'... and still they weep'
personal stories of abortion
By Melanie Symonds. The SPUC Educational Research Trust. 165 pages. £8.99
ISBN 1-898864-01-2
'...and still they weep' contains 20 moving accounts courageously written by women who have struggled to deal with the devastating effects of abortion.
The book is divided into three parts. The most devastating effect that up to 10% of women seem to endure is Post Abortion Syndrome (PAS). Peter Randall, consultant psychologist, clearly explains that this is formally defined as a category of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which may be acute or delayed. The acute form leads to symptoms generally appearing within six months of the abortion and are frequently resolved within a similar length of time. With the delayed form, the symptoms are experienced much later and last for a lot longer. It often takes a specific trigger to evoke PAS; a new pregnancy or an inability either to conceive or to complete a pregnancy, to mention but a few. Various symptoms may be experienced by women suffering from PAS, but both the number and severity of these vary tremendously; guilt, fear, grief, anger, anniversary reaction and sleeplessness can all be features.