LETTERS Victims of abortion
Sir: I congratulate Alexandra Artley on an excellent article on what has been identi- fied in America as post-abortion syn- drome.
I have recently accompanied Olivia Gans, the director of American Victims of Abortion, on a lecture tour of universities of England and Scotland. Miss Gans spoke of her own abortion experience and subse- quent trauma. The response to Olivia's account of her experience was overwhelm- ing, both from the public and from the media.
From this it became clear that many women identified with Olivia, either be- cause they had experienced similar events in their own lives or because someone close to them displayed the symptoms described. This is hardly surprising, as figures show that one woman in ten of childbearing age in this country has had an abortion.
We are beginning to reap the bitter harvest of the 1967 Abortion Act. Alexan- dra Artley is correct to claim that there has been a `conspiracy of silence' on the part of those in favour of abortion who dared not admit that a child was being destroyed in the abortion process, and that many women would experience a deep-rooted grief for that lost child. That is a natural grief which should not be suppressed; women must be helped to come to terms with their grief and loss.
To assist in this healing process the Society for the Protection of Unborn Chil- dren has launched a new division within the Society, British Victims of Abortion, which will work closely with its sister organisation in America, sharing informa- tion in order to help as many women as possible. Further information can be obtained from British Victims of Abortion, 7 Tufton Street, Westminster, London SW1.
Terry Waiting
Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, 7 Tufton Street, London SW1
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