AN EXAMINATION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF PRE-ABORTION COUNSELLING

Abstract

Every woman, regardless of age, race or background with an unwanted pregnancy whoconsiders abortion as an option has a need for objective and professional counselling.Legislation provides for pre-abortion counselling for the pregnant woman who requestsabortion (Howes & Green, 1997:18; Taylor, 1997:vi). The literature confirms the importance ofpre-abortion counselling for the pregnant woman who considers abortion as an option (Howes& Green, 1997:18; McCulloch, 1996:67). It also indicates that pre-abortion counsellingcorresponds with crisis intervention and calls for skills and expertise in the counsellor(McCulloch, 1996:67; Schlossberg & Achtemeier, 1995:110; Sekudu, 2001:94; Van der Berg,1997:78). Crisis intervention as a model for pre-abortion counselling is presented in this article,accompanied by relevant contextual aspects and am emphasis on the importance of preabortioncounselling. Finally, the findings of the empirical investigation are also discussed.

Keywords

• pre-abortion
• counselling