A desperate mother has written in to the Sun’s “Dear Deidre” column after her husband told her to abort their fourth child. “I’m not anti-abortion but I know I will regret it forever if I go through with it”, she said.
The anonymous woman, 32, is pregnant and has three other children with her husband. Her fourth child was unplanned and, she says, unwanted by her husband.
“My husband says there’s no way we can cope financially or mentally with another child”, she told The Sun. “As soon as I told him, he said: ‘You have to have a termination.’"
Her husband “won’t discuss it”, she continued. “He said our family is complete and we can’t cope with any more kids…
“But I can’t go through with an abortion. I feel like I did when I was pregnant with my other children – an immediate bond… This baby feels like it was meant to be.”
Earlier this month, a despondent boyfriend wrote to Dear Deidre after forcing his girlfriend to have an abortion. His partner, he reported, is now “down and distant… The trust has gone from our relationship.”
This week, a devastating poll of 1,060 UK women found that 15% were pressured into having an abortion, as reported by SPUC.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “Abortion places mothers in a terrible situation, made worse by partners who all too often demand they abort their baby. The trauma that results from such coercion can be devastating.
“It is simply unacceptable that mothers and their babies suffer such coercion. They must be protected. One way we can achieve is to rid the world of abortion.”
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