Abortion is a controversial topic in our society and always somehow comes up in conversation. According to Augustyn et al., (2019), abortion is the expulsion of the fetus from the uterus before it reaches the stage of viability, which is 20 weeks gestation. This sounds to most people harsh and cruel to do. When a debate of whether abortion is right or wrong, the majority will go in the direction of it being wrong. When it does come up in conversations, I keep quiet or lie, as unlike the majority, I am in support of abortion. This is the same thing I did when my patient asked my opinion on it.

When it comes to assessing patients, physiotherapists first enquire about the patient’s history. Thus, asking personal questions, leading to patients confiding in you. Therefore during my block at a CHC, my patient confided in me about her 18 year old daughter that tried to have an abortion without her knowledge. Her daughter already has a one year old child. She told me how stupid her child was, how wrong it was, to try and have the baby aborted and it goes against her religion and the bible. According to her as long as the daughter is living under her roof, she will do what her mother says. The patient asked my opinion on the matter. I lied to the patient, and told her I also thought it was wrong but deep down inside I felt in this case it would be the right thing to do. I lied because I could see the patient felt strongly about this and I knew giving my honest opinion she would not listen or try to understand my way of thinking.

Although, I got more frustrated and irritated by the fact the patient kept going on about the abortion, even though I tried to change the subject. I wasn’t getting frustrated by her opinions on the topic, I got frustrated, as not once did she express what her daughter must be going through and that she understands why her daughter wants to have an abortion. She expressed her feelings more on the fetus, that she never meet and spoke about it, if it was also human. On the one hand, those against abortion claim that personhood is attained from the moment of fertilization when a new zygotic genome is assembled, or even earlier when a spermatid penetrates an ootid (Miklavcic & Flaman, 2017). On the other hand, those for abortion believe, not all human beings are human persons and as a result not all human beings have moral status (Miklavcic & Flaman, 2017). Therefore, in my opinion a fetus is seen as the developmental stages of human life and have potential to become a human being or person, but may not yet be a person.

After the session, I realised this was the shortest session I had with a patient compared to the other sessions with other patients. To be honest I just wanted to be done with the patient. I still treated the patient with respect during the whole session but if the session went on a bit longer than it did, I don’t think I would have held it in any longer. Pyysicians and nurses readily admit that empathy is more difficult to achieve in situations where morals collide and that their professional ideals feel strained (Hill, 2010). It was difficult for me to feel sorry for this patient and her social circumstances. I felt more sorry for the daughter. According to Hill (2010), clinicians are human, so moral and social judgments from the broader community can penetrate into the world of healthcare relationships. Thus when having moral differences, it can have an impact on the treatment, even though you don’t realise it. It is sometimes difficult to put your opinion on a subject matter aside. However, in this instance I kept quiet as I knew that this session was not the time and place to have a debate on the issue.

I felt in this case abortion would be the right thing to do, especially listeing to what the patient told me about their social circumstances and how her daughter fell pregnant. The patient is the breadwinner in the house, having to look after her mother, her daughter and grandson and her other son. They all living in a small shack and she is struggling to make ends meet. The patient also confided in me that her daughter was raped by a family friend and her child doesn’t want a baby by a rapist. As it will be a constant reminder of what happened to her. Thus it would be understandable why the daughter doesn’t want to bring another child in their current environment. During the treatment session, I started to become annoyed, as the patient kept going on how wrong abortion and quoting from the bible. I told the patient I needed to get the hot pack even though it was not indicated for the patient. As I needed a few seconds to collect myself, as I wanted to give the patient the best treatment as I give the other patients.

Although I disagree with her on this ethical matter, I understand her reason for thinking it is wrong. For her it is morally wrong and she was brought up in an religious environment where abortion is wrong. Those not in favour of abortion believe the fetus has life, and they too are human beings, thus also having rights. In the Bible, it states that life begins at conception in the chapter of Jeremiah “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” Another verse states that “Thou shall not kill.” in Exodus which is also often used as some people believe that abortion is wrong because the fetus is alive from day one. According to Jones & Chaloner (2007), a fetus has a right to life that is equal to that of any other human being, therefore society has a moral duty to protect it. However, in my opinion those against abortion are only seeing from the fetus point of view and not from the person’s point of view who is carrying it. In the Constitution Act 108 of 1996, it states all the rights of the women in South Africa, which relates to the right of life, dignity, privacy, freedom and security, the individual’s freedom of religion, belief and opinion, right to bodily and psychological integrity, and lastly the right to make decisions concerning reproduction and to security and control over her body (Pickles, 2013).

In South Africa abortion is legal. South Africa enacted the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, which gives women of any age or marital status access to abortion services upon request during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy (Guttmacher, Kapadia, Naude Te Water & de Pinho, 1998). Therefore, the women in this coutry have the legal right to choice and bodliy integrity. A woman of any age may request termination of her pregnancy without having to advance reasons for such, on condition the pregnancy is not more than 12 weeks gestation. After 12 weeks gestation, termination of pregnancy can only be carried out under certain conditions. These are: pregnancy having been the result of rape, severe fetal abnormality, severe maternal physical or mental disease, or if continued pregnancy would result in severe social or economic conditions (Guttmacher, Kapadia, Naude Te Water & de Pinho, 1998).

Thus the woman has the right to choose what she wants to do with her body and the laws in South Africa backs her up in her decision. I don’t see myself as pro-choice or pro-life, I see myself in favour of the women’s rights. It is her body, so she should have the right to do what she see fit with her body. In this patient’s case if her child chooses to keep the baby it will grow up in an environment, where it will feel unloved and he/her needs won’t be meet.

References

Augustyn, A., Bauer, P., Duignan, B., Eldridge, A., Gregersen, E., Mckenna, A., Petruzzello, M.,……. & Zelazko, A. (2019). Abortion. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/science/abortion-pregnancy on 15/09/2019.

Guttmacher, S., Kapadia, F., Naude Te Water, J. & de Pinho, H. (1998). Abortion Reform in South Africa: A Case Study of the 1996 Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act. International perceptives on sexual and reproductive health, 24 (4): 191. Retrieved from https://www.guttmacher.org/journals/ipsrh/1998/12/abortion-reform-south-africa-case-study-1996-choice-termination-pregnancy-act on 15/09/2019.

Hill T. E. (2010). How clinicians make (or avoid) moral judgments of patients: implications of the evidence for relationships and research. Philosophy, ethics, and humanities in medicine : PEHM, 5, 11. doi:10.1186/1747-5341-5-11 on 26/09/2019

Jones, K. & Chaloner, C. (2007). Ethics of abortion: the arguments for and against. Nursing Standard. 21 (37): 45-48. Retrieved from https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Ethics-of-abortion%3A-the-arguments-for-and-against.-Jones-Chaloner/967b0736a3717dca27902c1a168b4252eae95580 on 15/09/2019

Miklavcic, J. J., & Flaman, P. (2017). Personhood status of the human zygote, embryo, fetus. The Linacre quarterly, 84(2), 130–144. doi:10.1080/00243639.2017.1299896 on 26/09/2019

Pickles, C. (2013). Termination-of-Pregnancy Rights and Foetal Interests in Continued Existence in South Africa: The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal/Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad, 15(5). doi: 10.4314/pelj.v15i5.11 on 26/09/2019