a woman's choice is..well...her choice. And who I am to judge her for the choices she makes? As soon as I personally start limiting her choices I become the same antiquated, patriarchal system that is in place in this country now. For me, choice is not grey, it's black and white.

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  2. placenta sandwichMay 1, 2009 at 1:40 AM

    "Funny you should ask: This does not happen to me."

    me too. sometimes, i wonder where this question comes from. then again, i know people who ask it of themselves and are just as committed to the work as i am. i think, regardless of our personal comfort/discomfort, for all of us it still comes down to "who could possibly be more qualified or more entitled to judge this situation than the pregnant woman herself". duh.

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This is not a debate forum -- there are hundreds of other sites for that. This is a safe space for abortion care providers and one that respects the full spectrum of reproductive choices; comments that are not in that spirit will either wind up in the spam filter or languish in the moderation queue.

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