Abortion: A Positive Decision

(Hardback)

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This work presents a positive perspective on the abortion decision and is intended to help women facing that decision, women thinking over past abortions, and abortion counsellors. Based on interviews with over 100 women who have had abortions and with abortion providers, as well as on the author's research findings from the family-planning literature, the work focuses on the importance of the decision-making process in abortion. Rather than an abortion damaging women's health, Lunneborg found that many women reported psychological gains immediately after an abortion and years later, and she contends that the decision can have a positive influence on women's lives.

Reviews

The case is daringly made here that abortion is a positive experience--and Lunneborg's argument is both moving and persuasive. The author, a retired women's studies professor from the University of Washington, provides an oral history of abortion elicited from the patients and providers at Planned Parenthood and American feminist health clinics. She finds abortion clinics to be places where women are highly valued and patients' self-esteem is carefully tended; some patients here report being treated better in the clinics than anywhere else. Calling on the results of a questionnaire and interviews, Lunneborg demonstrates that patients seldom experience guilt or trauma, despite the ethical dilemma inherent in the procedure. 'The reality of the abortion is there's no regret, no sadness, no guilt, nor remorse. It's a sense of relief, ' asserts one woman. Many others report feeling more in charge of their lives afterward. The book explodes many myths.-Publishers Weekly
This book couldn't be more welcome, more timely. It takes an overlooked position, that abortion is not the lesser of two evils but a positive turning point in many women's lives. In addition to absorbing countless studies, Lunneborg talked with more than 100 women who have had abortions as well as with health care workers and counselors. She found that most women do not regret their decision. Many found it to be a key reassessment point in their lives: they looked at the directions their lives were heading, their relationships, their attitudes toward their bodies, their methods of birth control, and they made significant changes. Although definetely prochoice, Lunneborg's effort balances antichoice propaganda that paints women who have abortions as irresponsible and selfish, for the women Lunneborg presents are thoughtful and articulate. Futhermore, the author publicizes some too-little-known statistics: more than half the women who had abortions were using birth control when they got pregnant; only four-tenths of 1 percent of women surveyed in 1988 who used no contraception said they were relying on abortion instead; the death rate from abortion is 11 times lower than that for women who go through childbirth. Lunneborg says she wrote the book to help women through the abortion decision-making process and to give health care workers and counselors more information when working with patients. But really, it ought to be required reading for anyone embroiled in an abortion debate.-Booklist
"The case is daringly made here that abortion is a positive experience--and Lunneborg's argument is both moving and persuasive. The author, a retired women's studies professor from the University of Washington, provides an oral history of abortion elicited from the patients and providers at Planned Parenthood and American feminist health clinics. She finds abortion clinics to be places where women are highly valued and patients' self-esteem is carefully tended; some patients here report being treated better in the clinics than anywhere else. Calling on the results of a questionnaire and interviews, Lunneborg demonstrates that patients seldom experience guilt or trauma, despite the ethical dilemma inherent in the procedure. 'The reality of the abortion is there's no regret, no sadness, no guilt, nor remorse. It's a sense of relief, ' asserts one woman. Many others report feeling more in charge of their lives afterward. The book explodes many myths."-Publishers Weekly
"This book couldn't be more welcome, more timely. It takes an overlooked position, that abortion is not the lesser of two evils but a positive turning point in many women's lives. In addition to absorbing countless studies, Lunneborg talked with more than 100 women who have had abortions as well as with health care workers and counselors. She found that most women do not regret their decision. Many found it to be a key reassessment point in their lives: they looked at the directions their lives were heading, their relationships, their attitudes toward their bodies, their methods of birth control, and they made significant changes. Although definetely prochoice, Lunneborg's effort balances antichoice propaganda that paints women who have abortions as irresponsible and selfish, for the women Lunneborg presents are thoughtful and articulate. Futhermore, the author publicizes some too-little-known statistics: more than half the women who had abortions were using birth control when they got pregnant; only four-tenths of 1 percent of women surveyed in 1988 who used no contraception said they were relying on abortion instead; the death rate from abortion is 11 times lower than that for women who go through childbirth. Lunneborg says she wrote the book to help women through the abortion decision-making process and to give health care workers and counselors more information when working with patients. But really, it ought to be required reading for anyone embroiled in an abortion debate."-Booklist

Author Bio

PATRICIA LUNNEBORG, now retired, was Professor of Psychology and Adjunct Professor of Women's Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle. She's an established researcher and writer in counseling psychology, specializing in topics of concern to women.