Pregnancy Counselling
The abortion, pregnancy counselling phone numbers which appear in the 24 hour services in the yellow and white pages (Australia), are all by anti abortion, pro life organizations and will NOT refer for abortion. Their goal is to convince women to continue with unwanted pregnancies regardless of their health or circumstances.
The National Pregnancy Support Hotline, launched recently by the Australian goverment, is run by a Catholic organization which is opposed to abortion and contraception.
If you are faced with an unwanted pregnancy and would like to speak with someone that will refer for abortion - if that is what you decide - contact the pro choice organizations below:
Pregnancy Advisory Centre South Australia
Children by Choice Queensland
Family Planning NSW Healthline 1300 658 886
or Healthline@fpnsw.org.au
Help and practical advice for women who do want to continue their pregnancy.
Australian women's health network Women's Health Services In Your State
Guide to Pregnancy Support Services: List of pro choice and anti choice counselling services throughout Australia
HOW to decide
If you live in the US contact the following:
Feminist Women's Health Center
Pregnant, Now What?
Pregnancy Options Workbook
Or,
if you have decided that you want to have an abortion, go to the following pages:
Abortion Clinics throughout Australia
International Abortion Clinics
Many crisis pregnancy centres will also have multiple Yellow Page listings under neutral headings such as "Family Planning", "Counselling Services", "Abortion Counselling" and "Pregnancy Counselling". The Yellow Pages ads will list a range of medical services but will neglect to mention that the only services they really provide are anti-abortion propaganda and abstinence "education". Crisis pregnancy centres will have very neutral names that may not suggest an anti-abortion position. For instance: birthright, pregnancy counselling centre, pregnancy support, crisis pregnancy centre, abortion counselling, post abortion counselling, abortion grief etc. click here for more info on the yellow pages
Some of these centers advertise free pregnancy testing. They will try to frighten you with films that are designed to keep you from choosing abortion. They will lie to you about the medical and emotional effects of abortion. They may tell you that you are not pregnant even if you are, to fool you into continuing your pregnancy without knowing. The delay would make abortion more risky and keep you from getting prenatal care. Also, they may discourage you from using the most reliable methods of birth control.
Sometimes, anti-choice, pro-life organizations will choose names that are similar to those of legitimate abortion clinics or counselling agencies, with their name appearing before the abortion services providers in the phone book. In the US it is common for anti abortion organization to open "clinics" in the same building or street as genuine abortion clinics.
You also need to be aware of anti abortion doctors, pharmacists and medical staff. They may try to delay you from seeking appropriate services or they may scare you with misinformation about the dangers of abortion or they may impose their moral/religious beliefs about abortion.If you are pregnant and seeking unbiased, unplanned pregnancy options counselling or abortion services you have the right to these services. For more on the tactics of the anti abortionists, click here.
