Coerced abortion: Difference between revisions
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
==How Common Are Coerced Abortions?== | ==How Common Are Coerced Abortions?== | ||
According to the 2008 report by American Psychological Task Force on Abortion and Mental Health, a major risk factor for women being at higher risk of negative psychological reactions to abortion are occasions in which there is "perceived pressure from others to terminate a pregnancy."<ref>American Psychological Association, Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion. (2008). [http://www.apa.org/pi/wpo/mental-health-abortion-report.pdf Report of the Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion.] Washington, DC: Author. page 11.</ref> If a "coerced abortion" is understood in this context to mean one in which the woman feels pressured by others to have an abortion, the best range of estimates is that between 30 and 65 percent of abortions involve feelings of being pressured to have an abortion. | According to the 2008 report by American Psychological Task Force on Abortion and Mental Health, a major risk factor for women being at higher risk of negative psychological reactions to abortion are occasions in which there is "perceived pressure from others to terminate a pregnancy."<ref>American Psychological Association, Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion. (2008). [http://www.apa.org/pi/wpo/mental-health-abortion-report.pdf Report of the Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion.] Washington, DC: Author. page 11.</ref> If a "coerced abortion" is understood in this context to mean one in which the woman feels pressured by others to have an abortion, the best range of estimates is that between 30 and 65 percent of abortions involve feelings of being pressured to have an abortion. | ||
The lowest reported estimate comes from a report by the Allan Guttmacher Institute. The study was tellingly cited in an article by pro-choice ethicist Daniel Callahan of the Hastings Center in a paper in which he worried about the pro-choice movement's failure to address the problem of coerced abortions: | |||
:If legal abortion has given women more choice, it has also given men more choice as well. They now have a potent new weapon in the old business of manipulating and abandoning women.... That men have long coerced women into abortion when it suits their purposes is well-known but rarely mentioned. Data reported by the Alan Gutmacher Institute indicate that some 30 percent of women have an abortion because someone else, not the woman, wants it (see: Rachel Benson gold, ''Abortion and Women's Health'', The Allan Guttmacher Institute, 1990, p20.) The same data indicate that this is not necessarily the exclusive reason, but it is remarkably difficult to find much prochoice probing into the reality of coerced abortions. It is as if there is an embarrassed, sheepish silence on what would seem a matter of obvious concern for those committed to choice." <ref>Daniel Callahan, “An Ethical Challenge to Prochoice Advocates,” Commonweal, Nov. 23, 1990, 681-687, 684.</ref> | |||
The study cited by Callahan was based on interviews conducted at an abortion clinic in which the interviewer herself rated the primary reasons why women were choosing to have an abortion. It may therefore have been influenced by the interviewers own bias, skill in interviewing, or the reluctance of women to report coercion in the presence of parents or partners who were pressuring for the abortion. | |||
A retrospective study of women seeking health care inquiring about pregnancy loss found | |||
<ref>Rue VM, Coleman PK, Rue JJ, Reardon DC. Induced abortion and traumatic stress: A preliminary comparison of American and Russian women. Med Sci Monit, 2004 10(10): SR5-16.</ref> | |||
Revision as of 17:47, 6 August 2012
Here are some links for major articles related to coerced and pressured abortions.
How Common Are Coerced Abortions?
According to the 2008 report by American Psychological Task Force on Abortion and Mental Health, a major risk factor for women being at higher risk of negative psychological reactions to abortion are occasions in which there is "perceived pressure from others to terminate a pregnancy."[1] If a "coerced abortion" is understood in this context to mean one in which the woman feels pressured by others to have an abortion, the best range of estimates is that between 30 and 65 percent of abortions involve feelings of being pressured to have an abortion.
The lowest reported estimate comes from a report by the Allan Guttmacher Institute. The study was tellingly cited in an article by pro-choice ethicist Daniel Callahan of the Hastings Center in a paper in which he worried about the pro-choice movement's failure to address the problem of coerced abortions:
- If legal abortion has given women more choice, it has also given men more choice as well. They now have a potent new weapon in the old business of manipulating and abandoning women.... That men have long coerced women into abortion when it suits their purposes is well-known but rarely mentioned. Data reported by the Alan Gutmacher Institute indicate that some 30 percent of women have an abortion because someone else, not the woman, wants it (see: Rachel Benson gold, Abortion and Women's Health, The Allan Guttmacher Institute, 1990, p20.) The same data indicate that this is not necessarily the exclusive reason, but it is remarkably difficult to find much prochoice probing into the reality of coerced abortions. It is as if there is an embarrassed, sheepish silence on what would seem a matter of obvious concern for those committed to choice." [2]
The study cited by Callahan was based on interviews conducted at an abortion clinic in which the interviewer herself rated the primary reasons why women were choosing to have an abortion. It may therefore have been influenced by the interviewers own bias, skill in interviewing, or the reluctance of women to report coercion in the presence of parents or partners who were pressuring for the abortion.
A retrospective study of women seeking health care inquiring about pregnancy loss found
The
Who’s Making the Choice? Women's Heightened Vulnerability During a Crisis Pregnancy How and why women are manipulated into unwanted abortions.
A Generation at Risk: How Teens Are Manipulated Into Abortion
At look at how and why teens are especially vulnerable to coercion.
The Many Faces of Coercion Startling examples of coerced abortion around the world.
Unwanted, coerced or forced abortions in America
Forced Abortion in America Report
Women Who Abort: Their Reflections on the Unborn
References
- ↑ American Psychological Association, Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion. (2008). Report of the Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion. Washington, DC: Author. page 11.
- ↑ Daniel Callahan, “An Ethical Challenge to Prochoice Advocates,” Commonweal, Nov. 23, 1990, 681-687, 684.
- ↑ Rue VM, Coleman PK, Rue JJ, Reardon DC. Induced abortion and traumatic stress: A preliminary comparison of American and Russian women. Med Sci Monit, 2004 10(10): SR5-16.