I was reading through this thread, and though it was a complete trainwreck, there was an interesting question under there. Thus, I ask these questions directly to those women who had an abortion or thought about having one and decided against it, and to those doctors who have performed them or have made a conscious choice not to (would require your being OB/GYN).
To the women who have had/decided not to have an abortion: What lead you to be in this position? How difficult was your choice? What affected your choice (family/friends/SO)? Would you do the same again or do you feel you made a mistake (either for or against having one)? What advice do you have for someone in this situation?
To those doctors who have performed them/decided not to: Again, was it a difficult choice and what influenced it? Though by far the majority of abortions happen early on, my guess would be that at some point you would perform a late-term one. Is this emotionally more difficult? It has been pointed out in several of the abortion threads that around half are performed on women who have already had at least one abortion. Do repeat patients simply mean you have met them before (as there is nothing wrong with the medical procedure) or is it somewhat demoralizing to see somone back again? How do you see yourself? As a person performing a necessary job, someone helping those in need, saving women from back-alley abortions, or something else entirely?
In the abortion threads I have read through there tend to be a few extremely vocal posters on each side, with less being heard from the women and doctors directly involved. I don’t think the boards would benefit from another abortion debate right now, but I think we would all benefit from hearing about the stories of those who deal with this issue first hand if they feel like sharing them. I understand that there are few moments of your life that can be more personal than this, but for those who are ready to talk about their experiences, I for one would like to hear about them.
As you may know from previous debates I am pro-life, but I have tried to keep any of my own feelings outside of this post and am definitely not making any judgements. If any bias has leaked in I appologize beforehand. I will also not be posting to this thread (aside from and comments/questions aimed directly at me) as I have not had such an experience. Though this OP is almost of a “poll” form, I believe GD is the place for it due to the subject matter.
I hope to hear from people who can give us a first hand view of what we have been discussing.
I am looking for fuel for debates I guess. To hear from people who have gone through this. I seriously considered putting it in IMHO, but it seemed somewhat callous to put this topic next to, “Do you ever just not feel like putting clothes on?” and “Men - what turns you off?” If I am mistaken I hope the mods will rectify my error.
Flight, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people who’ve had an abortion don’t feel like telling their story.
I have found one website which is devoted to positive abortion stories from women who have had abortions and don’t regret it. You may find some of what you’re looking for there. [“http://www.imnotsorry.net”]I’m Not Sorry
I’m sure someone else will post a website for women who’ve never recovered and have suffered life-long guilt and remorse over their choice to have an abortion. Then you can read the other side, too.
Thanks Goo, I wasn’t sure if this was the kind of thing people would share or not. They will sometimes mention it in these debates when they get really pissed off, but not much of a calm discussion. I thought there might be a chance as it is an anonymous forum, but perhaps not. I can understand, even the ex-GF I thought I was going to marry only opened up about her’s once, and then only slightly.
I for one am not getting much from reading the debates that are currently going on on this topic and thought this might help me to think about it from a different angle. I have seen some sites on both sides similar to the one you linked to (I did a lot of looking when trying to learn how best to handle the topic with the ex) but many of them come off as just blatant propaganda for one side or the other. I was hoping to get a feel for people’s reaction when they aren’t pushing an agenda and see if reactions tend to be polarized or mixed.
I also know that this is the wrong spot for it. Not just GD, but the SDMB in general I think. I guess you can’t get all your ignorance removed in one place. I was going to ask the mods to move the thread, but I think it better to just let it die a quick death.
Glad to oblige. The most obvious example is Women Exploited by Abortion. I haven’t found a specific web site for them, but they are a well-known group, along with numerous others.
Oops. I had forgotten that Norma McCorvey never did manage to get that abortion, and that Sandra Cano was falsely represented by pro-choice lawyers as seeking an abortion. My fault, as I got caught up in the moment.
