Reflecting on Writing about abortion
5.07.12
My novel “A Halo of Strawberries”, centred on the contentious subject of abortion. In the book, a granddaughter commits suicide after having an abortion and a grandfather confronts a number of moral issues as a consequence.
Having experienced real-life paternity, I set out to champion the unborn in their most vulnerable and defenceless stages of life.
Should a woman feel guilty about having an abortion? Pro-choice supporters provide lots of excuses and there are, of course, legal grounds for an abortion. There’s also, undeniably, a lot of social pressure on women to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.
How a woman feels about an abortion has to be a matter of conscience. All else is part of polarised pro-life/pro-choice rhetoric and often lacking in forgiveness and compassion.
“A Halo of Strawberries” reflects real life compared to the thrillers I’ve written and has touched people’s lives more than I expected, and not just over abortion.
No response to the pro-life views I hold was more poignant, however, than that left for me on a website by a woman or girl who said: “I had one [an abortion] a week ago and I don’t want to live.”
That a mother, as a victim of abortion, may become suicidal, is a premise of “A Halo of Strawberries”.
The saving of life will always be more important to me than the rhetoric of the debate.
My novel “A Halo of Strawberries”, centred on the contentious subject of abortion. In the book, a granddaughter commits suicide after having an abortion and a grandfather confronts a number of moral issues as a consequence.
Having experienced real-life paternity, I set out to champion the unborn in their most vulnerable and defenceless stages of life.
Should a woman feel guilty about having an abortion? Pro-choice supporters provide lots of excuses and there are, of course, legal grounds for an abortion. There’s also, undeniably, a lot of social pressure on women to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.
How a woman feels about an abortion has to be a matter of conscience. All else is part of polarised pro-life/pro-choice rhetoric and often lacking in forgiveness and compassion.
“A Halo of Strawberries” reflects real life compared to the thrillers I’ve written and has touched people’s lives more than I expected, and not just over abortion.
No response to the pro-life views I hold was more poignant, however, than that left for me on a website by a woman or girl who said: “I had one [an abortion] a week ago and I don’t want to live.”
That a mother, as a victim of abortion, may become suicidal, is a premise of “A Halo of Strawberries”.
The saving of life will always be more important to me than the rhetoric of the debate.
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