Abortion ─ Facts and Feelings : A Handbook for Women and the People Who Care About Them

Where do you turn when you are wrestling with a painful decision? You turn to your spouse, trusted friends and relatives, to professionals, to religious advisers. But sometimes you want accurate information and suggestions all in one place, in a form you can use on your own.

The decision to have an abortion is not an easy one, and it is not the right decision for every pregnant woman, even in difficult circumstances. Every situation is different. Women considering abortion range in age from nine to fifty-five years. They are rich and poor; married and unmarried; white, black, brown, yellow, and red; members of every religious group and ethnic origin; heterosexual and homosexual. Some have no one to talk to and others have too many people talking to them. Some are in danger from physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.

Abortion: Facts and Feelings is for women who are considering whether to have an abortion, women who have had an abortion and want to do more thinking about it, and relatives, mates, lovers, friends, and health professionals who want to help the women they care for make the best possible choices for themselves. Partners in relationships, families, and friends, and, of course, pregnant women themselves, deserve to have accurate information about this common, but controversial, procedure -- information they can use to make both personal and policy decisions.

This book contains that information. It discusses ? The practice of abortion in other times and places, and practical information about how it is practiced now? How to find out about abortion laws where you live, and laws in other places where you might go if necessary? The attitudes of major North American religious groups about abortion, and how to obtain more specific information about the approaches of your religion to your situation? The medical and psychological outcomes of abortion? Alternatives to abortion -- delivering the baby and either caring for it yourself or allowing someone else to provide the parenting? The needs and concerns of women in special circumstances, and of women's loved ones

Most important, it will help you think through and carry out your own decision, whatever it is.

Nada L. Stotland, M.D., M.P.H., is Professor at the Department of Psychiatry and Obstetrics/Gynecology at Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois.

Dr. Stotland has published many articles and several books on women's health, has lectured widely in the United States and other countries, and has appeared on Larry King Live and Oprah. She currently serves as President of the Women's Caucus of the American Psychiatric Association and President-Elect of the Association of Women Psychiatrists.