Studies have shown that over 40% of all women going into abortion clinics have had one or more previous abortions.  This 'repeat abortion' phenomena has been written about in both pro-choice and pro-life circles.  Some providers have expressed frustration at women who seem to take the abortion decision "too lightly." Others seem to welcome any business they can get. Here are some quotes about repeat abortions.

Abortion providers Dr. Susan Poppema, author of Why I am an Abortion Doctor recounts what she says to women after they have had their abortions:

“Women will say: ‘Oh, I’ll never do this again. I’ll never get pregnant again.’ And I’ll say: ‘I’m sure you are going to try, and it’s a good approach.  But if anything untoward occurs, we’ll be here to help you.”(1)

She is already preparing the woman for her next abortion.

Other providers did not look kindly on women who had repeat abortions.

The following quotes were compiled by Life Dynamics DeathRoe.

One clinic worker is quoted saying:

"There was a feeling among some of the counselors that we should not continue to see this patient. A feeling that we were in fact reinforcing this behavior.” (3)

An abortion clinic employee on women who have repeat abortions:

“ I had to work through my own issues with women who had multiple abortions. And I did become moralists and judgmental. My first cut off was two. It’s gone up to four. I am going to be honest and say that’s hard for me. I wish I could get past the four…if it was 14, I know I would have a very hard time sitting across from this woman and trying to be as pleasant as possible. I don’t think her problem is pregnancy or her problem is repeat abortions. But she has a problem. This is self-destructive behavior." (4)

One abortionist was quoted saying:

"What makes me angry is people who aren't being careful about birth control, who don't make an effort to get a birth control system in place for themselves and have had several abortions. But it's usually those people who also make me think, "Oh great! They're not having a child" -- even though I think it's an awful way to do your birth control. I firmly believe that I cannot use my own value judgments in deciding when it's right for a person to make this decision or not, however. Ultimately it really is the woman's decision and she is the person who has to carry all the consequences." (5)

Another abortionist is quoted saying:

A lot of people think that you're mainly helping middle-class girls who've gotten in trouble.  We see them, and quite a few, but percentage wise, not that many. Unfortunately, you see a lot of people here who use abortion as birth control."(6)

One feminist was shocked by a woman she encountered in an abortion clinic:

"In the pre-operation room of the clinic, I met a woman who already had 5 children and she was going in to have her 4th or 5th abortion. When my mouth dropped open, she asked me what was wrong. I told her she was an embarrassment to women all together. Making a bad choice & trying to correct it is one thing, but using abortion as your birth control method is a complete different story!"(7)

Lou, an abortion clinic employee:

“…when she came in today for her fifth abortion, a number of staff members were visibly and audibly agitated. They clearly were upset that all of the previous discussions about birth control seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.”(8)

The New York Newsday reported this while doing a story on abortion in America:

"It is 3:30 and Nancy Todd, a social worker at Sanger, is exhausted. Today she saw a 14-year-old girl who came in for an abortion but knew nothing about what the procedure entailed. There was a woman in her late 20s who came in for her ninth abortion, with whom Todd had a long discussion about birth control."(9)

Former employee at Marie Stopes abortion clinic Maria Georgiou claimed one young woman had TEN abortions funded by the NHS and that youngsters were effectively using the clinic as a contraception service.(10)

Matt Wise, a doctor who distributes the morning after pill over the internet:

"If I ever have a patient who comes back a second time needing emergency contraception, she always gets a phone call from me. I'm not trying to make her feel guilty, obviously; I'm trying to make sure she does all she can to sort of replan her sexual activities so that she doesn't find herself in that situation again."(11)

Dr. Peter Bours, to a woman who he'd given her third abortion to:

''I think we need to get you on some kind of effective birth control."(12)

Warren Hern, abortionist:

" One of the most difficult (patients) for staff members of an abortion facility is the patient who returns several times for repeat abortions.

As coping behavior, repeat abortion leaves much to be desired, but is it worse than becoming an unwilling parent of neglected and disturbed children?" (13)

Abortionist William Harrison:

" I've had lots of patients who come in for second, third, fourth, fifth, even one who had nine abortions.” (14)

On her blog "RealChoice" Christina Dunigan quotes a letter a pro-choice columnist received from a nurse who works in an abortion clinic that does late-term abortions.  She discusses the women who come to get them. The pro-choice columnist says of Kay's letter:

"Kay doesn't believe in criticizing or hounding women who have to make this extremely tough decision due to severe disability. Her feelings are reserved solely for those who use termination as a form of contraception. Women who, up until last week, I hoped were few and far between. But, according to Kay, these terminations far outstrip those carried out because of fetal abnormality or genuine emotional distress. She says:

"There are girls who come back five or six times demanding terminations and they get them. How can someone coming in for their fifth termination be allowed to keep saying it is due to emotional distress? I should imagine in ten year's time the emotional distress of being allowed to have five terminations is going to take its toll. What is going on?"(15)

Footnotes

1. Suzanne T. Poppema and Mike Henderson Why I am an Abortion Doctor (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books) 1996 p 135

2. Miriam Claire The Abortion Dilemma: Personal Views on a Public Issue. (New York: Insight Books) 1995 p 125

3. "Abortion Providers Share Inner Conflicts" American Medical News July 12, 1993

4. Ibid

5. "An Intimate Conversation with a Woman on the Front Lines of America's Most Emotionally Charged Debate" Salon Magazine June 1997

6. "Cleveland Doctor Deals with Controversy on a Daily Basis" Daily Kent Stater April 23, 2007

7. Feminist Womens Health Center.org "Krystal's Story"

8. Abortion Clinic Days Blog "Cultural Differences" Tuesday May 3 2005

9. Newsday (New York) "Abortion in America, Focus on the City; Sanger Center's Moments of Pain, Conflict, Relief": April 5, 1989

10. Mail on Sunday (London), "Abortion nurses 'are paid incentive bonuses': Sept 4, 2005

11. Salon.com "As the FDA stalls making Plan B emergency contraceptive available to women, a New Mexico doctor has stepped in to help- now" November 7, 2005

12. Dudley Clendinem "The Abortion Conflict: What it does to one doctor" New York Times Aug. 11 1985

13. Warren Hern Abortion Practice chapter 3 p 88

14. William Harrison, Interview on Nightline Nov 11, 2006

15. Quoted by Christina Dunigan. RealChoice blog. "Even Abortionists Get Queasy" Sunday, May 18, 2008. http://realchoice.blogspot.com/2008/05/even-abortionists-get-queasy.html

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