Such a law would insure that women considering abortion are informed about the medical risks of the procedure and are given an opportunity to read information about agencies that provide alternatives to abortion, as well as scientifically accurate information about the development of the unborn child. In addition, they would receive information about the risks associated with childbirth.

A national poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times in March 1989 found that 56% of women who stated they had abortions feel a sense of guilt about it, and 26% now "mostly regret the abortion." Many women come to feel the wrong decision was made because they later discover information about fetal development withheld from them at the time of the abortion.

Before her abortion while three months pregnant, Julie Engel recalls asking an abortion counselor, "What does a three-month-old fetus look like?" 'Just a clump of cells,' she answered matter-of-factly." Years later she saw some pictures of fetal development. "When I saw that a three-month-old 'clump of cells' had fingers and toes and was a tiny, perfectly formed baby, I became really hysterical. I'd been lied to and misled...." -Rockmore, Are You Sorry You Had an Abortion?

I didn't receive any formal counseling at the clinic. They simply described the suction abortion procedure and said it would only take a few minutes. Those few minutes scarred me for the rest of my life. If only someone had been there to give me the facts about the child inside of me. If only someone had been there to point out alternatives that would help me and accept the responsibility instead of escaping it at the expense of my baby's life. I could have been spared the haunting grief and guilt. -Sandra D. Walton, Silver Spring, MD

When I was 16, I was shuffled through an assembly line abortion. I was number 13 of 17 who went through the morning session at one abortion clinic. ...I'm not sure the tears will ever stop. ...If I had known then that it would be difficult to sleep at night and that every time I saw a child about the same age as the one I got rid of, my insides would flinch, or that I would feel I had to have another child to "justify" my actions as a teenager, I hope...I would have made another decision. -Teresa Wibbelsman Fangman, Congressional Record, Feb. 19, 1987

Opponents of informed consent legislation frequently say what information a woman is told should be left to the discretion of the individual doctor. But according to a study published by the Alan Guttmacher Institute published in March/April 1987, only 4-8% of all abortions are done in doctor's offices. 75% are done in abortion clinics that do at least 1,000 a year; 20% are done in clinics that do at least 5,000 a year. In these clinics, doctors rarely personally inform or counsel the women. Instead, nonmedical "counselors" talk with the women, often in groups. As reported by David Reardon in Aborted Women: Silent No More, according to the speakers at a 1971 conference of abortion providers that sought to establish nationwide abortion counseling standards, "an abortion counselor's only purpose is to act as 'facilitator and participant in the abortion process'.... Counselors, they warned, were not to urge reevaluation of either the client's needs or her decision to abort; they were only to make it as easy as possible for the woman to carry out her decision."

In a July 1989 Newsweek poll, 89% agreed that "Women seeking abortions must be counseled on the dangers and alternatives to abortion," while only 9% disagreed. A study done for the Presidential Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research found 94% want to be told everything about their condition and treatment, even if it is unfavorable, and 89% believe the patient's right to information should be protected by law.

A CNN/Gallup poll of June 30, 1992 that came out following the Casey decision found that 81% "favor doctors being required to counsel on abortion alternatives and 73% want a 24-hour waiting period. A January 1992 Gallup poll found that 86% of Americans support informed consent legislation; and 75% support a 24-hour waiting period. A January 1992 Wirthlin poll found that 85% of Americans favor "requiring women to receive information about fetal development and alternatives to abortion before going ahead with the procedure."

The question assumes a paternalistic attitude which denigrates the maturity and rationality of women. It is inconsistent to argue that abortion should be a "woman's choice" and then deny that women are capable of making their own decisions, even under stressful situations, if given the relevant information. Making a decision about abortion may indeed involve anxiety, but only having access to all relevant information before making that decision makes it truly her decision, rather than that of the abortion providers.

David Reardon writes:

At one clinic...when a woman voiced her concern that abortion might be killing, the counselor said, "don't think of it as killing. Think of it as taking blood out of your uterus to get your periods going again." ...The desire to "protect" women from the biological facts and moral issues of abortion is all part of the paternalism of abortion providers, which automatically presumes available information and alternatives so they can decide for themselves, counselors screen the information given so as to "guide" their clients to the "best" solution. ...Once counselors decide what is "best" on behalf of their clients, it is an easy matter to influence their final decisions toward the predetermined outcome. Counseling in such cases downplays or even denies the availability of support resources and instead concentrates on the "tremendous burdens" involved is raising a child. Such counseling sessions encourage the women to believe that abortion is not only the "safe and easy" solution, but it is in fact "the only practical thing to do." Explaining how she handles such cases abortion counselor Betty Orr says, "I ask them who is going to take care of the baby while they're in school. Where are they going to get money for clothes?" Faced with such questions of antagonism rather than offers of confirmation and support, frightened and vulnerable young women are easily convinced that abortion is their only choice-even when it is contrary to their real desires. -Aborted Women: Silent No More (1987)

A November 1990 study by Wanda Franz, Ph.D. and David Reardon found that adolescents "were more apt to have greater psychological stress following the abortion and more frequently felt uninformed by the counseling provided, thus adolescents appear to be at greater risk for problems following abortion. The results of this study suggest some specific ideas for those involved in counseling women. It is important that women contemplating an abortion have a feeling of being fully informed, of having time to make an adequate decision, and of not being pressured unduly to have an abortion..."

On June 29, 1992, in Planned Parenthood vs. Casey the U.S. Supreme Court upheld portions of the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act which included Informed Consent provisions and a 24-hour waiting period.