First it was just articles, now we have graduated to writing books to claim there is no such thing as post abortion stress. "Abortion Counseling - A Clinician's Guide to Psychology, Legislation, Politics, and Competency by Rachel Needle, PsyD; & Lenore Walker, EdD has hit the shelves.
In the end, the article actually made me happy...we who are post abortive and speaking out about our experiences and the damage abortion has caused us must actually be making them panic, and no books or articles can take away the truth of what we went through....
I must say, this article about the book http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2007/11/14/the-truth-about-abortion-and-womens-mental-health mad me angry at first. At least until I read this..the authors mom was an abortionist!
"Dr. Needle has a compelling and unique motivation for co-writing this
book. The book is dedicated to “abortion providers [as] the true unsung
heroes of this movement.” This includes Dr. Needle’s mother, who has
worked in the field of abortion care for more than thirty years."
There is also a link to The Elliot Institute's web site in the article..joined by the words "post abortion myth" http://www.afterabortion.org/
The Truth About Abortion and Mental Health
The
right to abortion and access to safe abortion care has been
extraordinarily politicized in the US (and elsewhere) for decades now
and women’s physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychological needs
have been ignored, distorted, and caught in the cross-fire. So I have
found it exciting to be able to read and review the ground-breaking new
book “Abortion Counseling: A Clinician’s Guide to Psychology, Legislation, Politics, and Competency”
by Rachel B. Needle, PsyD, and Lenore E.A. Walker, EdD. In a clear,
straightforward, and informative style that is accessible to all, Drs.
Needle and Walker emphasize the importance of abortion counseling for
women who may be contemplating an abortion, or those who have had one.
The authors emphasize that “abortion counseling has a critical role to
play in ensuring women’s mental health is the priority not the goals of
a political agenda.”
Powerful words. The authors deal with this theme admirably and
thoroughly. They state unequivocally that “unintended child-bearing is
destructive to the mental health of women and their families [and]
women’s mental health has become a political weapon in efforts to
restrict legal access to abortion.”
With readable scientific information covering a myriad of topics in
a comfortable format, Drs. Needle and Walker give readers dynamic
ammunition and knowledge to cut through the vast anti-choice rhetoric
that legal abortion harms women. Women’s cognitive decision-making and
competency skills, the reasons women choose abortion, women who are
high-risk for negative post-abortion outcomes, the myth of
“post-abortion syndrome,” family violence, debunking myths about
women’s reproductive health care,
a model program for post-abortion counseling, the endless legal
restrictions that attempt—and often succeed—in denying women access to
safe abortion care, and the impact of the abortion debate on women,
therapists, and clinic workers—these are among the issues covered in
this comprehensive book.
Dr. Needle has a compelling and unique motivation for co-writing
this book. The book is dedicated to “abortion providers [as] the true
unsung heroes of this movement.” This includes Dr. Needle’s mother, who
has worked in the field of abortion care for more than thirty years.
“Growing up the daughter of an abortion provider, I witnessed
first-hand the controversy surrounding abortion and how the controversy
harmed women," says Dr. Needle. She goes on:
Mental health professionals, on the whole, are not
trained to address women who are considering abortion, or women who
have terminated a pregnancy. There is no training on abortion
counseling for mental health professionals and therefore there is
minimal awareness of what is involved. There is a lack of understanding
about abortion legislation and regulations, and little appreciation for
how legislation can impact a woman and her family.
As Dr. Walker and I began to notice this lack of information
available to mental health professionals, we felt the need to provide
this resource where currently practicing clinicians and
clinicians-in-training could go to learn more about abortion, including
legislation, the myth of post-abortion syndrome,
decision-making, competency, and how to assist women prior to and
following an abortion procedure. Therapists and health care
professionals need accurate information to assist women in making their
own decisions about pregnancy planning.
Most importantly, despite the fact that the majority of research
finds no evidence for negative psychological affects following
pregnancy termination, the construct of a "post-abortion syndrome"
continues to be raised by politicians and in the media. But research
continues to find that terminating an unwanted pregnancy by an induced
abortion does not cause women to become mentally ill. Those few women
who may develop emotional problems after an abortion are then likely to
misattribute their distress to the abortion rather than to the other
factors that actually are known to create such emotional distress.
These factors include pre-existing psychiatric conditions and a history
of physical and sexual abuse. When these factors are controlled,
studies of women who chose to have an abortion find that they are no
more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety disorders, psychotic
problems, or suicidal behavior than those women who chose to carry the
pregnancy to full term.
Given all of the anti-choice rhetoric, distortion, and
misinformation, as well as the lack of training in the area of
pregnancy termination, it was time for a book to educate all those who
are engaged in both pre- and post- abortion counseling. In order to do
so, again, it is important for therapists to understand the politics
and legislative history affecting women’s decision-making, be
knowledgeable about accurate information about the abortion procedure
itself, and understand the psychological theories about the development
of stable emotions to assist counselors and therapists in determining
the woman’s emotional state both pre- and post- termination. Finally,
therapists—as well as the public—must be aware that research
demonstrates that "post abortion syndrome" does not exist, even though
some women may have some temporary negative or ambivalent feelings.
This is why we wrote our book. We trust that it will be helpful.
Yes, it is. “Abortion Counseling: A Clinician’s Guide to Psychology,
Legislation, Politics, and Competency” is a book for everyone
interested in knowing the truth about women, abortion, and women’s
mental health. Whether you are new to the issue or a veteran, there is
much to learn from this excellent resource.
I wish this dynamic book had been available when I first started to
counsel women having abortions in 1970. There was no developed
profession of abortion counseling at that time and we created a new
field. This compelling book puts it all together with updated
information and clear scientific discussion and analysis. “Abortion
Counseling” cuts through the lies and will help to frame the future for
women’s mental health as we continue to articulate the truth about
abortion.
