Running the Gauntlet: Women's Use of Emotion Management Techniques in the Abortion Experience

Abstract

Women who have abortions are caught in the crossfire of a heated ideological battle. The prochoice contention is that most women feel relieved after terminating an unwanted pregnancy. The antiabortion camp asserts killing an unborn child psychologically scars the mother. Drawing on in-depth interviews with forty women who have terminated a pregnancy, this study examines how the clashing emotion culture of abortion politics shapes women's feelings about abortion. Findings indicate that women use behavioral and cognitive techniques in an attempt to transform unpleasant physiological reactions, inappropriate expressive gestures, and problematic emotional labels. As they run the gauntlet, women also strategically dodge or deliberately approach hazardous situational cues (e.g., abortion debate rhetoric and demonstrators, pictures of fetal development and the ultrasound, and babies and pregnant women) to achieve a feeling state that is consistent with their ideology.

Women's Emotions One Week After Receiving or Being Denied an Abortion in the United States

“…Experiencing complex emotions and having strong feelings after an abortion—even negative ones—does not indicate that a woman feels she made the wrong decision. Our results are consistent with prior research that suggests that postabortion emotions vary from woman to woman—and, for a given woman, from abortion to abortion—largely as a function of life circumstances, difficulty with decision making and social support, including from romantic partners . Mechanisms targeting all women, such as regulations or information requirements, do not address these issues and may, in fact, exacerbate negative emotions.…”

“…Consistent with prior studies, we found that the main variables associated with experiencing primarily negative emotions were aspects of the pregnancy decision-making process and social environment. 14,16,31,33,34 Specifi cally, women' s likelihood of reporting primarily negative emotions was positively associated with the degree to which they had planned a pregnancy and had had diffi culty deciding to seek abortion. The abortion decision is infl uenced by many factors, including desired family structure, cultural or spiritual beliefs, personal decision-making style, physical health and partner or social support.…”

“…First, it presumes that negative emotions a woman expresses stem from the abortion, and not from other sources, such as the pregnancy itself. Yet, qualitative research has shown that following the end of a pregnancy, some women mourn not the fetal loss, but other losses, including the loss of a romantic relationship; other women experience guilt or anger at themselves for becoming pregnant unintentionally . To date, scholarship has not distinguished women's feelings about the pregnancy from those about the abortion.…”

“…Yet, qualitative research has shown that following the end of a pregnancy, some women mourn not the fetal loss, but other losses, including the loss of a romantic relationship; 13,15 other women experience guilt or anger at themselves for becoming pregnant unintentionally. 16 To date, scholarship has not distinguished women' s feelings about the pregnancy from those about the In policy making and public debate, the idea that abortion is psychologically traumatic has gained traction. 1 The notion that abortion-a procedure that 30% of U.S. women undergo in their lifetime 2 -has distressing emotional sequelae has generated legislative and public support for measures aimed at increased regulation of the procedure, including legislation mandating ultrasound viewing, 24-hour waiting periods and state-directed counseling, as well as parental consent for minors.…”

“He's Doing Fine”: Hope Work and Emotional Threat Management Among Families of Seriously Ill Children

“…Matha Copp, in her () study of an employment program for workers with developmental disabilities, termed these efforts to manage emotions before they arise “preventive emotion work.” The supervisors in Copp's fieldsite worked to construct a collectively jovial mood during their shifts in order to keep workers from slipping into more problematic affective states, and looked closely for any sign that a worker might be in a bad mood so that they could intervene and work to push them in a cheerful emotional direction before more overt problems arose. In another instance of preventive emotion work, Jennifer Keys () found that women facing an unwanted pregnancy often “strategically dodged or deliberately approached” emotionally charged symbols (for instance, an ultrasound image) or people who might help them feel the way they wanted to feel about the pregnancy, and avoid feelings that would make decision‐making more difficult.…”