{"id":166013,"date":"2017-05-13T17:03:36","date_gmt":"2017-05-13T21:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=166013"},"modified":"2017-05-13T17:03:36","modified_gmt":"2017-05-13T21:03:36","slug":"abortion-workers-nurses-need-pep-talks-help-cope-gruesome-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-workers-nurses-need-pep-talks-help-cope-gruesome-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Abortion workers, nurses need ‘pep talks’ to help them cope with gruesome job"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A British doctor who commits late term abortions explains how nurses who work in abortion facilities are often ashamed of what they do. In the book\u00a0Abortion: The Whole Story<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Mary Kenny, he says:<\/p>\n

Nurses who work in abortion clinics often don\u2019t have a high sense of professional self-esteem. It\u2019s not the sort of thing you brag about. \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d \u201cOh, I work at an abortion clinic.\u201d Sometimes I have to give them a little pep talk. You\u2019ll often find that after doing, say, 20 abortions, nurses can feel quite dejected. You have to help them along, tell them that they have made 20 women very happy that day. (1)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Working in an abortion facility is not something many abortion workers are proud of. Even though they may be committed to their work,\u00a0they often feel compelled to keep it a secret from others. Pro-lifers have done a very good job of reminding\u00a0the public that abortion is a bad thing. Even some people who call themselves “pro-choice”\u00a0are uncomfortable with it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Abortionist David Zbaraz noted\u00a0this stigma\u00a0when he said<\/a>,\u00a0“I\u2019ve become one hell of an abortionist. But it\u2019s not something I tell my kids about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another abortion facility worker said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know about you, but sometimes I feel our work can be incredibly isolating\u2026 for me and my co-workers, it can sometimes feel like we\u2019re alone. No one wants to hear about where you work or what you do. Often family and friends don\u2019t even want to know about your day. Maybe it\u2019s a sign I\u2019ve been doing abortion work a long time because I just simply don\u2019t talk about my day anymore. And I hardly notice that I don\u2019t. Who\u2019s going to understand, anyway?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Turnover rates in abortion facilities are very high<\/a>, as workers come and go. Another\u00a0abortion worker comments<\/a>\u00a0on how hard it is to talk about her work:<\/p>\n

We frequently discuss how to talk to friends\/acquaintances\/family who are not [abortion workers] about being an [abortion worker]. …\u00a0Though I\u2019ve been doing this work a long time, I find I go through stages. Sometimes it\u2019s easier to discuss abortion and other times, it just isn\u2019t easy at all. Probably some of it depends on how much is going on at work (if it\u2019s stressful or we\u2019re having a lot of protesters, I tend not to want to discuss work outside work as much. Especially with people who just won\u2019t get it anyway).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Abortion work is not only isolating, it is emotionally draining. Another nurse in Abortion: The Whole Story<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>talks about how she struggles with feelings of guilt:<\/p>\n

Nobody likes doing abortions. The later abortions can be especially distressing. I was brought up as a Christian, and of course it\u2019s upsetting to me. But in medicine you learn to do what is necessary in the best way, and Mr. Paintin [the abortionist] is wonderful and has explained to us that we are doing the best in difficult circumstances. (2)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The two quotes from Kenny are from people in two different abortion facilities. In the first facility, abortions are done by induction \u2013 the mother goes through induced labor and the baby is born stillborn. In the second, the baby is dismembered. I wrote about this facility<\/a> and the way abortions were done by D&E<\/a>:<\/p>\n