Why do women contact pregnancy support services?

A new study provides insight into how women describe the challenges they face when confronted with an unplanned pregnancy, how she describes her situation, circumstances, thoughts, and feelings – in her own words – before she has any contact with the pregnancy support team.

From our many years of conversations with women experiencing post-abortion distress, it is our impression that the women who most regret their abortion tend to be those who felt pressured into having an abortion that they did not want; and yes, they do use the word “regret”.

This is deeply troubling, and suggests more work is needed to safeguard women from being coerced into abortion.

The full report is available from the menu above, under ‘Papers and Reports‘.

Conclusions

These findings raise questions about how women are reaching their decision to have an abortion, and whether these decisions are their preferred choice, or have been influenced by pressure from circumstances or others. If the latter, then legal consent has not been given voluntarily and without undue pressure, as required in the regulations.

Our society seems to suggest that every abortion choice is the right choice. But the messages in this study suggest something different. Some women come to recognise that they are suffering from post-abortion distress and many of these women can connect this with having had an abortion that they did not want.

The data suggests that we should review both the safeguards in place to protect women in these highly pressured circumstances, and the governance processes of abortion providers that are supposed to ensure that these safeguards are being followed.

We suggest that further research is needed to inform the design of better counselling and support for women facing difficult decisions about whether to have an abortion, so that these vulnerable women are empowered to make fully informed choices and safeguarded from making decisions that they might later regret.