Monday 28 February 2011

Against Early Abortion

As the abortion industry confronts that evident humanity of the unborn child in later pregnancy, the push is on to emphasise early abortion as the best solution. Doubtless the RCOG will tell us how much safer early abortions are...

However, in this, as in their assertions about the safety of abortion, they are disregarding the psychological aspect.

Ever since Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's pioneering work on bereavement in the 1960s there has been widespread agreement about the fact that people experiencing a sudden change or shock go through predictable stages in their response. Similar research-based models have been published by Adam, Hayes and Hopson, by Lewis and Parker, and by John Fisher

They all make it clear that the initial response to a sudden change is normally negative, (words they use include denial, anger etc) but that with time, people typically move through a fairly predictable sequence of emotional responses frequently culminating in acceptance and growth.

By putting pressure on women to decide to have an abortion very quickly after they learn that they are pregnant, the abortion industry (and their other medical collaborators and apologists) are actually forcing women to make that choice at a moment of predictable, and transient, emotional distress.

Whose interests are served by that? Women's? Or the abortion industry's?

It has long been observed that an unwanted pregnancy is not the same thing as - and does not necessarily lead to - an unwanted child. The research on typical reactions to change helps to explain that.

Likewise, it is a commonplace (though rarely acknowledged) that very few women ever regret having decided against an abortion, whereas many, many women regret deciding to have one.

1 comment:

Holy Family Guild said...

These are very significant and accurate observations.It should also be pointed out that, of the women who suffer regret, many do so years after the procedure. Even with expert counselling many never really 'get over it'. The loss is real, of course, and the pain can always resurface. Let us pray that women get the help they need to make the positive choice of life for their child and so never have to endure this anguish.