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Forgiveness in the Abortion Clinic
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because of the circumstances of their lives, decide to have an abortion. 5,6
I am taken back to these decade-old observations as I currently conduct research on the
effects of religious doctrine on obstetrics and gynecology practice in Catholic hospitals. One in six
patients in the United States receives care in a Catholic hospital where
abortion, sterilization, birth control, and infertility services are prohibited.
In my interviews with doctors who have worked in Catholic hospi-
...data show that women
who get abortions are tals, I have learned that treatment options for women facing some of the
most difficult pregnancy complications and losses, such as incomplete
likely to keep it a secret miscarriage in the second trimester, are restricted as well. 7 These physicians
tell me that, as they tried to offer their patients the best care they
precisely because they
could, they felt their hands were tied by doctrine.
fear they will receive
Stories from my earlier research of nurses and counselors ministering
to the need for forgiveness in the abortion clinic provide a useful
harsh disapproval. They reminder of the value and importance of religious beliefs for some patients,
fear they will be judged but they also illustrate how religious practice in ob-gyn care is best directed
by the patient, not the institution. I am learning in my current project
and that the people that that, in the context of Catholic hospitals, hospital ownership dictates
they care about will see the role of religion in women’s reproductive lives by using doctrine to
restrict access to care in ways that neither those working there nor patients
them as less than what necessarily want. Whereas women like Claudia, Beatriz, and Leticia met
individual women’s needs and concerns in the moment, with faith in a
they were.
forgiving and understanding God, the Catholic health doctrine governing
hospitals prescribes a one-size-fits-all religious approach.
As such, the individual suffering of spiritually diverse women
goes unaddressed in the name of God—a problem made worse when the Catholic hospital is the
only game in town. Religion and abortion can and sometimes do mix well at the individual level
when patients speak their concerns and are ministered to by compassionate people, be they abortion
clinic staff or supportive clergy, who meet them where they are.
Lori Freedman, PhD, is a sociologist and author of the book, Willing and Unable: Doctors’ Constraints in
Abortion Care. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive
Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. She conducts research within the Advancing New Standards
in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) program. freedmanl@obgyn.ucsf.edu
1
Katrina Kimport. “(Mis) Understanding Abortion Regret. Symbolic Interaction 35.2 (2012): 105-122.
8
2
Kate Cockrill, Ushma D. Upadhyay, Janet Turan, and Diana Greene Foster. “The Stigma of Having an Abortion:
Development of a Scale and Characteristics of Women Experiencing Abortion Stigma.” Perspectives on Sexual and
Reproductive Health 45:2 (2013), 79-88.
3
Katrina Kimport, Kira Foster, and Tracy A. Weitz. “Social Sources of Women's Emotional Difficulty after Abortion:
Lessons from Women’s Abortion Narratives.” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 43:2 (2011), 103-9.
4
Alissa C. Perrucci. Decision Assessment and Counseling in Abortion Care: Philosophy and Practice. (Lanham: Rowman &
Littlefield, 2012.)
5
Carole Joffe. “The Politicization of Abortion and the Evolution of Abortion Counseling.” American Journal of Public
Health 103:1 (2013), 57-65.
6
Peg Johnston. A Guide to Emotional And Spiritual Resolution After an Abortion. (Binghamton: Ferre Institute, 2008).
7
Lori Freedman and Debra Stulberg. “Conflicts in Care for Obstetric Complications in Catholic Hospitals.”
American Journal of Bioethics Primary Research. (Epub December 18, 2012.)
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21507716.2012.751464#.Ud3CmayyyEo