In my general block, my 17 year old patient came for her ortho appointment. She seemed to be stressed and unease , I treated her accordingly. After the session she asked if she can ask me something, I agreed. She said to me “I did not know where to go or who to talk to, I recently found out that I am pregnant, my boyfriend removed the condom without my consent a month ago, do you think I should have an abortion?” , I told her that I can only refer her to a Doctor to give advice on such a topic . She said to me “I just want your honest personal opinion”. I could not give her my opinion on the matter because it could be biased and I am not well trained to give someone detailed advise on abortion, I then refered her to the nurses as well as the social worker for counselling and doctors putting that into perspective, one’s opinion on abortion is vastly influenced by personal beliefs , upbringing, environment and morality(Moshman, 2009) . Morality is defined as one’s wrongs and rights(Moshman, 2009), therefore the matter is subjective, as health professionals we spend a lot of time educating patients on lifestyle changes, it is therefore important that when we educate, we do not educate with biased opinions that is influenced by our culture and beliefs which may be contradicting with the patients.
Should morality be one of the aspects that health professionals advice patients on? Abortion is one of the matters deemed to be morally wrong or right depending on the perspective that it is being looked at as well as the individual perceiving them. This is vastly influenced by the various factors named above.
In medicine, an abortion is the premature exit of the products of conception (the fetus, fetal membranes, and placenta) from the uterus. It is the loss of a pregnancy and does not refer to why that pregnancy was lost.
Having a medical abortion is a major decision with emotional and psychological consequences. If you’re considering this procedure, make sure you understand what it entails, side effects, possible risks, complications and alternatives.
(Dyer, 2008) explains that doctors must put patients needs ahead of their personal beliefs, this article further explains that doctors who oppose abortion on the grounds of conscience are obligated to refer a patient to another doctor who is willing to do the procedure and must mot leave a patient without an option. This is totally justified, however, what if the patient is vulnerable and wants to hear the beliefs of the health professional? Sharing personal beliefs with vulnerable patients in my case (a 17 year old) may leave the patients with lifetime guilt.
“Incomplete abortions and, in particular, unsafe abortions are an important cause of mortality and morbidity in South Africa. A high priority should be given to the prevention of unsafe abortion”(reese et al., 2019). This goes to show how important the need for appropriate abortion education is in South africa. Even though a woman of any age can have an abortion in this country, it is essential that safe routes are taken to ensure safety of the patients. In South Africa, there is an unmet need among women for information on abortion. Strategies should be developed to address this gap so that women are fully informed of their rights to a safe and legal termination of pregnancy (Morroni, Myer and Tibazarwa, 2006).
Even though abortion is legal in South Africa, there are still many women who do abortions outside designated safe spaces, this is mainly because of lack and information and stigma and culture associated with abortion in this country (Jewkes et al., 2005).
References
Jewkes, R., Gumede, T., Westaway, M., Dickson, K., Brown, H. and Rees, H. (2005). Why are women still aborting outside designated facilities in metropolitan South Africa?. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 112(9), pp.1236-1242.
Morroni, C., Myer, L. and Tibazarwa, K. (2006). Knowledge of the abortion legislation among South African women: a cross-sectional study. Reproductive Health, 3(1).
Moshman, D. (2009). Identity, Morality, and Adolescent Development. Human Development, 52(5), pp.287-290.
reese, h., Katzenellenbogen, J., Shabodien, R., Jewkes, R., fawcus, s., Mclntyre, J., lombard, C. and Truter, H. (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Judith_Katzenellenbogen2/publication/50412221_The_epidemiology_of_incomplete_abortion_in_South_Africa/links/02bfe50d48977830c5000000.pdf?inViewer=true&pdfJsDownload=true&disableCoverPage=true&origin=publication_detail [Accessed 27 Sep. 2019]
2 thoughts on “abortion, does my opinion matter?”
Hi Thabiso.
Thank you for your piece of writing. Abortion is such a subjective subject as it is up to the individual to decide if it’s right or wrong. I think it is such a difficult position that you found yourself in, as you explained in your writing that morality is different for everyone.
In your writing you provide a lot of information on meanings/terms, however, I assume you will still put literature in that will back those up. Also, try to find literature on what you as a student should do in situations like this and what the correct processes are for referring these patients so that they can be educated on their options.
Also, you still have a few grammar mistakes that you can fix, which I’m sure you are aware off.
However, I think you are on the right track .
Thabiso, great piece written here, thank you for sharing your experience. i liked how you mentioned that our beliefs tend to influence the decisions we make and how you realized that your personal opinion may have a negative effect on the patients life. it shows that you were aware of the boundaries set in the patient – practitioner relationship. it would be interesting to know how you tackled the situation. did you refer her, was she able to make a final decision, how would you handle such a difficult situation if it were to happen again? i think that would help other health professionals when found in the same situation. Grammar: your piece was quite easy to read and understand. it had a good flow to it. i just came across a few spelling errors such as ‘unease ‘ instead of uneasy ‘She seemed to be stressed and unease ‘and punctuation : do you think I should have an abortion?” , I told her that I can only re.. i would suggest a full stop after abortion so to make the sentence shorter. otherwise everything else looks good. the content is realistic and relevant surely a lot of health professionals find themselves in such a dilemma and most probably do not know how to handle such a situation. References: great use of literature. you used relevant literature. the was however one definition that had no source of reference which you may want to add: ‘morality is defined as one’s wrongs and rights therefore the matter is subjective, as health professionals we spend a lot of times educating patients on lifestyle changes .’
other than the few errors i think your piece is well written and interesting to read!
great work and all the best