By EIMEAR O'HAGAN and RUTH KELLY

Last updated at 00:36 13 September 2007

Yesterday in the Mail, Amanda Platell argued that the current 24-week limit should be cut.

But what do women who have had abortions think? Here, seven of them give their views . . .









REGRETS

Sarah Giles, 27, works in sales for a computer company. She lives with her boyfriend, Mike, 29, an estate agent, in Northampton. She says:

I think the abortion limit should definitely be reduced to 13 weeks. I was only six weeks pregnant when I had my abortion, and even then I had bonded with my baby.

Seeing the foetus on the scan - which you have to have before they will carry out the procedure - was unbearably moving. It was two years ago and I haven't been the same since.

I'd been going out with Mike for a year and a half when I got pregnant. We weren't using contraception and he freaked out. He said we didn't have the money, that it was too soon in our careers, and it would ruin our lives.

At the time, I agreed. My parents divorced when I was young and I hardly saw my father, and that's not what I wanted for my child. I wanted to be married, in a stable, loving relationship, with plenty of money.

We agreed that I would have an abortion, but I was unprepared for how I would feel about my baby, and about how I would be treated at the clinic. There were about 20 of us in at the same time, and we were herded about like cattle. It was horrible.

I had a general anaesthetic, but when I came round I was lying on a recliner chair surrounded by the other girls in the waiting room, many of them sobbing hysterically. It was like a scene from hell. There was pop music blasting out from the office, and the staff were chatting loudly, ignoring us. All I could think was: "Get me out of here."

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After an hour, I was allowed to go home. My boyfriend drove me back as I sobbed helplessly. I was bleeding heavily, and two days later I was still in pain and bleeding.

A month after the abortion, I went to my GP to get antidepressants. I couldn't sleep - I felt awful.

Today, I still have a huge sense of loss and feel that we did the wrong thing. Mike and I are still together, although the abortion nearly split us up.

I hope that one day we'll get married and have children together - but I will never forget. Even today, I see pregnant women or happy young mothers with their babies and think: "That could have been me. It makes me cry.

NO REGRETS

Jenny Watson, 33, is an accountant. She lives in London with her partner, Andrew, 33, an IT executive. She had an abortion in January 2005. She says:

I fell pregnant at the worst possible time. Having worked for years to establish my career, the last thing I wanted was a child. All through my 20s I'd saved up to buy my flat, and for the first time in years I was able to go out and buy little luxuries.

Andrew and I had been together for two years when I realised I was expecting, but neither of us felt ready for a baby. I'd come off the pill because it was giving me really bad mood swings and we were using condoms. When one burst, I thought I could never be that unlucky.

Initially, I hoped my period was just late because I'd been stressed. When the test was positive, I felt physically sick. Sitting on the bathroom floor in tears, Andrew and I had the worst conversation we'd ever had.

Instinctively, I knew that I wasn't ready for motherhood. Andrew was willing to go ahead, but when I told him I wanted to have an abortion, I think he was relieved.

The following day, I went to see my GP and was booked in for my termination at a Central London NHS hospital. I had a vacuum aspiration abortion when I was six weeks pregnant.

In my mind, it was not a proper baby yet so I didn't feel like I was killing something. Now, when I hear how babies can have a heartbeat at six weeks, it does upset me.

The procedure was done under general anaesthetic so I didn't feel a thing. I don't feel guilty, and I justify it by saying to myself that I only have one life and I can't give up my own happiness and dreams for the sake of a baby.

The strain of such a serious event made our relationship difficult for a few months, but now Andrew and I are closer than ever.

I know we will stay together and one day have another baby - but it will happen when the time is right.

I think the limit should stay where it is because I believe that women do have the right to choose. In my opinion, it's not a fully formed baby until it is born at full term. Until then, the mother's wishes must come first.

REGRETS

Sarah Fry, 27, is an import clerk at Heathrow Airport. She lives in Stanwell, Middlesex, with her boyfriend Martin, 30, a prison officer, and their daughter, Tayla, five weeks. Sarah says:

The abortion laws should be changed so that it's more difficult to have one. I was 18 when I went to my doctor and asked for an abortion. I'd only been with my boyfriend for a month. No obstacles were put in my way, and the whole process was so incredibly quick and smooth that I never really had the chance to think if it was something I really wanted to go through with.

A 13-week limit makes much more sense when you consider that babies born prematurely at 24 weeks are surviving. It does make it very hard to justify late abortions.

My abortion haunted me for years afterwards. I split up with the boyfriend I'd been with then, but when I met Martin and we started trying for children it took almost a year for me to conceive.

Then, at seven weeks, I had a miscarriage. I tried not to think about the abortion, but in January 2006, when we lost another baby at seven weeks, I was inconsolable.

In fact, I suffered two more miscarriages before getting pregnant with Tayla in December 2006.

When she was born in August of this year, I was thrilled - but when I look at her I sometimes think of the pregnancy I terminated.

Doctors haven't confirmed a link between my abortion nine years ago and the subsequent miscarriages, but I can't help but wonder if they're connected - and inside I do sometimes blame myself.

REGRETS

Varria Russellwhite, 34, is an education officer for a charity. She lives with her husband and their three children aged seven, five and one in Sheffield. Varria had an abortion nine years ago at the age of 24. She says:

I was in my final year at college in Leicester with big hopes of going to university and becoming a journalist. I met my present husband through a summer job and we quickly became best friends.

There was no romance between us then, but one night we were fooling around and one thing led to another. The sex was so spontaneous that we didn't think to use any contraception.

Several days later, my body felt different. I did a test and when the blue line appeared my heart sank and I thought: "Oh God, what have I done." I hated myself because I had let my family down.

I booked an appointment with my GP for the following day. The three days waiting for the test results were the longest in my life, and when it came back positive I burst into tears.

Having an abortion was the last thing on my mind. All I could think of was how I would tell my parents and the father of my child.

I told Martin first. It was a massive relief that he would stand by me, and that night I told my family. I could barely get the words out - I was so disappointed with myself.

The next day, I booked an abortion at Leicester General Hospital, by which time I would be 12 weeks pregnant.

But on the morning I was supposed to be at the hospital, I froze. Every part of my body was saying no, so I cancelled.

I thought I'd be happy at my decision, but then my career dreams started to creep back and a month later I rebooked. I was 17 weeks pregnant when I finally went through with it.

I was given a pill and then a pessary the following day, which induced a miscarriage. I was not prepared for what followed. After eight hours I gave birth to a small but fully formed baby.

As I watched the nurse carry it away in a pool of blood, I felt so hollow at the waste of a life. I could clean the mess off me, but couldn't wash the guilt from my mind.

I fell out with my baby's father because he didn't want me to have the abortion. He moved away to do an MA and I went to university.

A year later, I ran into him by chance. Time had healed some wounds and we were able to talk about what happened. Over the next few months we really did fall in love and I knew I wanted a baby with him.

Our first son was born in 2000 and we were married the following year. I have the perfect little family now, although I always wonder what could have been.

I think the Government should change the laws to make the upper limit of abortion at 13 weeks. If I hadn't been allowed to have an abortion when I did, it would have forced me to come to a decision earlier and that would have made the procedure less traumatic.

REGRETS

Sue Hulbert, 45, a science teacher from Leeds, had an abortion in 2000. She has two children aged 16 and 12. She says:

In 1999, my 11-year marriage broke down and we decided to separate. I quickly fell for one of the mature students in my university lecture group. Alan was everything my husband wasn't and I felt I'd met my soul mate.

Things moved very quickly. Being 38, it was probably my last chance to have a baby and it didn't take me long to get pregnant.

In February 2000, I announced the good news. But Alan's reaction wasn't quite what I expected. He hardly said a word. I felt so confused and hoped it was just an initial reaction.

But the wall between us just got thicker and we ended up splitting up on Easter Sunday. I was due for a scan two days later, but now I was thinking about an abortion.

Alan came with me to the appointment, but before the scan I broke down in front of the nurse. "I want to talk about terminating this pregnancy," I sobbed.

I explained that I couldn't cope - my marriage had broken down, the man of my dreams wasn't who I had thought he was and I had two young children to look after.

After a week to think things over, I decided to book an abortion. I was 14 weeks pregnant. The ten days leading up to it were terrifying. I couldn't sleep, and I was irritable all the time, trying not to think about what I was going to do.

Alan drove me to the hospital and I cried all the way there. As the nurse explained how they would put me under anaesthetic while they sucked the baby out, I was shaking.

Seeing how distressed I was, she told me: "I'm going to give you an hour to have a think about whether you really want this."

I cried non-stop for that hour but I couldn't find the words to say no, so I went through with it.

When I came to, I felt devastated about what I had done and immediately regretted it. I went home with this aching, empty feeling.

Alan didn't wait long before cutting his ties with me and I fell into a deep depression. It took me so long to get out of bed each morning because I had to imagine I was dressing and feeding my lost baby. I gave him a name, Patrick.

One night, I wrote letters to my family and friends and took an overdose of antidepressants. But it wasn't enough - and the next day I was woken by the phone. It was Alan, who realised I could barely speak and called an ambulance.

With counselling,things gradually got better. Not a day goes by, though, when I don't regret my abortion. I hope the Government drops the limit for abortions right down. At all stages of pregnancy it is a human life - but at 24 weeks it can survive out of the womb.

NO REGRETS

Ruth Teddern, 55, lives in North West London and works as a receptionist in a young people's health clinic. She has no children. She says:

I never wanted children, so when I fell pregnant at 30, despite using the contraceptive coil, I was in shock. I'd been involved in Pro-Choice campaigning, so was clear that I would have an abortion.

My boyfriend and I had barely been together five minutes and I'd just recovered from a bout of clinical depression. Fortunately, my boyfriend, who was eight years younger than me, believed it was a woman's right to choose, so at eight weeks pregnant I had a termination.

The day was tinged with sadness but my boyfriend's support proved that here was a man I could rely on. We spent another 15 years together, and throughout that time neither of us regretted my decision. Nor did we have any desire subsequently to have children.

I believe strongly that the Government's desire to reduce the time limit on abortions is foolish and ill-informed, and will catch out the most vulnerable women.

Only a very tiny percentage of abortions are carried out at over 20 weeks - but the women who have them need that time frame as a safety net. They are often young girls who are too scared to tell their parents they are pregnant.