Abortion counseling: attention to the whole woman.

Women's experience of pregnancy and abortion are examined and redefined. Abortion may be undertaken for a variety of reasons, and involves not only physical and emotional health, but also a woman's basic identity. Under restrictive norms and laws set by men, women's decision to abort is a subversive act. Recommendations are made for comprehensive services, including psychosocial counseling to help women cope with social pressures and experience abortion as an act of self-affirmation.