‘Where’s my baby?’ BBC airs talk with woman who regretted abortion
A woman who had an abortion as a teenager and deeply regretted the procedure was given time to speak about her experiences on a British Broadcasting Corporation program.
BBC Two aired an episode of the Victoria Derbyshire daily news and current affairs program last week, which featured both sides of the abortion debate.
One of the perspectives was a woman named Laura Mann, who underwent an abortion 21 weeks into her pregnancy when she was 19 years old.
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Mann explained that she was pressured into undergoing the procedure, explaining that “in hindsight I know that I wasn’t well informed.”
“When I went into to discuss that I am pregnant the first option I was given, was abortion. We stepped out of the room, we spoke for 5 minutes went back in, and I was so afraid, so confused. I had no clue what to do,” she said, as quoted by the pro-life group Right to Life UK.
“The first thing that went through my mind was ‘Where’s my baby? What’s happened to the body of my baby?’ And I kept asking myself that question.”
Mann went on to recall that she was crying right after the procedure was completed and that the time after her abortion was “the beginning of my nightmare.”
Clare McCarthy of Right To Life UK said in a statement released last Wednesday that she believed Mann’s story was “all too familiar.”
“She is right to ask why is it that what actually happens in an abortion is kept such a secret. She is right to feel let down by [the abortion provider group] Marie Stopes who did not fully inform her about what would happen to her baby,” stated McCarthy.
Another guest on the program, going by the name Sam, explained that she had had two abortions because she believed she did not have the financial means to support a child.
While explaining that it was an “easy decision” and that she felt “relieved” after the abortions, Sam also said that she was not “prepared for the emotional toll.”
“I felt like I could go back to work immediately and it'd be fine. But I ended up taking about a week off afterwards,” she recalled, as reported by the BBC.
“Immediately I felt really relieved [after the abortion]. But it's very stressful. I was still very teary.”
In England, Wales, and Scotland, elective abortions are legal up to 24 weeks into a pregnancy, with later abortions allowed under certain circumstances.
Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, has a ban on abortion with the exception of a serious risk to the health of the mother.
