There are a lot of statements that state whether abortion is right or wrong. People arguing over the mother’s body, some saying she cannot just take a new life away, others saying it is her body and she may make the right decision for her and the unborn child. So many times people only focus on the physical of the mother and the baby, that they forget what impact it can have on the mother if she decided to or is forced to go through with the pregnancy. It might have a psychological impact on the mother, bringing back bad memories or bring down her sense of self (Bateb, 2011). An unexpected baby can also have a big financial impact on someones life.
So many times while on clinical practice, we see in a file that a patient has had multiple previous abortions and we are quick to judge. People forget to have empathy towards the mother and to respect her decision. The decision to get an abortion is never an easy decision to make, the mother might have been abused and in that way she was making the decision to protect her unborn child from the abuse that he or she would have been born into. The mother could have suffered severe abuse and decided not to have the baby because it would bring back too many of the memories that she went through(Lathrop, n.d.). In some cultures or religions it is shunned upon any women getting an abortion so mother’s that make the decision to terminate a pregnancy get kicked out of the community or left on their own without any support. In some work places, pregnant woman are not allowed to work so they will be forced to take longer leave without an extra income and that may be a problem when the mother have others to provide for. Some mothers base their decision solely on the fact that they will not be able to provide for the child.
Then there is also the mothers that make the abortion decision to only benefit their own lives without thinking about the child. Unplanned pregnancies also play a big role in the decision making to terminate a pregnancy, as the mother might be in a place in her life where she’s to young, does not have the needed support or feel ashamed about her situation.
Everyone has different opinions and is entitled to their opinion. There are people outside hospitals and clinics protesting and telling the mothers that do decide to get an abortion how wrong it is and that they are bad people. There is always the option of adoption, and that option will be given to the mothers, as this can be a good option for the child to have a future. Although the mother might always be wondering where the child is, did the child really find a better home than what she could provide. Or some people are in abusive relationships that they know they will not be able to carry the baby to full term. Whenever a mother does decide to go through with an abortion she would have been asked if she is sure and if she is sure she has her own reasons to go through with the abortion and we should respect that. When the patient comes to a hospital they trust that we as health professionals should help them, we can see what is in their files and some of their past history, we should learn to respect their decisions. We can empathize with these patients to help them through their lives, whether you agree or disagree with their decision, they already have it hard enough and you will never know the circumstances they are in.
References
Bateb, A. (2011). Psychological Consequences of Abortion among the Post Abortion Care Seeking Women in Tehran. Retrieved from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3395931/
Lathrop, A. (n.d.). Pregnancy Resulting From Rape. Retrieved from www.jognn.org: https://www.jognn.org/article/S0884-2175(15)33527-9/fulltext
3 thoughts on “Empathy and abortion”
Dear Madelein, thank you for sharing your piece,
this is a very good piece, however your arguments would be stronger with some references, eg. statistics or rates of abortion, proof of communities etc. that shun upon people who decide to have an abortion.
your piece is relevant to the topics we have discussed in class, however try adding a heading and specifying which topic you have chosen.
Although your piece is good, it is not personally related to an experience in clinical practice, perhaps add an experience or an encounter you have had during clinical practice, this would make it a bit more personal and realistic, it will also make your argument stronger.
a few grammar errors:
paragraph 1:
first sentence
there is should be there are
instead of a lot, you could say many
last sentence, it may have “a” psychological impact
crises should be crisis
second paragraph
third sentence
bring back to many memories should be “too many”
fifth sentence
woman is , should be women are
the mother have should be the mother has
sixth sentence
decision of the fact should be decision on the fact
last paragraph
second sentence
there is people outside should be there are people
third sentence
all though should be although
fifth sentence
when a mother do should be when a mother does
other then that, your piece is very good and relevant and sparks some realization that nobody is perfect, and everybody deserves respect without judgement.
all the best.
kayelene bezuidenhout
Hi Madelein
Thank you for sharing your piece with us. This is a topic that is probably most spoken about and the opinions of people will always differ about it. As students we will come across patients with this problem and I agree that we should respect the decision of the patients, although it might contradict our own beliefs.
I liked how you linked abortion to empathy and how these patients need support after a big decision like aborting their baby. Do you think that every patient will need support after a decision like this? As some of them might make the decision easier than others. I do however agree that a certain amount of support need to be given to the patients after making this decision.
Try to add in a few references to support your piece. This will make your piece stronger and the research will support the statement that you are making. You can also consider including the different opinions/sides people have towards abortion. Reading up on the topic might help you to get a broader vision on the topic.
Good luck for your final piece, I look forward to read it.
Hi Madelein
Abortion is a very controversial topic and I thought it was brave to take this as your topic for that reason.
I enjoyed reading your piece but I do think it would be stronger with evidence.
Some suggestions on where to place evidence would be:
-Paragraph 1 to give evidence or explain psychological effects of abortions on the mother as well as effects of keeping a baby the mother might not have been prepared for.
-Paragraph 2. Try to find stats on the rate of abortions due to assault or abuse as well as how long women are entitled to take maternity leave as this might pose another ethical dilemma.
-Paragraph 3. In sentence one,change “is” to “are” and further in that paragraph change “whether a mother do” to “whether a mother does”.
To reiterate,I enjoyed reading your piece and with appropriate evidence it would make your piece a lot stronger in terms of your argument.
I would have also like to read about the different perspectives on abortion and why those people have those views or what evidence they have for those views. Another question would be whether abortion affects the multidisciplinary team of the patient or whether this information is relevant to include in the patient’s file when seeing an OT or speech therapist for example.
I wish you all the best with the final submission .
Gillian