Abortion was too easy - mother

Christchurch mother Tracey Hill believes it is too easy to have an abortion.

The mother of two had an abortion four years ago.

"They do it wrong," she said. "I got one doctor to sign it, and he asked, `Do you want counselling?' And I said `no', and that was it."

Hill, 34, said the decision on whether to abort often had to be made quickly.

"I think it's too quick," she said. "Some teenagers don't find out until 10 weeks, so they have two weeks to make up their mind. "That's a lot of pressure."

She said she would like to see more effort put into educating women, particularly young girls, about what was happening once they became pregnant.

Hill said it was ludicrous that women were able to have four or more abortions.

"How easy is it? There're women out there who use it like contraception," she said.

Hill is now five months pregnant, but she and her husband have decided to have this baby and adopt it out.

She said that when she had her abortion she was not told that adoption was an option. "This time around, we're creating a life for someone."

Schoolteacher Maria Buhrkuhl recently wrote a book, Ask Me To Dance, about the abortion she had as an 18-year-old schoolgirl.

She said she did not regret having the abortion, although she struggled with the decision at the time.

"I definitely think there needs to be an element of choice, although I certainly don't believe abortion should be used as a form of contraception," she said.

- © Fairfax NZ News