About abortion 3

Alternatives to Abortion

With access to readily available birth control, many people tend to forget that pregnancy is a natural result of intercourse, and that parenthood is the natural result of pregnancy. In other words, unless a natural process is interrupted, a woman will normally give birth following conception.

In countries like New Zealand where abortion is readily available as a back-up to failed birth control, it has become easier to have an abortion than to have a baby.

Opponents to abortion say that instead of easier access to abortion, governments should be looking at ways of giving more help and support to pregnant women.

The New Zealand government has supported the setting-up of Teen Parenting Units around the country to enable young girls to finish their education while pregnant and after the birth of their baby.

"Pregnant and worried? We can help"
Those are the words of a regular advertisement placed in newspapers around New Zealand by Pregnancy Counseling Services (PCS).

They hope to reach women and girls who are considering an abortion, but desperately hoping that there might be some other way. These women want someone to take them by the hand and help them see what help is available.

Many women are under pressure from boyfriends, husbands, family and friends to have an abortion. They bow to that pressure for a variety of reasons.

The emotional mood swings of early pregnancy are well known and it is not unusual for a woman to have very conflicting feelings. Feelings can include:

• fear
• excitement
• shame
• nervousness
• happiness
• panic
• shock
• inconvenience
• delight
• turmoil

Counselling 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."

Opponents of abortion point out that abortion is only in the "best interest" of the abortionist and staff employed at the abortion clinic, because if a woman chooses to have the baby no-one gets paid. In New Zealand the cost of an abortion is around $1,000 (a conservative estimate), most abortions are funded by taxpayers.

The alternative

The alternative to abortion is, of course, to continue with the pregnancy. For many women this decision is made in their heart rather than their head. When they take the time to calm down and think about what they really want, more often than not the answer is for their problems to go away not the baby. The difference can be as little as having just one person who will support them.

The financial and social support that is available may be found on our Organisations page, or, if searching online, key in pregnancy + need help. Don't forget to include which country or area you live in.

Once this decision to continue with the pregnancy has been made there may be other choices to consider. These may include:

• adoption
• guardianship (non-permanent custody)

1. Adoption
It is generally recognized that the former social experiment of "closed adoption," was frequently both tragic and traumatic. The woman or girl carried her son or daughter to birth and then mother and child were immediately separated, usually never to see each other again.

Fortunately, there has been a remarkable turnaround with the emergence of Open Adoption which was pioneered by former adoptees such as Keith Griffin. Keith Griffith is an adoptee who was in the forefront of successful reform adoption laws New Zealand which was the first effort anywhere in the world to secure open records legislation. Around 95% of adoptions in New Zealand are open.

In Open Adoption, the birth mother can meet and choose the prospective parents. She is then almost always able to keep in contact as her child grows up.

An average of 60 babies are available each year for adoption in New Zealand, when there are thousands of infertile couples seeking a child.

Adoption brings the inevitable pain of separation and loss associated with giving up the baby. However, there is the satisfaction of seeing the joy the sacrifice brings to a childless couple.

Bethany Centre, in Auckland New Zealand, is a home that offers accomodation and support for young pregnant women and their babies. Although not an adoption agency, Bethany offers Adoption Information to enable women to make a fully informed decision.

In adoption, the adoptive parents become the legal guardians and control continued access. It is for this reason that some birth parents choose guardianship rather than adoption.

2. Guardianship
Guardianship is a legal arrangement between the birth parents (the natural guardians) and the caregivers. The birth parent(s) and the caregivers stay in contact with each other and there is continued access. Once an agreement is made about who is going to have custody and responsibility for raising the child, the arrangement can only be changed by returning to the court.

Guardianship is usually done within families. A similar type of care arrangement, called whangai, is sometimes made informally within Maori families. You can find out more about guardianship from your local Community Law Centre.

NOTE:

Single parenthood

The introduction of the Domestic Purposes Benefit (DPB) and social policy encouraging a mother to keep her child, has led to a change from the 1950s and 1960s, where adoption was the norm for unmarried pregnant teenagers.

Single motherhood is now generally socially accepted and the burden of parenting can be greatly eased by supportive parents and friends.

The media tends to portray that one's life is over once an unplanned baby arrives. Women who have elected to keep their child however, admit that while the early years and sacrifices are sometimes financially difficult, the compensation is the love and joy they experience whenever they cuddle their child or see a smile meant just for them.  

Virtually all mothers, who thought they had no other option than abortion and who have received support to continue with the pregnancy, are grateful to those who helped them in their need.

One young mother wrote a letter to someone who persuaded her not to have an abortion. In it she said, "She is absolutely perfect! I never knew that I could fall in love with someone so quick!! She is my life, and I want to thank you for all you did that day. She is almost 3 years-old now and I can't imagine my life without her in it."

An unplanned or 'unwanted' pregnancy does not necessarily mean an unwanted child.

Researcher, K. Hook, combined the results of six major studies of refused abortions to show that 71 percent of the 6,298 American, Swedish, and New Zealand women who had been denied abortions completed their pregnancies, 16 percent subsequently miscarried, and only 13 percent (one out of eight) journeyed elsewhere to have an abortion.

Hook also conducted a comprehensive study on the effects of denied abortion on the resulting children. He followed 249 children of Swedish women denied abortion for 7 to 10 years. 73% of these women were satisfied with the way everything had turned out, and 12% had given their children up for adoption. 1

1. Hook, K. "Refused Abortion: A Follow-Up Study of 249 Women Whose Applications Were Refused By the National Board of Health in Sweden." Acta Psychiatrica Scandanavica [Supplement] 1963; suppl 168:3-156.