Abortion: An Issue to Grieve?

Postabortion Syndrome: An Emerging Public Health Concern

“…Because of the self-insulation associated with the abortion experience, it is important that the caregiver be aware of the potential for grief, and take the initiative in exploring the client's perceptions and reactions. Joy (1985) stressed the need to be alert to women who are requesting counseling for depression resulting from unresolved grief over a prior abortion, i.e., a delayed grief reaction. Vaughan (1991) studied 232 women from 39 states who by self-report suffered stress, guilt, grief, depression, and anger, which were defined as symptoms of PAS.…”

“…Because abortion is a socially negated loss, it can result in "disenfranchised grief" (Doka, 1989). Because society denies the humanity of the fetal child, and because abortions are so commonly obtained and legally legitimized, it may be assumed that the woman who has aborted has nothing to grieve (Joy, 1985). Posttraumatic stress is more damaging and more difficult to treat if those around the affected person tend to deny the existence and/or significance of the stressor (Van der Kolk, 1987;Whitefield, 1987).…”

“…Clinical evidence indicates that grieving for the fetal child and traumatization from its death are not necessarily religiously induced or determined. Grief following a pregnancy loss is a human, not necessarily a spiritually/religiously based or induced phenomenon (Joy, 1985;Rando, 1986). However, the ameliorative role of spiritual healing in helping individuals fully recover from abortion trauma is noteworthy (Stanford- Rue, 1987).…”

Emotional Response to Abortion:

“…The literature indicates that the perceived support or lack of it seems to override the purely demographic variable of marital status per se. Joy (1985) noted that all the women who came to her for counseling made their decisions quickly and in social isolation. She did not divulge the number of clinical cases on which she based her observation.…”

Induced Abortion: An Ethical Conundrum for Counselors

“…In 1974, Duncan and Moffett lamented the dearth of literature regarding counselor attitudes about abortion. Since that time, the literature remains scant, with only limited coverage of how abortion counseling may affect counselors (i.e., Angelone, 1979;Armsworth, 1991;Duncan & Moffett, 1974;Joy, 1985). We suggest that ethical issues surrounding abortion counseling have been denied, much like the proverbial "elephant in the living room."…”