(Fianna Fail Senator Jim Walsh)
On the Protection of Life During Pregnancy bill
“I oppose the legislation because it is anti-women. It disempowers women and the experience everywhere is that women in the poorer socio-economic groups are disempowered and suffer most from this. It is also about men failing to take responsibility.
In a booklet written by Dr. Pravin Thevathasan [Editor Of The Catholic Medical Quarterly] , post-abortion trauma is described as the psychological consequence of repressed grief following abortion. He attributes it to low self-esteem and it may be either a symptom of post-abortion trauma or the root cause.
Guilt may be a healthy sign that a person is gaining insight into the significance of abortion. It will be accompanied by anger when the woman feels that the decision to abort was left to, that is, made by, other people.
“Guilt may be the beginning of healing, so those who campaign for guilt-free abortion are attempting to rob human beings of their very humanity. Suicidal thoughts are not uncommon and may be seen as an unhealthy attempt to atone for the destructive act of abortion.
Broken relationships are common following abortion. This is because the father and/or mother may be silently grieving for the aborted child and because either parent may feel let down, manipulated, ignored, spurned – even disgusted – by the other.
Anger is often directed at the father of the aborted child, at friends or other relatives who suggested the abortion…Some women have flashbacks when they pass any hospital or clinic where abortions are done [and some when they give birth to another child]. Anniversaries – of the conception, the abortion and the projected date of birth – can produce sudden low moods. alcohol abuse as a means of coping with the emotional pain of abortion is common, as are drug abuse, sexual promiscuity and other forms of addiction.”
…is this medieval barbaric procedure the best we can offer a woman who has an unwanted pregnancy and who can, no doubt, be in serious distress?
Some years ago, the actress Shelley Winters talked about her two abortions. She said she would give up everything, including her money and Academy awards, if only she could have those children now. Gloria Swanson begins and ends her autobiography with lamentations over her aborted child. Recently, other celebrities including Sharon Osbourne and Nicole Appleton spoke of their heartbreak following abortion.
Senator Jim Walsh, in the Seanad yesterday.
