Abortion Counseling - A Clinician's Guide to Psych, Legislation, Politics and Competency - R. Needle, L. Walker (2008) WW

288 Pages·2008·1.34 MB·English

New York

Abortion Counseling

A Clinician’s Guide to Psychology,
Legislation, Politics, and Competency

Rachel B. Needle, PsyD

Lenore E. A. Walker, EdD

Rachel B. Needle, PsyD, received her Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of psy-
chology (PsyD) from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
She received her BA in psychology from Barnard College, Columbia University.
Dr. Needle completed an internship in clinical psychology at the University of
Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ): Robert Wood Medical School
in Piscataway, New Jersey. She is a Florida Certifi ed Sex Therapist. Dr. Needle is
currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Marital and Sexual Health of
South Florida.
Dr. Needle is an adjunct professor of psychology in the Department of Behav-
ioral Sciences at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She is
also the director of Health Information Services at Positive Friends, an Internet dat-
ing Web site for individuals with viral sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Dr. Needle cofounded Florida Friends for Choice (FFC), a nonprofi t organi-
zation whose mission is to provide legal aid to women and health care providers
to guarantee access to safe, quality reproductive health care for all women.
Dr. Needle’s clinical and research interests include sexual function and dys-
function, relationship concerns, sexual compulsivity, battered women, and trauma.
She has a particular interest in working with individuals both during and follow-
ing cancer treatment. Dr. Needle has presented her research and clinical work at
national and international conferences.

Lenore E. A. Walker, EdD, is a professor at Nova Southeastern University Center
for Psychological Studies and Coordinator of the Clinical Forensic Psychology
Concentration for doctoral students training to be clinical psychologists. She cur-
rently has an independent practice of forensic psychology and is executive direc-
tor of the Domestic Violence Institute with affi liate centers around the world.
Dr. Walker specializes in work with victims of interpersonal violence, particularly
battered women and abused children. Her expert witness testimony opposed to
the numerous challenges to Roe v. Wade dealing with notifi cation or consent laws
helped established judicial by-pass procedures, especially needed when teens come
from homes where there is domestic violence. Dr. Walker earned her undergraduate
degree in 1962 from The City University of New York (CUNY) Hunter College,
her Master of Science in 1967 from CUNY City College. and her Doctor of Educa-
tion in psychology from Rutgers University in New Jersey. In 2004, she received a
postdoctoral Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychopharmacology at Nova Southeast-
ern University (NSU). She has worked on high-publicity cases, such as with bat-
tered women who kill their abusive partners in self-defense, and testifi es on behalf
of protective mothers who are being challenged for custody by abusive fathers. She
lectures and does training workshops all over the world about prevention, psycho-
therapy, legal cases, and public policy initiatives for abused women and children.
Dr. Walker has authored numerous professional articles and 15 books, including
The Battered Woman (1979), The Battered Woman Syndrome (1984/2000), Ter-
rifying Love: Why Battered Women Kill & How Society Responds (1989), and
Abused Women & Survivor Therapy (1994). In addition, she wrote Introduction
to Forensic Psychology (2004) with coauthor David Shapiro and A First Respond-
ers Guide to Abnormal Psychology (2007) with coauthor William Dorfman.

Abortion Counseling

Copyright © 2008 Springer Publishing Company, LLC

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Springer Publishing
Company, LLC.

Springer Publishing Company, LLC
11 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
www.springerpub.com

Acquisitions Editor: Sheri W. Sussman
Project Manager: Carol Cain
Cover design: Mimi Flow
Composition: Apex Publishing, LLC

08 09 10/ 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Needle, Rachel.
Abortion counseling : a clinician’s guide to psychology, legislation, politics,
and competency / Rachel Needle, Lenore Walker.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8261-0257-7 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8261-0257-3 (alk. paper)
1. Abortion counseling—United States. 2. Pregnancy, Unwanted—United
States. 3. Pregnant women—Mental health services—United States. I. Walker,
Lenore E. II. Title.
HQ767.4.N44 2007
363.46—dc22
2007022455

Printed in the United States of America by Bang Printing.

We dedicate this book to all of the abortion providers who work against a
backdrop of violence and legislative restrictions that attempts to limit access to
abortion services.
You are the true unsung heroes of this movement.

vii

Contents

Foreword by Nancy Felipe Russo
xiii

Preface: On a Personal Note
xxiii

Introduction: Why We Wrote This Book
xxxi

Acknowledgments
xxxv

1
Perspectives for the Mental Health Professional
1

Perspectives for the Mental Health
Professional
1

Funding for Abortion
3

Parental Notifi cation and Consent Laws
4

Parental Notifi cation or Consent: Hidden
Assumptions
5

Exceptions: Judicial Bypass and
Medical Emergency
7

Federal Parental Notifi cation
Legislation
8

Crisis Pregnancy Centers
11

Targeted Regulation of
Abortion Providers (TRAP)
14

Partial-Birth Abortion
16

Gonzales v. Carhart: A Shift in Abortion
Rights at the Supreme Court
19

Biased Counseling and Mandated
Waiting Periods
22

References
29

viii
Contents

2
The Impact of Abortion Politics on Therapists
33

Violence Toward and Harassment of
Abortion Providers and Their Patients
36

Politics in the Counseling Session
41

Suggestions for Therapists and
Health Professionals
45

Summary
47

References
47

3
Assessing Competency and Decision-Making

Skills of the Client
49

What Are Cognitive Abilities?
51

Impact of Social Values on Moral

Development
53

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
53

Gilligan’s Theories on Cognitive

Development of Girls and Women
57

How Do Cognitive Abilities Develop?
59

Stage Development Theories
59

Domain Development Theories
59

Adolescent Cognitive Ability to Make

Decisions
60

Legal Decisions and Psychology

of Cognition
62

Assessment of Cognitive Competency
64

Informed Consent in the Law
64

Summary and Implications for Counselors

and Therapists
66

References
67

4
Facts, Not Myths, About Women’s

Reproductive Health
69

Universal Claim to Women’s Reproductive

Rights and Health
70

Is the United States the Only Country

Permitting Legalized Abortion?
70

The WHO Defi nition of Women’s Health
71

United Nations Conferences on the

Status of Women
72

Contents
ix

Mandatory Disclosure of Health Care

Information
74

Women’s Access to Proper Health Care
75

Do U.S. Women Have Access to Proper

Health Care?
75

What Is a Safe Procedure?
79

Description of Steps for a Typical

Abortion
79

What Are the Actual Abortion Techniques

Typically Used Today?
81

What About Women Who Do Not Abort?
86

Women Who Abandon or Kill

Their Babies
86

Adoption
88

Common Reasons Women Give for

Terminating Unwanted Pregnancies
88

Women’s Need for a Healthy Environment

When Pregnant
89

Prepregnancy Gender Issues
91

Maternal–Fetal Confl icts
92

Disputes on Frozen Embryos
93

Family Violence Issues
94

Summary
96

References
96

5
Gauging Your Client’s Emotional Regulation

and Good Decision Making
99

Introduction
99

How Does the Brain and Nervous

System Control Emotions?
99

Nerve Cells
100

Autonomic Nervous System
100

Neurotransmitters and Their Impact

on Emotions
101

Toxic Medicines
102

Fetal Exposure to Alcohol and

Illegal Drugs
104

Environmental Impact

on Emotions
105