The article, “To spare their babies, women opt to abort” (BDN, June 13), was propaganda of the worst kind.

To portray abortion as a kindness is outrageous. Abortion is a terribly traumatic experience for women whether they want to have it or not. It is a life-changing experience and many women never recover, not to mention the horror done to the babies.

Some of the deceptions portrayed in this article are:

. It’s better for the mother to kill her baby in the womb rather than deliver the child and care for him until it’s natural death. For a mother to kill her child, she must act against all her natural instincts to protect and nurture her offspring. This causes terrible feelings of shame and guilt;

. It is merciful to the baby to kill him rather than allow him to live a less than perfect life. The decision to kill a child because of a handicap is made not in his best interest, but because the mother is imposing her own perceptions of living life with a handicap;

. An abortion procured during the first trimester is less traumatic than one attained later in the pregnancy. Because having an abortion affects the woman physically, mentally and spiritually, it’s a serious hurt whenever it is experienced.

The decisions to abort these babies in the article were not made in the best interest of the child but solely done for selfish reasons. It was especially upsetting to read of the mother who aborted her baby because of Down syndrome.

The mother couldn’t give him up because she would wake up each morning wondering where he was, imagining him scared and alone. There are people all over the United States who would have joyfully welcomed this baby into their family.

Turning to abortion to solve your problems of an unplanned pregnancy or a less than perfect child only heaps more hurt trauma and regret onto a tremendous life challenge.

Linda Hardy

Hancock