From a Muslim woman who regretted her two abortions:
“ I didn’t want to have the abortion. My daughter was now three years old and I felt ready for another child. He was absolutely certain that he didn’t want another child. He had two; that was all he wanted. Our relationship was bad. I didn’t want sex; he wanted it..…
I played courageous and went and had the abortion. I was trying to save my pride and had the abortion in a very angry state. I didn’t have time to dig too deeply into my feelings. Later on I felt that I had been stupid. It was my right to have the baby. It was more part of me than him. If he can make a decision that he doesn’t want a child, than I can make a decision that I do want it.…
Now, eight months after the first abortion in the US I was to have another. My husband did try to be kind, but it didn’t help.… I was deeply scarred from the first abortion and all the conflict over contraception…
Now if the situation were to be mentioned, he would say that it was my decision. He would deny responsibility for the decisions to have the abortions. He might say it was our decision, but more mine – it’s as if he would try to block it from his mind. We have never really talked about it, but I think that’s what he’d say…
As Muslims we had no particular religious conflicts regarding the abortions. I was educated religiously that up until 120 days the fetus has no soul – that you’re not dealing with a human being up to that point.… My conflict about having the abortions stemmed from my feminine, maternal instinct, not from my religion. I felt grief and loss, not guilt.”
Miriam Claire The Abortion Dilemma: Personal Views on a Public Issue (New York: Insight Books, 1995) 117 – 119
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