Women have told the BBC about their feelings of regret and guilt after abortion, with one saying she is now left with “deep scars”.
Readers were responding to an online article from a woman who had an abortion because she felt she was not a “good enough mother” to look after a third baby alongside her two other children.
Explaining that she felt ‘trapped’ by the unexpected pregnancy, the anonymous woman said abortion is “an essential part of birth control for many women”.
Horrific
But readers contacted the BBC with very different perspectives on the issue.
Alison said the abortion procedure was “horrific”, that she was left with fertility problems and was deeply scarred by the experience.
“One minute it was a much-loved baby. The next I was trying to justify killing it”, she commented, adding: “Looking at my child I am reminded that we lost another who died through our ‘choice’.”
Alison said that she was ignored by the abortion clinic when she suffered with fertility issues and told that they were “nothing to do with the abortion”. “This wasn’t true, as the NHS revealed”, she explained.
Gift
Naomi said she did not know how she would cope with a third child, but was delighted with her decision not to have an abortion.
“I am so so glad that he had the opportunity to live, breathe and experience all that life has to offer. Children are a gift, we should receive them as such.”
Carolyn questioned the idea of abortion as “birth control”, and said she believes the original author is “profoundly wrong”.
“Life is a gift, so many desire a baby while others simply get rid of what some would give everything to have”, she concluded.
Guilt
An anonymous reader said although she felt “relief” at the time, 11 years later she still feels guilt and has to call it “termination” rather than “abortion”.
In 2014 The Christian Institute highlighted stories of people deeply affected by abortion in its Choose Life series.