Peace Corps Views Abortion As "A Form of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome."

From one of my Operation Outcry colleagues:

A friend (who is currently preparing to join the Peace Corps) recently informed me that in the application process, the applicant must answer if and when they have had an abortion. If they are post-abortive, the Peace Corps REQUIRES the woman to attend counseling with a therapist, unless they have already done so. According to my post-abortive friend, they are adamant about this. Her experience was that the Peace Corp recognizes post-abortion syndrome and is concerned about sending women who have not received counseling to countries where abortion might be common or morally acceptable. It's possible that the Peace Corp has created this policy as a result of negative experiences of American volunteers who are post-abortive.

The following is the actual applicant's email confirming the details:

Basically the deal with the Post Abortion Stress Syndrome and the Peace Corps is that [when I applied to join the Peace Corps,] I checked on the medical evaluation that I had received counseling previously [for trauma and grief from an earlier abortion] and then they sent me a form to get cleared by a board certified psychologist. I thought I could just call them and let them know what I sought out counseling for and that being a secular organization they would not require me to be cleared by a board certified counselor, but could do so in the pregnancy center. However, he said I still had to see a psychologist and that it was seen as a form of post traumatic stress syndrome. There is no written documentation that I have seen by them, because my information about it comes solely from a conversation I had over the phone with someone from the medical clearing office in Washington, DC. The reasoning I was given as to why it is considered to be likened to PTSD was given in more of a non-official conversation fashion.

On the application it does ask if you have had an abortion, and if I remember correctly, it also asks when, but it doesn't ask anything directly on the application about post abortion counseling. That information I provided myself [when asked] on a later portion. The Personal Medical Evaluation is available on line, I am sure.

Actually, I couldn't find that and would have had to fake an application to the Peace Corps (giving all my personal and contact information) in order to get to that secured, private website where such an Evaluation form might be available online. I won't mislead the Peace Corps that way.

I'm heartened by the fact that the Peace Corps displays concern for its volunteers by looking into this and by "taking these steps to protect the women and the people they will be working with," as the writer said.

I must say I'm still disheartened that they feel the need to help underprivileged women have more abortions as a form of birth control than to help solve the real underlying problems in these societies that lead to such crises at all.

I could wager a guess at when that started to happen: when pro-abortion Carol Bellamy, "former investment banker, politician, president of the New York City Council," became director of the Peace Corps. She later went on to bring her pro-abortion agenda to UNICEF (but that's a subject for another post altogether).