A Woman's Right to Know: Informed Consent About Abortion

Women Have A Right to Know

If advocates of legal abortion are truly "pro-choice," they will welcome legislation guaranteeing women access to the facts, information and options that are preconditions of genuine "choice." Opposition to such informed consent can only reasonably be construed as favoring abortion over the rights and interests of women considering the procedure.

Lack of Relevant Information Often Leads to Lasting Regret

"When I went to the clinic for an abortion, I was given ten minutes to fill out two medical forms. I inadvertently filled out these forms incorrectly, categorizing myself to be much earlier in my gestation than I actually was. At no time were the contents of these forms discussed with me….The only counseling that I was given during this process was when… a certified midwife asked me why I was having an abortion….I was never told I could have any other type of abortion other than the chemical abortion known as Methotrexate/Misoprostol. At no time did I realize that these drugs, although approved by the Food and Drug Administration for other uses, were still in the experimental stage….No one told me what to expect when I gave birth to my baby — at home and alone — and that in one month I would find myself hemorrhaging because the procedure had left part of the baby in my uterus. There was no one to help me when I drove myself to the hospital. Ironically, the emergency treatment I received in the hospital in response to the hemorrhaging was my first exposure to a physician throughout the entire abortion process." Nichole Anderson's testimony to the Virginia General Assembly on Informed Consent (February 13, 1998).

Before her abortion while three months pregnant, Julie Engle recalls asking an abortion counselor, "What does a three-month-old fetus look like?' 'Just a clump of cells,' she answered matter-of-factly." Years later she saw some pictures of fetal development. "When I saw that a three-month-old 'clump of cells' had fingers and toes and was a tiny, perfectly formed baby, I became really hysterical. I'd been lied to and misled…." Rockmore, Are You Sorry You Had an Abortion?, Good Housekeeping (July 1977).

"I didn't receive any formal counseling at the clinic. They simply described the suction abortion procedure and said it would only take a few minutes. Those few minutes scarred me for the rest of my life. If only someone had been there to give me the facts about the child inside of me. If only some one had been there to point out alternatives…." Sandra D. Walton, Congressional Record (September 17, 1987).

Public Opinion Supports Informed Consent

Won't This Information Just Increase A Woman's Anxiety?

To allow the abortionist — who has a financial interest at stake — sole discretion about what information to provide violates common sense and standard medical practice. Women contemplating abortion deserve disclosure regarding the risks and alternatives together with other relevant information.

The desire to "protect" women from the biological facts and moral issues of abortion is all part of the paternalism of abortion providers, which automatically presumes that abortion is the "best" solution for women in trouble….Instead of giving women all the available information and alternatives so they can decide for themselves, counselors screen the information given so as to "guide" their clients to the "best" solution….

Once counselors decide what is "best" on behalf of their clients, it is an easy matter to influence their final decisions toward the predetermined outcome. Counseling in such cases downplays or even denies the availability of support resources and instead concentrates on the"tremendous burdens" involved in raising a child. Such counseling sessions encourage the women to believe that abortion is not only the "safe and easy" solution, but it is in fact "the only practical thing to do."…

Explaining how she handles such cases abortion counselor Betty Orr says, "I ask them who is going to take care of the baby while they're in school. Where are they going to get money for clothes?" Faced with such questions of antagonism rather than offers of confirmation and support,…women are…convinced that abortion is their only choice - even when it is contrary to their real desires. Reardon, Aborted Women: Silent No More (1987)

A Woman's Right to Know Law Is Constitutional

[It cannot] be doubted that most women considering an abortion would deem the impact on the fetus relevant, if not dispositive, to the decision. In attempting to ensure that a woman apprehend the full consequences of her decision, the State furthers the legitimate purpose of reducing the risk that a woman may elect an abortion, only to discover later, with devastating psychological consequences, that her decision was not fully informed. [R]equiring that the woman be informed of the availability of information relating to fetal development and the assistance available should she decide to carry the pregnancy to full term is a reasonable measure to insure an informed choice, one which might cause the woman to choose childbirth over abortion.

Published January 2000