title: [Voluntary practice and subjective impact of abortion on women. Representations, meanings and social imaginary in clandestine scenario].
abstract: The unplanned pregnancy is a common occurrence in women of reproductive age and at any social status since it is a critical and vital situation that forces women to make a decision. Despite being a public health issue, the act of voluntarily terminating a pregnancy is circumscribed to the clandestine, hidden, private sphere, due to the restrictive legal contexts that dominate the subject. The lack of professional assistance in these situations represents a risk to the health and lives of women.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this article we propose to visualize the meanings and senses that each woman assigns to the process, the reflection about the subjective impact and the eventually psychological effects of the practice; we introduce the conclusions reached from the analysis of the stories of women who went through this process from the notification of an unplanned pregnancy, decision making and the practice of it, in a context of illegality; with the professional support that is provided from the Integrated Counseling in Sexual and Reproductive Health. This counseling is part of the public policies to reduce risk and damage from induced abortions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this context and through the professional accompaniment the words appear in order to elaborate, psychically and symbolically, the effects that the voluntary pregnancy interruption in women produces. The meanings that each woman gives to abortion depends on the appeal from that experience, either as a drama that shocks and destabilizes the mental equilibrium, a critical event but surmountable, or an opportunity to reaffirm their autonomy.
authors.affiliation: CeSAC 18, Área Programática Hospital Piñero, CABA, Argentina. laurapistani@yahoo.com.ar.
authors.forename: María Laura
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Pistani
authors.forename: Melina Bárbara
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Ceccato
mesh_terms: D000024:Abortion, Illegal / Q000523:psychology*; D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy