I'm torn on this issue (the one about giving birth, not abortion). On the one hand, I do think that Western culture and the media tends to over-exaggerate the pain of normal labour (complicated labour is another matter entirely, and I have no doubt that it can be utterly excruciating), which complicates matters because most Western women's only experience of labour is through the media, and so they expect it to be the worst pain EVER, which makes them afraid, which makes the pain worse, as do the circumstances under which many women labour (in a strange environment, unable to move freely, without food, and often without emotional support). It's a vicious circle.

But the physical pain of a day or two of labour is, in my opinion, dwarfed by the physical demands of nine months of pregnancy, and both of those are again dwarfed by the mental/emotional/hormonal hardship on the mother before, during, and after the birth. I cannot imagine forcing someone to go through that process against their will, not simply because of the pain of giving birth, but because of the effect it has on your mind and your soul.