She has been haunted by the grave decision more than two decades later.

Members of the public seated in the gallery and even parliamentary staff were moved to tears following the touching submission to the joint select committee considering the report of the Abortion Policy Review Group.

Anne Arthur, a grief counsellor, was overcome with emotion as she shared the story with the committee of how her instructions to abort her then "12-week-old granddaughter" had left an indelible scar on her mind.

"I drove my daughter to the abortion clinic like a lamb to the slaughterhouse, against her will," she lamented.

A German national, Arthur said her daughter was 20 years old and studying at university in Germany when she got pregnant.

"I pressed my views on her and convinced her that she would be unable to care for the child while studying and an abortion would be the best thing to do, offering her no other solution or help," she said.

Abortion is legal in Germany and Arthur said she convinced social workers to sign documents autho-rising the procedure without her daughter answering pertinent ques-tions required by law.

She said the doctor who terminated the pregnancy did not provide an explanation of the procedure and possible consequences.

"While my 12-week-old grand-daughter was ripped apart from my daughter's womb, I knew with brutal clarity that I had made the greatest mistake of my life."

Ironically, the German national said she had her first child at age 16.

Abortion explosion

Appealing to legislators not to legalise abortion, Arthur said this move could result in an explosion of abortions in Jamaica, similar to what occurred in Germany and the United States, after legislation was passed in those countries.

The relationship between Arthur and her daughter, which had deteriorated after the pregnancy was terminated, healed over time and they forgave each other.

Her daughter, who is now 41, got married last year but Arthur explained that the prospect of her having a child appears dim as the "physical after-effects of her abortion are still real, 21 years later".

Committee member Sandrea Falconer asked the presenter whether she was opposed to abortion in a case where a woman was raped or her life was at risk.

Arthur said her anti-abortion stance was consistent under any circumstance.