Why do young pregnant women delay possible abortions?

An excellent answer comes from across the pond, from Mary Warnock, as she decries British Tories’ efforts to put more restrictions on abortion there:

Many will have refused to acknowledge that they were pregnant for as long as it was possible to deny it to themselves. Some may not have known they were pregnant. A combination of ignorance and fear, shame and hopelessness may have prevented their seeking either an abortion or support from their parents as the weeks went by. Some of them will, in any case, have left home and be living on the streets. Few will have any contact with the father of their baby; some may not even know who he is.

And, she then offers further thoughts on those young women, and the others who choose to become mothers:

We ought to pay less attention to the destruction of life by abortion than to the quality of life of those who are allowed to live.

Indeed.