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Having to choose between paying $500 for inadequate anesthesia and $400 for the medieval barbershop treatment is not much of a choice. I had an abortion in England 1997. I'm pretty sure National Health covers abortions in most cases, but this was a private thing. Someone else paid for it, but I think it was about $500. (I'm American; I was on a year-abroad program in France but France doesn't give abortions to foreigners, hence I went to England). But it was really nice. There were no protesters. All the staff were very kind to me and I was given a light dose of general anesthesia. The nurse seemed shocked when I told her that in America the patient stays awake for the procedure. They made me spend a few hours at the place recover afterward, but it was alright because I was in a room with other women who had just been through the same thing, so we talked about our abortions but also many other things. There were complimentary tea and cookies which I remember vividly because it was the first time I'd had in appetite in a few weeks. When I left, I was almost a little sad to go.
