Why abortion should not be a crime
By Philip Goldstone
27 September 2018
As a doctor who has worked in the field of reproductive healthcare for many years, I could list so many evidence-based and peer-researched studies and reasons on why abortion should be decriminalised. But the most profound and overriding reason for me is to end the shame and stigma that we heap onto women accessing this health service each and every day.
Shame and stigma is something that I am familiar with; I have worked in the mental health sector and I have worked in the women’s health sector. Both of these areas share the dark burden of shame and stigma. And as a doctor I have seen what happens when that shame and stigma becomes too much. It results in crippling guilt, psychological trauma and sometimes self-harm.