Guide to Informed Choices
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―pregnancy embryo‖ anywhere, you did find out some more details of a 49 day (12 week) embryo:
has a definite sex
has a pumping heart
has primitive but detectable brainwaves
has arms and legs, a body and a head That confirms the ―distinctly human‖ quote that got you started in the first place. The funny thing is, when you went to check the magazine, it wasn‘t anywhere to be found. Strange.
For a related topic turn to Reason #3: You Have Been Lied To
Clinics do not provide sufficient counseling ―Don‘t tell [the] patient the abortion will hurt.‖
―Don‘t discuss [the abortion] procedure or the instruments to be used in any detail.‖ ―Don‘t answer too many questions.‖ 400
—clinic guidelines, Chicago Sun-Times
any former patients testify that abortion clinics did not provide thorough counseling, providing only a cursory conversation where a serious discussion was needed. For Cindy, it was the lack of important information. At the clinic I was ―counseled.‖ I was told that this was an easy procedure, and I‘ll be fine afterwards. Life will move on as if nothing had happened. That was it.
For Violet, there was nothing deep or serious in her counseling. They sent me to another waiting room across the hall where I waited awhile M
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before seeing a counselor. She was friendly, but very casual, as if I had come to have a tooth pulled or something. I put on a smile so I could get away from her. She promised me an ultrasound picture, which I never received, made some notes, and let me go after about 5 minutes.
For Cheryl, she was only asked one question. They called us out one by one to a ―counseling‖ session. As with all things at the ―clinic,‖ it was BS. Some lady asked me why I was there. I said ―Daddy‘s a drunk.‖ She said ―Okay, you can go back to the waiting room
now.‖ That‘s
called ―horsecrap counseling.‖ Did
she recommend a relevant 12-step program to me? Did she suggest adoption? Did she warn me about what might happen during or after an abortion? No, no, and no.
For Carol, counseling also consisted of one question, answered when it was too late anyhow. I remember the counseling I got. A nurse came up to me and handed me a pill and glass of water. As she did, she asked me ―Are you sure you want to do this?‖ I think I just shrugged my shoulders and took the pill. She said ―Ok, cause it‘s too late to back out now.‖ 401
I am reminded of the experience of former clinic worker, Norma McCorvey, as she shared how one abortionist she knew would counsel women. In broken English he would inquire, ―You want abortion?‖ and then
after the
woman‘s acknowledgment, ―You sign here, I give abortion.‖ 402
Might I note that all the client was doing was absolving the abortionist of liability if anything went wrong! Here‘s a snapshot of today‘s abortion ‗counseling‘:
Ask the woman why she wants an abortion and sympathize with her.
change her opinion (that would be bad business).
baby in her life right now.
Don‘t inform her of local resources or government support that might change her mind.
Run off some usual post-procedure infection protocol like no baths, douches or sex.
Discuss what birth control she is planning to use.
other than it is a clump of cells, unformed, tissue, nothing developed yet, etc.
Offer her
minimal, sanitized information about the procedure.
Assure her she‘s making the right choice and that she shouldn‘t feel guilty about it.
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Although clinics advertise counseling services, in all too many cases this is simply a trap to get uncertain women into the door for their services.
Clinics encourage abortion on religious grounds bortion clinics ‗suck up‘ to you by making you feel that abortion is definitely acceptible with your spiritual belief (whichever that may be): The Chaplaincy program is designed to bring spiritual resources to those who come to the Clinic for help and assistance. Spiritually, abortion is acceptable in ten of the world's religions and in Christianity. 403
Chaplain‖ from the infamous abortion clinic formerly run by the late George Tiller. What a joke! The chaplain‘s mug shot reveals his true character — smug, smiley-faced in his fancy clergy wear. His job in the house of the Lord? To promote abortion of, course! A wolf in sheep‘s clothing — if I ever saw one. His purpose is to make women feel good about choosing abortion, all the while feeling like it‘s naturally compatible with God and that you are remaining faithful to to your religion — whichever religion that may be. Never consider adjusting your actions — no — just the religion! For example, abortion clinics will refer you to a follower of your own religion who believes abortion is okay: If you are Catholic and would like to talk to other Catholics who are pro choice, we have several phone numbers of help lines you can call. 404
They also might display some well- placed testimony, such as, that of a ―self- described practicing Catholic‖ who professes, "I finally felt that it was morally okay for me to have an abortion.‖ 405
Apparently this quote is included to encourage other Catholic women to think that they can still be a faithful believer while getting an abortion. Sometimes clinics promote abortion through other religious arguments, such as by telling women that it‘s okay to have an abortion because God is forgiving. (More on that in
Reason #28 .)
Sacraments anyone? Enjoy the sacraments? Now you can celebrate them at the clinic! (After they‘ve killed him, that is.) One abortion clinic offers: The program
offers individual counseling, group counseling and the celebration of spiritual sacraments such as baptism of the still-born fetus and blessings for the aborted fetus. 406
A
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Clinics discourage women from going to pregnancy centers that do not refer for abortions bortion clinics do their best to steer you away from their competitors, labeling Pregnancy Centers as ―deceptive… and dangerous.‖ 407
(bold theirs)
Remember, abortion clinics are a business. Pregnancy centers offer free alternatives. That alone ought to cast a shadow over the motivation of these clinics. Pregnancy centers are
dangerous — to clinic profits. Feminist Women‘s Health Center tells women in no uncertain terms not to go there: ―IF you discover you are seeking help from an anti-abortion facility, protect yourself from further harassment. Leave
immediately and do not return. When you do locate a professional clinic that offers information about all options, be sure to tell them about your experience at the fake clinic and let them help you sort out the facts from the religious views or outright lies you have been told.‖ (bold and red theirs)
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I find it interesting that the clinic assumes that everything someone else tells you must be incorrect and everything they tell you is gospel. So, what do they accuse pregnancy centers of? The claims range from the outrageous: …some kind of big boogey man who ―won't let women leave‖ when they want to.
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To the baseless: ― They will lie to you about the medical and emotional effects of abortion‖ 410
To the humorous: get ready for it… ― They may perform your pregnancy tests without medical supervision‖ 411
Doesn‘t everybody need supervision for a pregnancy test? They‘re
pretty complicated things.
No evidence is provided to back up their claims but let‘s face them anyhow.
1. I highly doubt that any pregnancy center with open doors would stand at the door to prevent a woman from walking out when she chooses. This is a an unjustified claim and scare tactic. 2.
second claim is that many pregnancy centers will advise you that you might have complications or regrets after an abortion — which is true. You might. Whether some are overzealous in conveying this information, I cannot tell. A
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3. It‘s probably true that not all pregnancy centers have volunteer medical staff or medical staff on duty at the time you take your
pregnancy test.
But truthfully, how skilled do you have to be to dip that little stick in the urine sample and wait for the results? Some other claims I‘d like to confront are: ―Their offices are filled with information that is one-sided.‖ 412
If you count pro-life information as one sided then it‘s true. However, if it‘s true for pro- life then it‘s also true for pro-choice. The same applies to them. Another claim is: ―Their true purpose is to steer women away from abortion.‖ 413
Again, this is only true if you can also say abortion clinics‘ true purpose is to steer women towards abortion. It is correct that pro-life pregnancy centers neither provide nor refer for abortions (believing them to be harmful). Why aren‘t there a group of pro-choice pregnancy centers for women who have nowhere to turn? They don‘t exist because these people believe abortion is usually the best solution to an undesired pregnancy. I did find that some clinics tried to look balanced by offering adoption services or pregnancy counseling. But not free of charge as pregnancy centers do, but for money — $490 and $75 respectively. 414
That‘s service to women? Another charge is, ―They won‘t give you complete and correct information about all options.‖ 415
Let‘s see, pregnancy centers do provide
information on
parenting, adoption, abortion. What they don‘t provide is abortion referrals. Perhaps that‘s the information the clinics are begrudging. It can‘t be for highlighting the risks, for even some clinics acknowledge the risks and regrets women could face. From my research I believe that abortion clinics are making a claim that they themselves are guilty of — failing to inform women exactly just what is sucked out of their uterus and into that suction tube. I also believe that they whitewash the emotional effects of an abortion.
Which side has more vested interests in a woman choosing abortion?
When you look at how hard the abortion clinics try to get your business and discourage you from going elsewhere, you‘ve got to start looking at the $$$. On the one hand you have pregnancy centers which (yes, are pro-life if you want to use that term), which provide local referrals, resources, help with
accommodation, education, government grants and so forth. All this is freely given. On the other hand the abortion clinics
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offer abortion, contraception and sexual health services. For a price. (Okay, condoms are sometimes freebies.) Which side has more vested interests in a woman choosing abortion? The abortion clinics stand to lose hundreds of dollars (quite literally) for every woman that chooses to go to a pregnancy center and also chooses to keep her child. They are so in it for the money that even though they say that you can change your mind at any point, as a disincentive they will bill you for everything — even a pregnancy test or ultrasound, which pregnancy centers never charge for: If the abortion procedure is not performed due to patient request or physician advice, you will be responsible for payment for services already rendered, such as the pregnancy test, sonogram and lab tests. All other fees will be refunded. 416
choice, then why don‘t they support any real alternatives to abortion? Asking if you‘re in a position to support a child or tossing the word ‗adoption‘ your direction does not constitute real counseling. Perhaps the real answer to this question does not lie in politics but in money. Without abortions, their business would suffer. Yes, it is a business.
Reason #60: The abortion industry is a business
about Post-Abortion Counselling? What about post-abortion counseling? What do clinics recommend? In the past they might have accused you of being a pro-life prankster, but now many are catching on that women are requesting help to deal with their abortion.
However, the places they recommend for help when you‘re having difficulty coming to terms with your decision are abortion-favorable! For example, Exhale is one such group. I found on their website a proud reference to the fact that, ―The abortion providers I talked to were unanimous in their praise for Exhale.‖
417 How can a woman who regrets her choice be helped by someone who believes she did the right thing?
Reason #35 ―The counseling you receive at abortion clinics is naturally biased‖
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Reason #36 'Freedom to choose' does not tell you what you have the freedom to choose.
Nice slogans, empty words Who could possibly be opposed to something so benign as ‗choice‘? ...The true question is, What choice is being offered…? 418
ro Choice.‖ Sounds great, doesn‘t it? Raise your hand if you believe in making your own choices. Everyone? Wow, that‘s great! Who isn‘t for choices? I think the real question that we need to discuss today is, what choices are we being given and what decisions are we really talking about? Back when slavery was legal the situation was also phrased in terms of personal choice. While we can now see right through that when it comes to slavery, we are still having trouble with 'pro-choice' when it comes to abortion. ―My body, my choice.‖ We hear the phrase so often it‘s become a mantra. And it sounds so right, doesn‘t it? As we see in Reason #25 , it‘s a bit deceiving as, while it is your choice, the unborn child is actually not part of your own body. Another slogan used is: ―If you can‘t trust me with a choice, how can you trust me with a child?‖ At a first glance they seem right. Of course, we need to trust people to make their own choices and, yes, parenting is a responsibility of great trust. They are comparing what appears simple — a choice — with the vast responsibility of parenting. The truth, however, is that ―choice‖ is not simple. It involves destruction of your child in the worst perversion of parenting that I know of. It‘s kind of ironic. I mean, here they are saying, if you don‘t give us a chance to get rid of our child, how can you trust us with our child‘s life and upbringing. I mean, it just doesn‘t make sense. Or what about the phrase, ―Not the church, not the state, women must decide their fate.‖ The slogan is clever. No one wants someone else to decide their fate and that includes me. However, the phrase suggests that what makes an act right or wrong is which person is granted the power to make the choice. This is clearly not the whole picture. For example, whether or not the government or church approves me owning slaves does nothing to alter the actual morality of owning slaves. And ―P
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making that choice all by myself doesn‘t add anything to make it more moral. Owning slaves was wrong to begin with, and it doesn‘t become right because I make a free, right-for-me, conscientious and personal choice to own slaves. But that‘s exactly what pro-choicers say about abortion. Incidentally, it‘s the same argument the pro-slavery folk used in their time (see Reason #75 ).
Is choice always a good thing? hen we talk about choice and our right to make whatever choice we want, we sometimes overlook a very important fact. Today some abortion advocates worship ‗choice‘ almost as a deity on their altar and yet, choice in and of itself isn‘t necessarily always a good thing. You see, we can make both good and bad choices in life. While we need the freedom to choose, it's a juggling act between our rights and the need to protect the rights of others. In fact, that‘s the only reason we have laws. To interfere with others‘ choices to harm us harm us. Indeed, imagine if there were no laws and we were pro-choice for everyone — including murderers and rapists. Choice IS wonderful, but where another person is involved, there are limitations.
If you do not think that abortion kills an actual person see Reason #11: A fetus is a human and humans are persons
.
Q. Are all possible decisions good ones because someone made the choice?
Choice as a distraction from the real scene Some babies die by chance. No baby should die by choice! —Bumper sticker
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