Vera Drake

Coming from a conservative background, I found many attributes of this movie to be both motivating as well as moving. I was happy to hear that Vera was found guilty and was required to serve two and a half years in prison. Though I do not intend to open up a can of worms, but Vera was killing babies over and over with little to no remorse. Beyond the task of performing an abortion, which is exactly what Vera was doing whether or not she had the courage to admit it, Vera was also leaving these young girls to fend for themselves after a traumatic surgery. I question whether Vera understood the perversion behind her actions. It is absolutely astounding to me that a mother, especially one with a young daughter, is willing to leave a girl on her bed to "dry yourself" and "let it be taken care of". What mother allows a girl to suffer in agony, only to gather her belongings and leave as if nothing happened?

To be honest, I feel as though Vera was somewhat incompetent and did not know what she was doing. This is unfortunate because her attempt to help girls quickly withered away as she was caught. Vera did not take into the consideration her two children, the livelihood of her husband, or the fact that her actions were illegal. If it was so excruciatingly painful for Vera to realize that she was going to go to jail and ruin the party for her dear Ethel, why did she not take this into account when she was murdering children?