What to Expect
WHEN YOU CALL FOR HELP

When you call WEN for help, you will spend about 15 minutes talking with a WEN volunteer counselor. The counselor wants to know that you have thought about your decision carefully. She needs to understand your financial need, and she wants to be sure that you learn about birth control and safe sexual practices so you can protect yourself in the future.

During this conversation, the counselor will ask you a lot of questions about your pregnancy and the other circumstances in your life. Some of these questions will seem quite personal. WEN needs personal information about you for two reasons: to raise the money we use to help women and to figure out how we can best assist you. This conversation is strictly confidential.

When you talk to the WEN counselor, she will want to make sure that you have thought carefully about having an abortion. Being pregnant at the wrong time can feel very scary and threatening. Sometimes, these feelings push people to make decisions they regret later. We will never try to persuade you either to have an abortion or to continue your pregnancy. We just want to make sure that you are comfortable with the decision you have made.

Do you know what your options are? Have your thought about continuing this pregnancy? What made you decide to terminate it? Is anyone pushing you into an abortion that you are not ready for or that you might be sorry about later? Do you need to think about your decision some more, or are you ready to go forward with an abortion now? If you need help making this decision, check out Backline and the Options Workbook

In addition to talking about your options, the counselor will chat with you about birth control and about choosing a method of contraception you can use comfortably and reliably. If you decide to terminate your pregnancy, WEN can help you only once. So we want to help you prevent another pregnancy until you are ready to have a baby.

There are lots of birth control choices today. Click on the link below to learn more about birth control and what's right for you.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America

The WEN counselor will also talk to you about preventing sexually transmitted diseases and about emergency birth control, also called “the morning after pill” and sold under the brand name Plan B . If a condom breaks or you have unprotected sex, and if you take these pills soon enough afterwards, they can keep you from becoming pregnant.

If you decide not to go ahead with an abortion, the counselor will help you figure out what to do instead. She can refer you to organizations that can help you.

If you decide to have an abortion, you and the counselor will figure out how much money you need to have and how much WEN can help you with. In most cases, WEN pays only part of the cost. We ask you to pay as much as you possibly can. We do this because hundreds of women like you come to us for help every year. WEN is a small volunteer organization. The only way we can have enough money to help everyone who needs us is to spread our resources as far as possible.

You and the counselor will then choose which clinic you will go to, and she will give you the address and telephone number. You will probably get an appointment within a week. At the clinic, you will receive additional counseling, ultrasound, and lab work. Before the abortion procedure, the clinic counselor will make sure that you are comfortable with your decision. She will also explain exactly what you can expect to feel before, during, and after the abortion procedure. Contraception and safe sexual practices will also be discussed. Usually the abortion procedure takes place the same day. Some abortions require two days.

After the procedure, when you return to the clinic for follow-up care, you will receive more counseling about routine birth control, emergency birth control, and prevention of sexually transmitted disease. You will be most likely to succeed using birth control if you have a doctor or nurse practitioner. So if you don’t already have a provider, the counselor will refer you to a health clinic where you can get good care in the future. You may also receive samples of birth control pills and emergency contraception.
 

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