Seventy-two Israeli women who were about to have abortions were interviewed. These women experienced intense emotions of sadness, ambivalence, confusion, and fear. To help them deal with this crisis, the women expressed a need for a professional counselor who provides information such as where to go, how to get money for the abortion, and how the operation is performed. The women also wished that the professional counselor would support them emotionally throughout the pregnancy experience and the abortion procedure.
PIP: A female social worker interviewed 72 women from 2 Jerusalem hospitals in Israel who had received approval from a medical committee to undergo an abortion between February-April 1981 and right before the abortion to examine their psychological experiences and determine the types of assistance they wanted to have from social and health professionals. 82% were 17-28 years old. 62% were not married. 56% had attended schools for 10-12 years. The leading reaction (39% of respondents) when they learned of the pregnancy was sorrow of losing the baby and/or of the dilemma they were in followed by surprise and wish to rapidly terminate the pregnancy (21% each) and nervousness (19%). 64% did not consider any other options. 58% of all respondents chose abortion because they were unmarried. 25% made this decision because of health concerns. 86% were afraid of having an abortion, especially of physical side effects such as inability to get pregnant again. 64% stated a need for public service to help women who face an unplanned pregnancy. 50% of them wanted information on where to have an abortion and how to finance it. The other types of services preferred included emotional support and comfort, decision making help, and medical counseling. Indeed 64% of all abortion patients, especially single women (p.001), believed professional counseling before the abortion is needed. 52% of abortion patients supportive of professional counseling wanted information about the abortion, risks, and side effects followed by emotional support and comfort (41%), and good treatment be medical staff (7%). Based on these results, a social worker from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev suggested a 2 phase supportive counseling crisis intervention by social workers or other social practitioners for women faced with an unwanted pregnancy.