In Poland, Argentina, but also in France, the Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy (IVG) is at the heart of the news. For the 46th anniversary of the Veil law, Vuibert editions publish “History of abortion, stories of women”. Why doctor reveals the good leaves to you exclusively.
Pauline’s story
Pauline, referred by the social worker, meets the centre’s psychologist. Pauline is pregnant, and would like to continue her pregnancy, but hesitates. She has been with her boyfriend Jérémy for two years and she suddenly stopped her pill without knowing why. Of the family history, she says that her mother died when she was 8 years old, she lives with her father but they exchange little. A new partner has arrived at the house, she is 43 years old, and she is pregnant. If Pauline carries her pregnancy to term, the two babies will be born a week apart.
Pauline is welcomed into Jeremy’s family, by his mother, and all is well between the two of them. During this first meeting at the center, Pauline says that her mother-in-law immediately offered to accompany her for an abortion; she herself went through it when she was young. Pauline would like to talk to her father about it but doesn’t know how. She returns to the next meeting with her boyfriend; they both admit having decided on this pregnancy, but Jeremy now thinks that it may not be reasonable. Pauline manages to convince him to keep the pregnancy. Jérémy is going to ask his parents to make a studio available.
Three weeks later, Pauline returns to request an abortion. She recounts, determined, without tears, the current situation: “I cannot keep the pregnancy, I am betrayed by the parents and my boyfriend has rallied to them”. The two families met: “The sky fell on my head! What finished me was when Jérémy joined the parents; I went to the toilet crying. Her boyfriend’s mother called her an executive and an opportunist. She adds: “As much I am disappointed, but I love Jérémy and we are going to see each other in secret”.
We are at 11 weeks of pregnancy, the abortion is performed. The psychologist sees Pauline again two months later with her boyfriend, all smiles, she tells the story of her abortion. The parents are now in agreement for the couple to move in together, they must manage financially. Learning to live as a couple is difficult.
To learn more, read: Abortion stories, Women’s stories – Because you have to talk about them and above all listen to themby Luisa Attali, Karima Bettahar, Elisabeth Guceve, Françoise Hurstel (Compiler) and Israel Nisand (Prefacier).
Reading sheet : Voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion), legalized in France in 1975, remains a right to be defended because it allows women to choose and have a safe abortion. Abortion is experienced differently by different women and can be a painful event for many. This is why abortion should not be reduced to a medical act and should be accompanied by words: it can then become a constructive event in a woman’s life.
This is what six health professionals – gynecologists, psychoanalysts, psychologists and midwives – wanted to share in this book. Their point of view, forged during their years of accompanying women and reinforced in their support group, is developed through the accounts of 23 clinical cases. Teenagers or mothers, alone or in couples, women, faced with the choice of abortion, are confronted with their history, that of their parents or their couple, with the silences and violence that sometimes cross them. In a word, they confront themselves. Each story is unique: this is what the authors wanted to show, based on their clinical practice, their experience of listening and prevention. These stories reveal what can help women who have had an abortion grow through speaking. This book is intended as a tool for all professionals, whether doctors, midwives, psychologists, nurses, social workers, so that they are made aware of and trained in caring and group exchanges.
It will also be of interest to all those who defend women’s rights and in particular the right to choose.
