1. Mandated Psychological Counseling

"Why are you terminating this pregnancy?"

This was the question posed to me during a mandatory counseling session I had to endure before I was able to get an abortion. I panicked. What was the right answer?

I wanted to say, "Because I want to." But I was afraid I would be denied the procedure. I lied and said I was broke and couldn't raise a child. This seem to satisfy the Planned Parenthood worker.

Thirty-five states do not allow a woman to undergo an abortion unless she has been "counseled." The substance of these "counseling sessions" runs the gamut from informing the woman about the purported link between abortion and breast cancer (five states), the ability of a fetus to feel pain (twelve states), long-term mental health consequences of abortion (eight states), or that personhood begins at conception (five states). In several states, a counseling session must be done in person, at the facility, 24 hours before the procedure, meaning at least two trips the facility must be made.

A three-year study of over 300 women, conducted by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project, found the 24-hour waiting period had a negative emotional impact on 31% of women surveyed. Nearly half of the women reported additional costs caused by the waiting period — $141 on average — for extra transportation, child care, and other services not related to the abortion.