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Non-directive Options Crisis Pregnancy Counselling

CARE’s Network of Crisis Pregnancy Centres has introduced the concept of non-directive options crisis pregnancy counselling into the mindset of the Church in the UK.  As a consequence many Christians now accept non-directive counselling without further thought. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to some of the issues around non-directive pregnancy counselling, and show why it is, in reality, contrary to biblical truth.  

1. Non-directive counselling – Carl Rogers’ brainchild

It is important to understand that CARE’s non-directive model of counselling is based on the psychological approach of Gerard Egan, the psychologist who built on the client-centred, non-directive psychological model of Carl Rogers.  In recognition of Carl Rogers contribution to the cause of secular humanism, in 1964 the American Humanist Association elected him humanist of the year.

Rogers developed the concept of non-directive counselling. His method is built on a single ‘force of life’ that he refers to as the actualising tendency.  Rogers believed that at the basic level human beings are good and trustworthy, rejecting the biblical view of original sin.  He stressed the importance of feelings in counselling.  A key objective of non-directive counselling is to help a client uncover and express their true feelings.  Rogers found that at an early stage of the counselling process ‘there is very little acceptance of feelings.  For the most part feelings are revealed as something shameful, bad or abnormal, or unacceptable in other ways.’ [i]  However, as counselling progresses ‘feelings are very close to being fully experienced’.[ii]  A client must be helped to trust her feeling and do what ‘feels right’ in a particular situation.  Consistent with Rogers’ non-directive model, the CARE Centres Network website uses the words ‘feel’ or ‘feelings’ twenty-four times and the leaflet Making a Decision twenty-three times.  The training manual Called to Care advises the counsellor in the advent of a positive pregnancy test to ask the woman, ‘What are you feeling about it?’  According to the CARE Centres Network website: ‘Pregnancy counselling centres are there to help you find out how you feel about having an abortion.’

Rogers’ counselling method was called ‘non-directive’ because he believed that the counsellor should not lead the client. Being non-directive allows the client deal with what he or she considers important, at his or her own pace.  Rogers felt that the client was the one who should say what is wrong, find ways of improving, and determine the conclusion of therapy._[iii] 

Rogers stressed the importance of empathy, the ability to feel what the client feels, in the counselling process.  CARE’s training manual also lays great stress on empathy, which it defines as the ability to understand how a person perceives their situation and how they feel about it._[iv] 

2.  The promoters of non-directive counselling

The non-directive approach, developed by Rogers, is now adopted by almost all pro-abortion counselling organisations.  The Allan Guttmacher Institute has produced a report outlining professional standards for non-directive options counselling in the USA (August 2004).

Federal regulations require pregnancy counselors to ‘offer pregnant women the opportunity to be provided with information and counseling regarding each of the following options: prenatal care and delivery; infant care, foster care, or adoption; and pregnancy termination.’ If such information and counseling is requested, counselors must ‘provide neutral, factual information and nondirective counseling on each of the options, and referral upon request, except with respect to any option(s) about which the pregnant woman indicates she does not wish to receive such information and counseling.’ DHHS (Department of Health and Human Services) also elaborates that ‘nondirective’ means that counselors ‘may not steer or direct clients toward selecting any option.’_[v] 

The following examples illustrate the way in which pro-abortion organisations have embraced the concept of non-directive counselling:  

1.       The Family Planning Association (fpa) believes that ‘all women who want it should have access to free non-directive pregnancy counselling and post abortion counselling.’_[vi]

2.       Marie Stopes International provides ‘non-judgemental and non-directive counselling’.  Marie Stopes is running a campaign to expose what they refer to as ‘bogus pregnancy advice centres that purport to offer non-judgemental counselling but which are, in fact, organised and managed by pro-life sympathisers who will use every means at their disposal to prevent or delay women from accessing information that will enable them to exercise their choice to terminate a pregnancy… organisations that set out to do this are completely without principle or an ounce of compassion for the women they purport to help.’_[vii]

3.       The Well Women Centre offers non-directive counselling.  ‘Non-directive counselling means that the counsellor will offer no opinion as to what is best for you, but is there to provide a safe and totally confidential space for you to explore your feelings about the problem, and to look at all of the options you feel are open to you, whatever your situation’

4.       The Oxford Student is a passionate advocate of non-directive counselling.  ‘It doesn’t matter whether you are pro-life or pro-choice: counselling should be impartial, objective and non-directional.’  A trained peer supporter explains: ‘Our job is to help people to work through problems by examining all available options open to them and to provide as much support as we can.  The conclusions people come to must be truly be their own, and they must never feel judged or pressurised in making difficult decisions.’_[viii]

5.       CARE stresses that its counselling approach is impartial, non-judgemental and non-directive.  The CARE Centres Network website explains to a pregnant woman: ‘Trained advisors are trained in non-directional counselling, enabling you to discover more clearly how you feel about the situation you are in.’_[ix]  (This website has been removed since the publication of What is going on in Christian Crisis Pregnancy Counselling.)  The leaflet, More about CAREconfidential, reassures a woman, ‘All our trained advisors are required to adhere to the ethos of CAREconfidential, which is to provide caring support and impartial information…’_[x]  

3.  The objective of non-directional counselling

The aim of the non-directional pregnancy counselling is to help a woman understand how she feels about her pregnancy, free from any other influences that might direct her to a particular course of action.  When the woman has delved into her deepest feelings, the counsellor then presents the women with two options, aborting the child or continuing the pregnancy, without expressing a preference.  Both options are discussed in an impartial, non-directive way.  The non-directive counsellor is careful not to steer the woman in any way, for the woman must be free to choose the option with which she feels able to live.  In reality, the non-directive approach invites a woman to consider the two options—abortion or continuing the pregnancy, as though both are legitimate choices.  But both are not legitimate choices, for one is rebellion against God’s moral law.  God’s word has declared that abortion is wrong; that He hates hands that shed innocent blood.  Moreover, God will not hold guiltless those who shed innocent blood.  Therefore, shedding innocent blood is not a legitimate choice but wilful rebellion against a holy God.  So, according to God’s word, abortion is not a legitimate choice, but rebellion against the Holy God who hates evil. 

Some argue that the fact that abortion is legal in the UK, under certain circumstances, makes it an ‘option’.  But this is a dangerous argument, for it accepts that Parliament has the authority to set aside God’s law and make killing lawful. But the truth is that no government has the authority to set aside God’s eternal moral law.  Abortion is just as wrong, in God’s eyes, after the Act legalising abortion as it was before the Act.  Abortion was not an option before the Act and it is not an option after the Act.  By legalising the killing of the unborn child the British Parliament has arrogantly set itself above God.  The Christian Church knows that abortion is wrong and that the Abortion Act has not changed God’s eternal law, and therefore has a duty before God to witness to this truth. God is not mocked, and His law stands forever.  For the Church to offer abortion as an option, it is to condone Parliament’s rebellion against God’s law.  The responsibility of the Church is not to offer abortion as an option, but to declare that abortion is wrong.  

4.  Non-directive counselling in the Garden of Eden

In the Garden of Eden God established a moral universe when He commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die’ (Genesis 2:16-17).  Eating the forbidden fruit was not presented as an option (the liberty to choose) but as rebellion against God’s moral law.  The choice that Adam and Eve faced was between obeying God’s command or rebelling against it.  Eating the fruit was not a legitimate choice, but rebellion against God that would lead to certain death, for ‘when you eat of it you will surely die’.   

The crafty serpent tempted Eve by presenting the forbidden fruit as an option worthy of consideration. The serpent told the woman that she would not surely die, as God had said, but that her eyes would be opened and she would become like God, knowing good and evil.  In effect the serpent was presenting the forbidden fruit as an option (a legitimate choice), denying that it was rebellion against the Creator and Lawgiver.  The devil deceived Eve by suggesting that God’s moral law was not real, therefore she would not surely die, but would gain benefit by eating the forbidden fruit.  In this way, Eve was deceived into thinking that the forbidden fruit was a legitimate choice, an option that was open to her.   

Once the devil had succeeded in persuading Eve that eating the fruit was an option, and not rebellion against God’s law, she examined the fruit carefully, and when she saw that it was good for food, pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom, she made her choice between the options that had been offered to her by the serpent.  Here is the important point: God declared that eating the forbidden fruit was rebellion with terrible consequences, for God has commanded man to obey His holy law.  Satan presented the forbidden fruit as an option, and persuaded Eve that she was free to choose it, if that’s what she wants.   

In the same way, non-directive options counselling deceives a woman into thinking that abortion is a legitimate choice, rather than rebellion against God’s law.  This teaching is contrary to the biblical truth,  ‘In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths’ (Proverbs 3:6).  The word direct, translated from the Aramaic yashar, means to be straight, right, upright, good.  From this verb comes the noun yasher, uprightness.  So godly counselling is always directive, for it directs a person in the way of righteousness. ‘O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself.  It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.  O Lord, correct me, but with justice, not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing’ (Jeremiah 10:23-24).  The purpose of non-directive counselling is to demoralise the abortion issue, thereby denying the way of righteousness. This is why a Christian counsellor can never present abortion as an option, for to do so is to legitimise rebellion against God’s law.  The Christian position is always to warn a woman that we live in a moral universe and that breaking God’s law has consequences. 

4.  Situation ethics

A study of CARE’s non-directive, options counselling shows that it is delivered within the moral framework of situation ethics.  According to CARE’s training manual, ‘We [the counsellors] know the truth about abortion.  We cannot bombard the women who come to us with this truth.  We can, however, offer to help her explore all the factors relating to her situation – practical, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual, receiving her as a whole person.’_[xi]  Note CARE’s pejorative reference to God’s truth about abortion as a bombardment.  Instead of explaining God’s truth about abortion, CARE explores all the factors relating to her situation.  Yet Jesus said, ‘For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth’ (John 18:37).  So rather than gently leading a woman onto the solid rock of God’s truth, CARE leads her onto the sinking sands of situation ethics. 

The leaflet Making a Decision provides a clear example of CARE’s commitment to the doctrine of situation ethics.  The first thing a woman with an unwanted pregnancy is asked to consider is her circumstances.  ‘Circumstances can make an unplanned pregnancy hard to face.  That’s often because we are afraid of losing things that are important to us; not just practical things like time and money, but things like freedom, peace of mind, and relationships.’ Here the woman is persuaded that she must consider her particular circumstances in order to decide what the best thing is for her.  In other words, what is the pragmatic solution in view of her particular situation?  

The leaflet reminds a woman she has the right to choose. ‘Write a list of those things you think you might lose with each of the options.  These may include things like money, accommodation, time, freedom, and the baby itself, but also other things like self worth, peace of mind, and sense of security.’  That is, a woman is advised to consider her gains and losses in economic and psychological terms.   Now she must write a list of the things she will gain.  ‘This time, go through the list and think of the things you would gain with each of the options.  How important are these gains to you?’  From her carefully constructed balance sheet she is in a position to make a trade-off between her loses and gains and the baby’s life.  

It is not difficult to see that what is being promoted is pure situation ethics.  The father of situation ethics, Joseph Fletcher, described his approach to ethical decisions:  ‘Most of us decide for or against things on the principle of proportionate good.  We try to figure out the gains and losses that would follow from one course of action or another and then choose the one that is best, the one that offers the most good.  This calculation of consequences is often called a trade-off or cost benefit analysis.’_[xii]  So the guidance offered by CARE’s leaflet is consistent with the teaching of Joseph Fletcher, and has nothing to do with biblical morality.  

5.  Referral numbers

Many Christians are sceptical about the number of referrals an overtly Christian counselling centre might expect if counsellors were telling woman straight out they must not have an abortion.  Behind this approach is the idea that Christians should pretend to be non-directive in order to attract referrals.  But this is a dangerous approach for two reasons.  First, it entices women to come for counselling under false pretences.  Jesus said that our yes should be yes and no, no.  In other words, as Christians we must be straightforward in the way that we witness to God’s truth.  It can never be right to pretend to be something other than what we are.  It can never be right to hide God’s truth under the bushel of non-directive counselling.  The gospel is God’s eternal truth and must be presented in an open and truthful way. 

Second, scepticism suggests that the human heart does not respond to the Christian gospel of grace. But the gospel is the power of God.  Many women, when they are in serious trouble, want to turn to God for help and comfort.  Many who are in the turmoil caused by an unwanted pregnancy have a desire to know the truth about the meaning and purpose of life and are ready to respond to God’s grace.  Many are repulsed by the trite and trivial messages of psychological counselling and are desperate for something better.  

6.  Biblical counselling

But the option is not between non-directive counselling and straight out telling women, the moment they walk through the door, that they must not have an abortion.  The option is between non-directive counselling and biblical counselling.  We have the example of the Mighty Counsellor, who was kind in all His ways, yet always directive in His counselling.  Because He was compassionate and righteous He always warned of the consequences of sin.  When He counselled the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 He did not tell her straight out to go and fetch her husband, but first established a relationship with her by asking for a drink of water, and then He told her about the gift of God and the living water.  Only when she asked about the living water, did He draw attention to her sin by telling her to go and call her husband.  ‘The man you now have is not your husband’.  Jesus then taught her about the true God who is Spirit and must be worshipped in spirit and truth.  His counsel was directive in that He made it clear that those who worship God must do so in spirit and truth.   

In a similar way, biblical counselling starts by establishing a relationship with the pregnant woman, before explaining the nature and character of the one true God who loves all that He has created.  As Christians, we explain that each life is created in the image of God, that every child is a gift from God the creator.  We explain God’s love for all that he has created; that the God of Heaven knows even the number of hairs on our head.  ‘The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made… The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down… (Psalm 145:9,14) He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds’ (Psalm 147:3).  Our gracious God, who even knows when a sparrow falls to the ground, loves every human life, including the life of every unborn child.  We explain that God’s moral law is good for men, women and children.  We explain why human life is sacred and why abortion is wrong in God’s eyes, and therefore is not a real option.  We explain that the basis of a civilised Christian society depends upon the protection of the innocent, which includes the unborn child, and the sanctity of human life.   

Because human beings are created in God’s image, God’s word has a powerful affect on the human heart. God’s word has the power to change lives.  Therefore, as Christians we should not be ashamed of the Bible’s teaching on abortion.  What an opportunity for Christian churches to set an example by openly offering biblical counselling to pregnant women.  

7.  Affiliation to CARE

CARE’s training manual makes it clear that counsellors are responsible to the Centre and their Code of Practice._[xiii]  Churches that are affiliated to CARE are ethically bound to follow the principles laid down by CARE’s Network of Counselling Centres.  They are partners with CARE and the other organisations that make up the network.  A church that is affiliated to CARE is ethically bound to follow the ethos and philosophy upon which the network has been constructed.   Such a church, in effect, has become a part of a vast network of non-directive, options based crisis pregnancy counselling centres.  By having counsellors trained by CARE, churches are introducing the relativism of situation ethics into the congregation.