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THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE 17-05-2008
Womens’ abortion options are expected to be reduced next week when MP’s vote on cutting the time limit from its current 24 weeks. Penny Barber, Chief Executive of Brook in Birmingham, makes the case for extending choice, not restricting it. Whether or not abortion takes place in society is not the choice. The choice is whether or not abortion is legal and safe. Before the 1967 Abortion Act, hospital wards across the land were cleared on Friday & Saturday nights to admit the aftershock of botched home abortions. And the abortion rate is estimated as being much higher than now. Some of the most restrictive countries e.g. Brazil, have the highest abortion rates. And the most liberal e.g. Holland, have the lowest rates. In this country and the US, around one in three woman has a termination sometime in her reproductive years. So, we all know someone who’s faced that decision. Do you think one in three of the women you know is in capable of making good decisions? Abortion is a class issue. If you’ve got money, you can get one anywhere in the world & that’s always been the case. Remember the upper class woman in “Vera Drake” paying the shrink to say she’d commit suicide if you had to continue the pregnancy? There is nothing civilised about forcing a woman to undergo a full term pregnancy against her will. The decision to have an abortion is never taken lightly. The decision to continue or terminate must be the pregnant woman’s and she must be given the information she needs and the calm space to make and own her decision. Counsellors should be available if required. Compulsory counselling is an oxymoron. Much of the recent discussion has been on the current time limit of 24 weeks. The debate is expected to move on after this issue is debated on Tuesday. In brief, if you think foetal viability is the point at which the abortion limit should be set, it should stay at 24 weeks. There have been improvements in survival at 24 and 25 weeks but not below and there are unlikely to be significant improvements below 24 weeks. The changes to abortion law that should be made are to allow women to request it, to widen the range of settings abortion can take place, to ensure doctors with a conscientious objection refer women immediately, to ban biased pregnancy counselling and to bring the law in Northern Ireland into line with the rest of the UK. Did you know abortion is still illegal in Northern Ireland? If you’ve got the money, you come to England. You probably already knew this was the case for the Republic. Women are often very surprised to find that they can’t just make their decision to have an abortion and then be assisted and supported in seeking treatment by their doctor or nurse. Uniquely for any medical procedure, you have to be given permission – and by two doctors. Dear anti-choice campaigners, if you think there should be fewer terminations, you should be campaigning for reducing the barriers to accessing the full range of modern contraception and for improving sex and relationship education. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmsctech/1045/104509.htm http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmsctech/1045/104505.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7340288.stm http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/bmj.39555.670718.BEv1 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7390522.stm http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/oct/27/1/print http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/content/AbortionTimeLimits http://www.abortionreview.org/index.php/site/article/341/ http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/default.asp http://www.mariestopes.org.uk/documents/Late%20abortion.pdf http://www.brook.org.uk/content/ DISCUSS THIS ON THE STIRRER FORUM |
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