Accepted by the media and touted by schools and health professionals for decades, abortion is still something that makes women feel uncomfortable, admits a popular women’s magazine in its March 2009 issue.

“It was not an easy decision,” said Margaret Mestraud, 34, who was interviewed in an article carried in Glamour magazine. “Physically, the abortion wasn’t painful, but emotionally, it was hell. I didn’t talk to anyone but my husband and doctor about it for a long time.”

Mestraud was one of eight women interviewed who candidly expressed their emotions and reasons for getting abortions in the article titled, “Abortion: The Serious Health Decision Women Aren’t Talking About Until Now.” Glamour interviewed counselors and medical experts and said that “women don’t discuss how they decided whether or not to end a pregnancy—how it felt and how they recovered, physically and emotionally.”

“We’ve gone from women openly demanding the right to abortion in the 1970s, to a time now when some women can’t even admit to themselves that they’re having an abortion, much less tell their loved ones,” said Katharine O’Connell, M.D., an ob-gyn at Columbia University.

Although each of the eight interviews sports a photo of a young, attractive, happy-looking woman, and each of those interviewed seemed at peace with her decision to abort, the online version of the magazine carries numerous comments from readers which show a darker side of the experience. For example, a woman named Lisa wrote at length of her three abortions and said, “I take 100% of the responsibility for the paths I’ve chosen. I regret [the abortions] and I cry most every day.”

Another woman who commented, Michelle Winn, writes, “I’m 22 years old and have had two abortions. That fact kills me every day.”