A mum says she wishes someone had stepped in to stop her from aborting her baby, as she explained the years of heartache that have followed.
Lora Bishop spoke out after newspaper columnist Bel Mooney claimed her decision to have an abortion was “no big deal”.
Readers have been quick to respond, telling their stories of hurt which followed abortions. They echo a father who said he experienced a “sea of pain” after his child was aborted.
Mother’s love
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Lora explained that following the abortion she took an overdose of drugs and was hospitalised.
At a scan ahead of her abortion, in 2008, she had been advised not to look at the picture of her unborn baby: “If I had looked, I feel certain I would have ended up keeping my baby.
“I already loved this child; I’m sure that being a mum and knowing how all-consuming a mother’s love is intensified those feelings.”
Challenging
She added: “I don’t doubt that if I’d continued with the pregnancy, our lives would have been challenging, but surely that would have been preferable for my child to having no life at all?”
Lora concluded: “So I would advise any woman planning a termination to think very carefully. Otherwise she could, like me, end up regretting it for the rest of her life.”
Another woman, named only as ‘Mary’, responding to the Bel Mooney article, explained her pain after her 22-year-old daughter had an abortion.
She said: “I grieved for the grandchild I would never hold.”
Grief and loss
Mary added: “I understand that women can have very mixed emotions when they have had a termination: relief and sadness.
“But I hope that someone can spare a thought for the people who have no say in the matter and do their best to support their daughters, but, ultimately, would rather hold a grandchild in their arms.”
One father, Stephen Graham, also spoke about the impact his girlfriend’s abortion had on him – saying he had a “deep sense of grief and loss that has never really left me”.
Choose Life
The Daily Mail also reported on two people who said they did not regret having an abortion.
The Christian Institute is starting a new series of stories focusing on abortion called ‘Choose Life’.
Over the next few weeks people will be sharing moving and deeply personal stories of how abortion affected them.