Abortion regret is not rare, though abortion activists would like people to think it is.
Abortion activists “shout” about their abortion experiences and produce studies that supposedly show most women are glad they chose to abort their own children. But their shouting and biased studies cannot drown out the voices of millions of mothers and fathers who suffer pain and regret after aborting a child.
Catherine Mousley, of South London, England, recently began sharing her struggles publicly with the hope of helping other mothers, the Daily Mail reports.
Mousley attempted to commit suicide twice because she felt she could not deal with the pain of her abortion any longer. Her darkest moments came after she gave birth to her second child, Jake, in 2018, and struggled to bond with him, according to the report.
“When I first attempted suicide, I was so on the edge and the trigger was that I was struggling being around Jake, so I made a snap decision to end it all,” Mousley said. “I wanted to end my life because I didn’t feel like I deserved to be a mother after I ended my first baby’s life.”
According to the report, she and her partner Chris decided to have the abortion in 2017 after their first unborn child was diagnosed with Down syndrome and Monosomy 21; she was 17 weeks pregnant at the time.
When she became pregnant again a short time later, Mousley said she battled with anxiety and suicidal thoughts.
“During my pregnancy with Jake, I had no physical complications but mentally I felt so anxious because I was worried that we might lose him, too,” she said. “I was so distressed about something going wrong. I felt strongly about ending my life if my second pregnancy had problems, I just couldn’t cope.”
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Giving birth to Jake was long and difficult, and she felt that she could not bond with him after he was born, according to the report. At one point, she said she even considered making an adoption plan for him.
Mousley said she has struggled with mental health problems for most of her life; but the months after Jake’s birth became increasingly difficult for her.
According to the report:
Catherine was sectioned at South London’s Bethlem Royal Hospital’s Mother and Baby Unit [MBU] but self-harmed – cutting her arms with a razor blade, one time making 17 lacerations – and attempted to kill herself twice because she believed she had failed as mum. …
She often went missing and Chris would stay up all night looking for her.
Catherine was close to attempting to end her own life again in June 2019 after relapsing, and had to spend a further week in hospital.
‘After Jake was born, I just thought, “What have I done?”,’ she said. ‘I didn’t feel anything for him, so I didn’t feel like living.’
Mousley was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, and she is receiving treatment. Now, she said she is learning to bond with her son, and she is glad she did not succeed in her suicide attempts.
She also writes about her experiences online to help other struggling mothers know that they are not alone.
“The joy Jake brings me now is immense and he makes me laugh every day. I feel so fortunate to be able to help others,” she said.
“I hope my words are a source of comfort to others. Someone told me my Instagram account saves lives – I really hope I’ve helped to do this,” Mousley said.
Her struggles are not unique. LifeNews had reported many suicides and attempted suicides linked to abortion regret.
Studies indicate that women who have aborted their unborn babies are at a higher risk of suicide. One study published in August 2003 edition of the British Medical Journal found that women who had abortions were seven times more likely to commit suicide than women who gave birth.
Lead author Professor David Fergusson, who has described himself in interviews as a pro-choice atheist, also led the research team in a 2008 study that concluded that women who continued an unwanted or mistimed pregnancy did not experience a significant increase in mental health problems. Further, having an abortion did not reduce their mental health risks.
A 2011 study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that 10 percent of mental health problems among women, including 35 percent of suicidal behaviors, may be attributable to abortion. Women who had abortions were 81 percent more likely to experience mental health problems compared to all other control groups, and 55 percent more likely to have problems compared to women who delivered an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy.
The increased risk of suicide following abortion has been recognized in Australia as well. A 2013 Queensland Maternal and Perinatal Quality Council report noted: “There appears to be a significant worldwide risk of maternal suicide following termination of pregnancy and, in fact, a higher risk than that following term delivery. The potential for depression and other mental health issues at this time needs to be better appreciated.”
Many pregnancy resource centers and other pro-life organizations offer free post-abortion counseling, retreats and other services to help women struggling with regret from a past abortion.
