British Woman to File Suit for Abortion Distress.(Brief Article)

A British woman told the BBC's Radio 4 program Today that she is preparing a lawsuit against the National Health Service (NHS) for trauma she suffered after an abortion four years ago. The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that she wants the NHS to give women more information about the effects - - including psychological - - they may suffer after an abortion.

"I just want to make the NHS aware of the approach they have on the wards, just to let them know what women are going through, how serious it is and I think they should do something about it," she said on the June 12 radio show.

Pro-lifers pledged their support. "Women are deliberately not being told the whole truth," Nuala Scarisbrick, trustee of the British pro-life group LIFE, said. "They are not being given the chance to make informed decisions. They have a right to know."

The woman has a long road to travel before her lawsuit reaches court. The BBC reported that she and her lawyer have just begun to gather medical evidence about the link between her abortion and her mental distress. The suit would be the first of its kind in Britain.

The woman told the radio audience that she received no counseling before her abortion about possible mental trauma. As soon as she had the abortion, however, she knew what she was doing was "wrong." She said she tried to deny her feelings for three years, until she gave birth to a son. "I realized what I'd lost," she said. "I just felt near a nervous breakdown then."

She began to see her doctor for counseling. "Probably the first six sessions I spent in tears while she listened," the woman explained, "and since then we've been working through things like guilt and forgiveness. It helps a bit but I won't ever be the same."

National guidelines published in 2000 by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) state that women should be informed about hemorrhage, uterine perforation, infection, and other physical effects before they have an abortion.