A Regrettable Instance of Medical Abortion, How to Get-Going?

Worldwide, abortion is one of the commonest gynaecological procedures (Sedghet al., 2012). The common occurrence of abortion around the globe, however, belies considerable diversity in the social, political, and ethical meanings of terminating a pregnancy, as well as the practices surrounding abortion. All of these vary from locale to locale, from one historical time to another, and among social groups within particular times and places.In this two-part Special Issue, we present feminist scholarship that addresses some of the diverse contexts and circumstances in which abortion takes place and the psychological implications of such contexts. This issue, Feminism & Psychology, 27(1), is Part 1 of the Special Issue ‘‘Abortion in Context’’; Part 2 will appear in May 2017 as 27(2). The pieces in Part 1 explore the legal, sociocultural, and healthcare contexts of abortion. These contexts set the conditions of possibility for women who seek to terminate a pregnancy and, to some extent, for the practitioners who provide them. Part 2 will be devoted to pieces that focus on women’s experiences of abortion – for example, decision-making, stigma, and post-abortion distress – and that examine how women’s experiences are embedded in the discursive, institutional, and material contexts of their lives.

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2000

Early medical abortion regimens, especially those that include mifepristone, have the potential to reshape the landscape of abortion provision in the United States. Because medical abortion does not require surgical training, it may attract new providers of abortion services from a variety of specialties, including advanced practice clinicians. The diffusion of abortion services into myriad clinical and office-based settings may reduce the violence that has been associated with abortion provision. However, a number of factors may slow the spread of medical abortion, at least initially. These factors include the need for accurate means to date early pregnancies, the need to arrange backup surgical services for the small number of patients who require them, the obligation to conform to existing legal mandates governing surgical abortion, and possible difficulties negotiating appropriate malpractice coverage and reimbursement. Educational initiatives are needed to help clinicians to overcome these barriers and to actualize mifepristone's potential in women's health care.

This is an edited version of a fourth-year seminary paper submitted nearly 40 years ago. The subject matter is unchanged. This material is presented with the hope that it provides an overview of the kinds of issues related to abortion that were being discussed in the evangelical community in the early 1980's, providing a baseline against which today's issues may be compared.

Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 1977

This paper is directed to people who, sufficiently disturbed by the complex realities of problem pregnancies, are prepared to think beyond the confines of ideology. It is a challenge to people who tend to reduce the problem of unwanted pregnancies either to "abortion on d e m a d or to 'Zight to life" ideologies, thereby igmring the relationship dynamics that impact, shape, and enable the process of decision-making with its implications for mutual caring and for long-term trust. Rebalancing the emphases on ideologies and individual rights, this article is multidirectional in approach. It surfaces a concern for the unborn fetus, for the woman and the man involved, and for future human relatedness in which the capacity for trust and accountability are actualized rather than forced to stagnate. I went back to my hospital room to rest. I tried to read.. . but I couldn't get into reading. There was a phone by my bed 90 I called friends, because I didn't want to think. I could hear other women phoning too. It struck me that nobody was talking about their men. I didn't see any men there all day-and there seemed to be a whole floor of abortions-except for one who tried to force his way in to be with his girlfriend. They wouldn't let him in. I found that offensive (Howard, 1974, p. 118).

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1973

This report presents data on morbidity and mortality rates associated with 62,620 legal abortions and 20,308 "other abortions," tncluding spontaneous as well as illegal abortions started outside of hospitals, registered at the Department for Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School of the University of Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, during 1960 to 1971. The data on morbidity cover injuries, blood loss, retention of tissue, secondary hemorrhage, infection, and other somatic and psychic sequelae.

World Medical & Health Policy, 2010

Feminist Legal Studies, 2005

, ''...throws light on important bioethical questions in the world today''. As he points out, insightful scholarly work that does so spans the disciplines, and the aim of these volumes is to bring together key articles from a range of areas of study, so as to provide a comprehensive resource for those who teach and research in this area. If the volume on abortion is anything to go by, these books will make a valuable addition to the library of anyone with an interest in bioethics. Articles that have become touchstones for subsequent debate are included-for example Judith Jarvis Thomson's ''A Defense of Abortion'', together with responses to it, and Rosalind Petchesky's ''Fetal Images: The Power of Visual Culture in the Politics of Reproduction'' (the latter being pertinent in the current British context of the flurry of debate about abortion provoked by obstetrician Stuart Campbell's 4D ultrasound images of the fetus). Other articles in this collection remind the reader of the quality of scholarship and clarity of argument that this issue has generated. The book is divided into four sections, the logic behind which is set out in Bennett's nicely written introduction. First come what she calls the ''core'' moral, ethical and legal arguments, namely those about status and rights of the foetus, and those developed by feminists, sustaining and refining the case for women's reproductive rights. Second, is ''international perspectives''. This includes some comparative pieces about the law, as well as articles about countries other than Britain. The third section-which is the shortest-deals with ''health professionals and abortion''. Notably, although perhaps not surprisingly given the particular intensity of the opposition to abortion provision in that society, all the articles in this section are about the United States. The final section, entitled, ''Prenatal diag

International journal of nursing practice, 2016

This paper explores the challenging and contentious issue of abortion and its ethical, legal and political significance regarding public health. It is intended as an educational guide for health-care professionals. A comprehensive search strategy of international health, law and political source materials was undertaken in order to benchmark from international approaches to abortion. Test cases illustrate the application of legislation, ethical, political and cultural issues surrounding abortion. Abortion is a complex contemporary issue where balancing the well-being of both the mother and the unborn has prompted considerable international discourse. The right to life of the woman and the unborn continues to lie in tension. Ambiguity surrounds the concept of personhood, and the inception of human life prevails across many International jurisdictions. Health-care professionals must be well informed in order to respond safely and appropriately to a diverse range of clinical scenarios ...

T h e n e w e ng l a n d j o u r na l o f m e dic i n e This Journal feature begins with a case vignette highlighting a common clinical problem. Evidence supporting various strategies is then presented, followed by a review of formal guidelines, when they exist. The article ends with the authors' clinical recommendations.

Since the legalisation of abortion took place, the number of abortions has risen considerably in many countries. Making use of a philosophical framework developed by Paul Ricoeur, Ward Biemans points at several inconsistencies of the current British and Dutch abortion legislation. It is estimated that besides several physical problems, each year some 42,000 British and 6,000 Dutch women suffer from long-term mental health problems after procured abortion. Discussing the main ethical considerations, Biemans argues that human embryos possess an intrinsic human dignity, even if this dignity still needs to flourish. This book further provides an overview of theological reflections on abortion throughout the centuries, mainly from a catholic perspective. Recommendations are made to expand and improve the available care for women with unintended pregnancies and possibly for their partners.