I just wanted to write on the topic of abortion for a moment.  No. Don’t close the page yet. I really want to put a few points forward to you and I’d like you to write back with your own thoughts.

Firstly, I am neither for or against abortion. I don’t believe it is something that can be denied or approved across the board because every case seems to be different.

I know three people who have had an abortion. The first had an abortion sixteen years ago. She regrets it to this day.  She wakes at night thinking that she can see her child at the end of her bed crying. She thinks it was going to be a son.  She has come to the realization that it was the right thing to do but it took her a long time to get to that point.  At the time, her mother and sister dragged her to a hospital in England without giving her a choice.  She thanks them now because she didn’t understand at the time but at the same time, she can’t really forgive them either.  It is something that will haunt her for the rest of her life.

The second person had an abortion four years ago.  Her mother and father found out that she was pregnant and they bet her so badly that she lost the child.  It wasn’t an abortion in the strictest sense of course.  However, the life of the unborn child was snuffed out none the less. The woman in this case actually forgives her mother as she recognises that she was in no state at the time to raise a child.  Without the burden of a child she has gone on to finish a degree and she is working in a career that will suit her for life.  She is terrified that if she gets pregnant again that the child will not develop properly as a result of the injuries she sustained at the hands of her parents.

Finally, the most recent story was about a year ago. I won’t say much about this because I’d be afraid it would hit a nerve and the person might read this post. However, she is why I am writing today.  The legislators in Ireland are trying to save women that have suicidal tendencies as a result of being pregnant.  I completely understand this.  If a woman has been sexually assaulted and the result of that is an unwanted child then that woman should in my opinion have the right to choose what happens to her body and her life in this instance.  However, I need you to understand something that’s much more important. All three women that I know felt like ending their own lives after aborting the lives of their unborn children. I have sat there while women fall to pieces after returning from an abortion. It is one of the most difficult things that I have experienced. Imagine what it is like for them! One particular friend is still suffering.  I am constantly worried about her because although she seems strong, she is tearing herself up over the same questions that I think everyone who has an abortion asks.  “Is there anything I could have done?” “Could I have kept it?” “Have I made the right choice?”  These are questions that never leave them. The best that they can hope for is another chance at it in years to come.

It makes me feel very sick but even angrier to hear such a sad, personal and difficult topic thrown around the political circles like any other political issue.  I wish that TD’s, senators and ministers would remember that Abortion is rarely a solution. It is actually what causes the wound. It might help in the short term but women need to live with the decision for the rest of their lives.

To finish, I will say that behind an abortion is a man. Instead of the spotlight shining on abortions, I’d rather see it shining on the useless scabs in society who father children and don’t stand up to their responsibilities. If it was up to me, any man who walked away from a child would have their fruits cut off.  No. I’m not messing.

As I said, I’m no expert. I don’t think any man can really have the right to have an opinion on this.