I find this to be a pretty hot button social issue where people have a very strong view of one side or the other. I want to look at this from a Social Worker aspect though. This post is not meant to be a debate, but more of an informational post about abortion and what it looks like through another lens. Before I jump right into that though, let’s look at some statistics.
There is a website that tallied up about 40 million votes and the results do swing more towards pro-choice. Pro-life had around 13 million (38%) votes while pro-choice hit about 22 million (62%) votes. Please take a few minutes to check out the website that this information came from by visiting: https://www.isidewith.com/poll/965629. You’ll see some interesting information on there, such as the percentages of people who are pro-choice and but want to ban abortions after the first three months of the pregnancy.
How does a social worker look at this social conflict? Social workers are here for the benefit of the person, in fact in the code of ethics it’s mentioned numerous times what the goal is. The primary goal under the service value is that we are to help people in need and to address social problems. With abortion it’s hard to address the social issue without giving your own opinion, and we all have our opinions. However, as a social worker, our opinions take the back seat at times and the priority is the person(s) we are serving.
In the ethical standards of the code of ethics, the first section, Ethical Responsibilities to Clients, the first standard is the commitment to clients. We are not here to judge you, we are here to promote the well-being of the client(s). We have to do what is right for the client, and honor their values, cultures, and their needs. It’s not our position to tell someone what to do, but instead we should be informing our clients the situation.
When working with a client to help them learn more about this topic, we should provide all the information about the risks and benefits, and there are benefits for some. Telling someone that it’s a risk to have an abortion should not come off as you telling them it’s wrong. Provide the facts, give details, but do not scare your client.
According the NASW, Reproductive Rights are Human Rights, and through the social worker lens, this is completely on point. Ultimately, no one should tell you what to do with your body, as it is YOUR body. When working with a client, we respect their pro-choice or pro-life stance by affirming this statement. I have been asked a few times about my stance on this topic, and I’m going to be honest, I am a white male. I have no weight in this as it’s not my body and I should not tell anyone what they can or cannot do with their body. It’s their right. However, I can help provide information or find someone who is better at this than I am.
Disclaimer: This post is created by a student in the social work program. The purpose of this post is to work on my own personal knowledge, gain feedback, and leave behind information to look at in the future. This post will be updated if information is incorrect or against the NASW Code of Ethics.