This article is from page 12 of the 2013-01-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
CLARE women are waiting months and sometimes even years before they seek counsell ing following an abor tion.
Cura i n Ennis provide counselling for a range of issues related to crisis pregnancies, including abor tion. According to Cura, which is funded jointly by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and t he Irish Bishops Conference, more and more women are seeking counselling years after an abor tion has t aken place.
“There is a range of complex and difficult emotions which take place around this time [the time of an abor tion]. We would see a lot of people i n the days and weeks after an abor tion – but we would also see people years after,” said Cura spokesperson, Charlot te Keer y.
“Often times people can feel li ke they have dealt with the issue but maybe a new baby coming into a house or somet hing si milar can trigger off all kinds of emotions for a woman who has had an abor tion.
“It wil l often be somet hing that has never been discussed with a husband or a par tner or t he fam- ily at large. So we do provide after the fact counsel ling for men and women who have been affected by abor tion. We do see more and more men coming into us.” While Cura do provide free preg- nancy tests and counselling for women involved in a crisis pregnancy, they do not provide women with di rect or indi rect contact infor mation for abor tion cl inics abroad. “We will discuss all options including parenting, adoption and abor tion. The one t hing t hat we would be ver y clear about is that we do not provide contact infor mation for abor tion clinics,” continued Charlotte. “We are honest and up front with t he people who come i n and that is how it has to be. We tal k to people in an open way and we are not t here to tell people what to do. If people need suppor t t he suppor t is always t here and t hat includes counsel ling after an abor tion.” Cura in Ennis can be contacted directly on Monday evening between 7pm and 9pm and on Wednesday mor ning’s between 11am and 1pm on 065 6829905. The Cura national lo-call number is staffed from 9am to 9. 30pm. Monday to Friday on 1850 622626. The Clare People contact the Diocese of Ki llaloe in relation to this stor y but no comment was available at the ti me of going to press.