Background: 

There are 1.5 million abortions performed in the U.S. every year. A
raging conflict exists between pro-life and pro-choice people. Women
who are faced with an unwanted pregnancy are often pressured into
having an abortion. Many women who choose to have an abortion later
regret their decision. Viable alternatives exist for which women who
choose them are often grateful. Unfortunately, these alternatives are
rarely given adequate consideration, and people who are in positions
to advise women faced with an unwanted pregnancy often steer them away
from these alternatives. Somewhere in their training or careers, these
people form opinions and convictions as to how to advise their clients
regarding their choices when faced with an unwanted pregnancy.

My question:

What specific texts and educational materials regarding the handling
of unwanted pregnancies, and the pros and cons of abortion and
abortion alternatives are being used in the training of educators,
counselors, doctors, social workers, police, judges, and lawyers?

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Request for Question Clarification by krobert-ga on 09 Nov 2002 09:51 PST

keithellis-ga,

Where to begin?

It's not that your question is vague, but rather the amount of
information on this topic is so vast that I don't think there is a
clear cut answer to your question.  This is really a question of
thesis-level proportions.

Could you narrow your question down some?

krobert-ga

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Clarification of Question by keithellis-ga on 10 Nov 2002 08:16 PST

I am not interested in having a list of all the books on this subject.
I can get that easily. But I realize that my question as it was
originally stated may be difficult to answer. To make this easier, let
me confine and rephrase my query as follows:
Give me a list of ten books regarding the handling of unwanted
pregnancies and the pros and cons of abortion and abortion
alternatives, which are variously used in courses on major university
campuses in the U.S. in the training of educators, counselors,
doctors, and social workers.

With respect to judges and lawyers, I think the answer is mainly Roe
v. Wade and subsequent Supreme Court decisions, most notably Planned
Parenthood v. Casey.  Of course, there are probably thousands of
commentaries on these cases, including discussions in treatises and in
law reviews; some of these may be used as training materials as well.

keithellis,

One factor to consider is not what training various professionals
have, but what policies their current employer or agency has. For
example, I work in a Christian health care facility. Our counselors,
doctors, and social workers must adhere to policy and certain church
doctrine vs. training texts or personal convictions about abortion or
adoption. I find that what I might like to say to a patient and what
my employer's policy permits me to say are sometimes two very
different things! In other words, it's not my training per se that
influences me, it's sticking to my employer's policies. Many of the
professional disciplines you mention in your question will also work
in settings in which agency/employer policy has as much to do with
things as personal conviction or education.

Best wishes, 
fsw

I think you will find that very few educators, counselors,
doctors, and social workers actually study the alternatives to
abortion in a serious way.

I mean no disrespect, I'm just truly curious: What exactly do you
people mean by the "alternatives" to abortion?
(Background to my question: I'm from a country where abortion is
considered quite normal and legitimate, and there is practically no
debate about abortion and its "alternatives".)

dannidin,
There are somewhere in the neitghborhood of 4000 pregnancy care
centers in the U.S. that help women faced with an unwanted pregnancy
to carry their baby to term and then provide varying degrees of
continuing support after the birth. These women have the choice of
keeping their babies or giving them up for adoption.