"Today I terminated my pregnancy at 23 weeks."

A US woman has taken to Reddit to talk about her late term abortion. And for once, social media has shown it has a kind, gentle side.

Last week, Reddit user isitpinkisitpink was faced with a heartbreaking decision: terminate her late term pregnancy, or risk her own life by carrying a child that could never survive.

At her 20-week scan, her little girl, who was to be named Gwendolyn, was diagnosed with a range of genetic abnormalities, including Triploid Syndrome.

There was no way her baby could survive the condition – and if the pregnancy continued, the mother faced a very real chance of bleeding to death or suffering from preeclampsia.

Related: One family’s impossible choice…….

And so, she and her husband decided to terminate the pregnancy in the second trimester, at 23 weeks. And just hours later, she posted about that decision:

I am pro-choice because I am pro-life. Does that make sense? My little girl would never have a life, and attempting to give her that could take mine away in the process. It would be dangerous to attempt it.

Instead, she passed painlessly inside me and was never alone. She will be cremated and spread in a garden at the hospital where they scatter all the lost babies. To me, that is more dignified than bleeding out in the bathtub and having her go down the drain.

The woman, who described herself as someone who was “into running, playing Zelda, lifting and crossfit, Jeopardy, cooking, Harry Potter, Michigan Wolverines football, remodeling my house and maintaining my landscape”, posted that she and her husband had been moved to tears by the support received from other Reddit users.

Related: “This is my abortion.”

The amazing part? Many of those supportive Reddit users also happened to be staunchly pro-life.

She also described how “mother’s intuition” meant she knew something was wrong with the pregnancy well before she was officially diagnosed, and how she felt compelled to speak out about the ordeal.

I don’t want to be broken, and I don’t feel broken. That’s why I’m facing this head on and telling people about it no holds barred. Because it does happen, a lot, and we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it.

While an exact figure is not known, it is estimated that around 100 late term abortions are performed in NSW each year.

Related: She begs for mercy from the Government and tries desperately to save her unborn baby.

And the more women like isitpinkisitpink who speak out about it, the better.