Forty years on, abortion battle rages in Britain (Reuters)

Reuters - Pro-choice campaigners mark 40 years of legal abortion in Britain next week, but say their hard-won right is under pressure from pro-life activists trying to lower the 24-week limit for the termination of pregnancy.



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I personally find it worrying that you can have a baby being aborted in one part of the hospital while one of the same gestation is in the special care unit with a chance of life.

Abortion for social reasons at 24 weeks, when some babies born at 22 weeks are surviving (not a large number I know but some are), seems wrong to me.

If a woman has carried a baby for 20+ weeks and she and the baby are healthy then surely adoption is a better option if she cannot care for it. I know it is difficult to give up a child for adoption but surely this is better as it at least gives the child a chance of a good life.

Now for the personal opinion which I'm sure will make me enemies - If a healthy woman is carrying a healthy baby conceived during consensual sex then should she really be thinking about an abortion? Remember she doesn't have to raise it - there are many couples who would gladly give a good home to a child and for the child a chance of a good life is better than never having existed. No one can say that they don't know how babies are made so if having a child (remember not necessarily raising it) will wreck a woman's life then she should make very sure that she remembers contraception (and double up if she wants to be very sure e.g. pill and condoms). The vast waste of potential is very worrying and we need to cut the abortion rates. Abortion is not just another form of contraception and the numbers of women treating it as such seems to be rising - abortion is a very big deal and late abortion can cause life long problems - both physical and mental. Maybe we need to improve education about it's effects.

Sorry about the rant - it's a subject I feel strongly about

I have to agree with you about later term abortions.
And emotionally I agree with you about any. Like a friend of mine once said "nobody likes abortion." Unfortunately, there's the way things should be and then the way things are. A popular complaint here in the states about "pro-life" folks is that they don't adopt babies. There's actually been talk of a movement among pro-lifers to get "their own" to adopt more kids.
It is such a complicated, emotionally charged issue. I was suprised to see the post, and proud of you for talking about it. You were probably scared you would alienate people. Well, not me!

__________________
~~~~Becky

~ ~ ~ "And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
~ ~ ~ Anais Ain

Becky thanks for understanding

I do understand that there will always be a need for abortions after all no contraception is 100% effective, I just feel that the alternatives are not often adequately explained.

Society's attitudes could also be to blame - after all there is still a lot of stigma attached to being a single mother(I know its common now but there is still disapproval in some sections of society) and if a girl has an abortion no one knows but if she has a baby adopted a lot of people don't really approve. They don't understand the girl is trying to do the best for the baby but just see a girl who gives away her own child. I think we're back to needing more education of society as a whole.

As a guy for once I have to side with you women. It's a life not a choice. Especially when it's consentual sex and both momma and baby are in good health.
I have an adopted daughter who we tried our best to make her wait until marraige before sex. She wouldnt and didnt use protection and got pregnant. The boys momma talked her into having an abortion and we never signed a paper giving her permission. There's something wrong with the laws where a minor can get pregnant, the guardian not give permission for abortion and its done anyway
you are born to life the minute you are concieved a power only God can produce.

__________________
Your friend,
TheJackRabbit
A.K.A. Christopher

from a philisophical point of view, i have always been 'Pro Choice'

i don't feel that a child/woman should be required to carry her baby for 9 months, and then give the child up

HOWEVER i didn't know that abortions were allowed up to 24 weeks ! ! ! surely in the first 3 months the woman can figure out she's pregnant and have an abortion if that's her choice !

now, i have stated i am "pro choice" however when i heard that i was pregnant with kidlet, there was NO WAY i would entertain that idea for myself..............however i also was 37 years old, and well along the way to being 'stable' in all senses of the terms....... financially, emotionally, spiritually, etc........... i had been dating the child's father for 8 years, but he didn't seem to want to have anything to do with the child, and there is NO WAY i could possibly have given him up after carrying him to term............. he was MY baby, no one elses!

hows that for straddling the fence :)

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kate

Kate don't worry about straddling the fence - it's a very difficult subject.

Yes abortion is legal up to 24 weeks here in the UK. There is currently a debate in parliament about dropping that time limit.

In the UK there are a worryingly large number of women who are treating abortion as a form of contraception - some have had three or four abortions. Yes accidents do happen but more women need to be making choices sooner. Choosing to use contraception is better than having an abortion. The large numbers of abortions that could have been avoided with more care is what is making anti-abortionists so alarmed. The easy availability of contraception including the morning after pill should mean that few abortions are needed.

I would like to see abortion for social reasons limited to the first 12 weeks. Minor medical reasons could be up to 20 weeks and than after that only for major medical problems.
Emotionally I would like to disallow all abortion for social reasons but I'm practical enough to know that is never going to happen.

What does the law in the US say about abortion? Is it stricter than the UK where it sometimes seems like a free for all?

End of rant - sorry

Jane

Jane, sorry i'm in Canada, and i'm not current on what the abortion laws are

i had a number of miscarriages during my first marriage, and then found myself pregnant AGAIN (while on birth control) and i simply couldn't face another miscarriage, so i went to the Dr to get an abortion

back then the mother's health had to be 'at risk'........... i don't know how the Dr got it approved, but he did........... probably because i was SO freaked out at the possibility of another miscarriage............ i felt.......... inadequate

and i have read news accounts of women who use abortion as a method of birth control.......... of course there was no 'morning after pill' back then either

__________________
kate

Kate I admire your courage for talking about your past problems. Despite my dislike of abortion I feel that abortion due to medical reasons is acceptable and a women who has an abortion for medical reasons should not be made to feel bad.
Repeated miscarriages cause both emotional and possibly physical damage and so I can understand why your Dr managed to arrange it for you. I hope the Dr then was able to arrange some tests to see if they could find out why you miscarried. I see you now have a child so I'm glad that turned out OK for you.

I have to say that it worries me that the two sides of the abortion debate cannot try and find common ground. Despite my feelings on abortion I worry that the extreme anti-abortionists will try and ban all abortion leaving mothers to suffer ill health or death when they can't get an abortion even for medical reasons. I will always support a woman's right to an abortion for medical reasons but I can't help but feel that abortion (especially late) for social reasons should be avoided if at all possible.


Jane.

Jane, i was told that because of the tilt in my pelvis and uteris i would have to spend 9 months in bed, in order to successfully carry to full term

then, when i was ?25 i think it was, my appendix ruptured, and by time the surgeon got in to clean up that mess, he noticed a cyst on my ovaries, that he removed as well.......... i was told that the infection was pretty severe (i had peritonitis for 6 months) and that the scarring of the falopian tubes as a result of this infection meant that i would be sterile............ then my GP looked at my file and quickly said 'unless you are planning a family, i would like you to stay on the pill, given your medical history and luck'

well, 12 years later, i was at the GP's to find out why i was bloating and not having my periods.... i had NO symptoms of being pregnant and he was checking me for early menopause (remember my history)

well, i was 4 months pregnant when they did the first ultra sound :)

apparently Cipro (an antibiotic) negates the effects of the pill.......... there was a large announcement about this 6 weeks after kidlet was born :)

i'm really glad i got pneumonia and was put on Cipro for it :)
lol

kidlet was meant to be.......... the odds against him were astronomical

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kate

I know what you mean about meant to be, Kate. Even though getting pregnant was all that big of a surprise for me, I really feel it was, well, meant to be!

I would like to take a sec now and say that I am very very happy that this thread is here. That we can talk about such a "hot" topic and be so respectful and supportive makes me know this forum will go a long way. We all deserve a big pat on the back!

__________________
~~~~Becky

~ ~ ~ "And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
~ ~ ~ Anais Ain

Wow Kate... and I thought I had a tough time having kids. My Dr was so nervous I spent months 4 to 6 practically living under an ultra sound scanner (when preggers with Freddie - I have so many fibroids the radiographer refused to count them ) until the consultant listened to me and cut the scans down to once a month.

I'm glad you now have your kidlet - they are worth all the hassle and worry aren't they.

I agree with Becky - Pats on the back all round