Abortion Psychological Effects

Abortion: faith-based pregnancy counselling centres found wanting

Women receiving advice from pregnancy counselling centres run by faith-based and anti- abortion organisations are subjected to scaremongering, emotive language and inaccurate information about abortion, according to an undercover investigation by a pro-choice charity.

Hundreds of crisis pregnancy centres(CPCs) offer counselling independently of the NHS. They could take over work performed by abortion providers such as Marie Stopes and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), after the government said it was considering handing the counselling role to "independent" organisations.

A survey of 10 centres operated by Christian and anti-abortion organisations found evidence in most of them of poor practice and factually incorrect advice, while the quality of counselling differs widely. Advice ranged from scaremongering – linking abortion with breast cancer, for example – to actions apparently designed to steer women away from abortion, such as showing them baby clothes and talking about "the child".

Researchers pretending to be young women in the early stages of pregnancy conducted the survey for Education for Choice, a pro-choice charity providing education and training on abortion.

Centres visited included those run by Life, recently appointed to a panel advising the government on sexual health . That appointment, as well as renewed pressure from socially conservative MPs to tighten abortion laws and strip abortion providers of their counselling role, has sparked alarm among pro-choice supporters .

At a Life centre in Covent Garden, London, the undercover researcher was given a leaflet entitled Abortions – How they're Done, which said incorrectly that 85% of abortions are carried out using vacuum aspiration. It stated that "the unborn child is sucked down the tube" and that "the woman should wear some protection. She has to dispose of the corpse [in the case of chemically induced abortion]."

The counsellor was said to have focused on mental health issues that she associated with abortion, telling the researcher she was of a good age to have a child, showing her baby clothes and using terms such as "baby" and "grandchild" when referring to the pregnancy.

While a counsellor on Life's helpline was regarded as being "friendly and non-judgmental", she was unwilling to answer questions about physical aspects of abortion, saying she was not qualified to do so. When asked whom to talk to about arranging an abortion, the counsellor stated that the organisation was pro-life and could not recommend any service. She claimed not to know the names of abortion providers.

French-Canadian Relationship Films: From Abortion to the Impact of ...

The French Canadian film industry produces powerful movies that are rarely neglected at award time, but are often quickly forgotten amid the high budget hype of American films. While action films are not the forte of the Canadian film market, dramas of depth that plumb relationship issues are their specialty. Films produced in Quebec are particularly potent movies. They make one laugh and cry, they take risks and they expose the complexity of political concerns from abortion to the psychological impact of media saturation.

A film by Denis Villeneuve, Maelstrom won five Genie and eight Jutra awards in 2001. This unique and moving drama uses a fish on a chopping block to tell the tale of a 25 year old fashionista caught in a tragedy. Disoriented after having an abortion, Bibiane kills a fisherman in her car one rainy night. After she plunges her car into the river to conceal the evidence, she realizes she has to change her life. She later has an affair with a man who is mysteriously connected to the accident victim, and confronts the effect having a famous mother has had on her psyche. Poetic and powerful, Maelstrom features a terrific sound track predominated by Tom Waites' tunes.

For a lighter evening of entertainment, pick this comedy that won four Genie nominations in 2003. The film covers the adventures and mishaps of nine travelers in their thirties, headed in four cars to different destinations. Some are going on holiday; others are relocating for jobs. Along the way, the nature of the relationships between men and women are discussed. Betrayal, passion, hope and disappointment are at the core of such repartees. The movie is hilarious and very Canadian with its mix of French and English dialogue. The scene with the talking moose on the road sign is particularly memorable.

A 2003 film that won an Academy award, as well as Genies and Jutras, for its controversial director, Denys Arcand. Featuring much of the same cast as his 1970s era film, The Decline of the American Empire, the Invasions follows the dying wishes of crusty, incisive skirt-chasing Remy. He asks for his jet-setting business man son Sebastien to return from London to care for him. Reluctantly, his son does, securing for him the best hospital treatment, illegal pain medication,and the rallying joie de vivre support of his intellectual and vivacious entourage, including former students. Along the way, the film analyzes everything from North American treatment of Natives to the erosions of the health care system. By turns humorous and serious, this film is wholly memorable.

The Abortion Debate

Human evolution, reproduction, and morality

Abortion, motherhood, and mental health, medicalizing reproduction in the United States and Great Britain

Scientific developments relating to the Abortion Act 1967, twelfth report of session 2006-07, Vol. 2: Oral and written evidence

The Ethics of Abortion, Women's Rights, Human Life, and the Question of Justice