1 in 4 pregnancies ends in abortion?

[MultiBird]

Reading the BBC article about the US ruling, it says that in the US 1 in 6 pregnancies ends in abortion, which I thought seemed very high, but I looked it up and it's 1 in 4 in UK.

I'd fight very hard indeed if anyone challenged a woman's right to choose here, but isn't that very high? Is there some truth in the argument that it's being used as contraception? I've heard it said before and dismissed it as ridiculous but 25%?!

Bear with me a sec and I'll post the links.

The starting point to consider this is that children are born to and the responsibility of the vulnerable half of society.

Next point is that children are expensive financially and emotionally.

Final one is that being a woman is bad enough for vulnerability, being a pregnant one puts you at the mercy of a man.

Abortion should be as easily accessed as any woman wants.

Some facts. In 2021 there were 18.6 abortions per 1000 women aged 15 - 44.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/abortion-statistics-for-england-and-wales-2021/abortion-statistics-england-and-wales-2021

The report also notes that Women living in the most deprived areas of England are more than twice as likely to have abortions than women living in the least deprived areas. The rate in the most deprived decile is 27.5 per 1,000 women, compared to 12.6 per 1,000 women for women living in the least deprived areas. (Figure 14).

If you're poor and live in the wrong state in the USA you are fucked.

of that 25%
1.25% is due to ectopic pregnancies
1% are under 16 year olds
3% are 16-17 year olds
1% are people from Ireland coming to the UK
2% due to foetal anomaly
12% already had a child
5% had a previous pregnancy end in miscarriage

Additionally these figures include selective abortion where a woman who is carrying triplets or twins has one of the foetuses aborted due to health risks to herself or the remaining foetus(es)

None of the above is sounding like contraceptive choices so far. Sounds like a large proportion are down to medical reasons (ectopic, anomalies, previous miscarriages means someone doesn't want to risk pregnancy again etc), circumstances where a baby would not be good (already has children, 16-18 year olds etc)

This doesn't even include abortions due to rape (except obviously the under 16 year olds) domestic violence or poverty. We are in a country where inflation has been outstripping salary increases and people are struggling to afford to eat.

Personally I don't care if abortion is used as a contraceptive. Most women who are doing that will be doing it in the early stages where its a tablet. And there is no difference for me between the pill, the morning after pill and the abortion pill.

I also don't care if its surgical. I believe in pro choice all the way. But statistics like 1 in 4 pregnancies end in abortion do tend to hide some interesting reasons for that in there.

There would potentially be something wrong with society if 90% of women had an abortion. There would be nothing wrong with abortion being free and easily accessible to every one of those women.

Absolutely, I'm not saying it's wrong, I was just surprised it was that high. In fact I first looked because I felt sure the article must be wrong.

And I agree completely re vulnerable women and poverty.

What happened in 2016?

The two child benefit cap.

Continued roll out of Universal Credit.

Further cuts to family planning services.

Austerity.

NHS and social care cuts.

Do I need to go on?

Basically you have people who are already giving their all, maybe caring for existing children, perhaps caring for a disabled or elderly family member, maybe focusing on getting into a secure position at work or saving for a deposit to get in stable housing or whatever. And an unexpected pregnancy occurs and its just not feasible.

Two child cap on benefits?

Ninety per cent of women whose unborn babies are diagnosed with Down's syndrome choose to have an abortion,
Add in other anomalies
That accounts for a fair few

Well then be really bloody careful about moving the Overton window.

There's going to be a lot of faux naive 'wondering' in the coming days after the fucked up American decision. The only 'debate' we should be having is how best to protect UK and other women from this creep of misogyny.

If you want there to be less abortions vote for a society that supports women and children, lower paid earners, disabled people etc.

If you want less abortions don't vote against abortions.

Bloody hell. A most effective policy then. No doubt Reece Mogg would approve

As a younger woman I would have been surprised and maybe shocked at that figure.

As I hit my mid-forties, I realised that there was no way I ever wanted to take another pregnancy to term, or that I’d have the energy for another child.

So it’s just luck that we didn’t have a contraceptive mishap (and thus need an abortion) after that point.

It's not that high if you consider all the pregnancies where mum's life is at risk, then the ones where the baby is incompatible with life or other serious disabilities, then underage pregnancies , then all the pregnancies conceived through rape or in abusive households. Then you have the usual, not the right time, poverty, contraception failures,actually not wanting to be pregnant or have kids at all (NHS regularly refuses women hysterectomies in case "they change their minds") and so on.

Is it good that so many women have to have that experience? No. Is it good that they have the choice to do so? Yes.

Do you know what I don't understand?

about 1 percent of people buy a gun for a reasonable reason, the rest use it to kill people (children), yet guns are still allowed.

But women can't have legal abortions because 1 in a million decide to be irresponsible with sex and use it as contraception (not that I believe that happens often).

okaydokie.

As it should be.

This

I'd rather women "use abortion as contraception" then those same women being forced to have multiple children they didn't want.

I honestly think a woman who thinks "aw fuck it, if i get pregnant il just have an abortion" are few and far between.

and if they do exist, let's think about that for a second.

Do we think they are well women? Do we think they are women who are cared about and loved and supported and intelligent? No.

So why are we forcing them to a) fly to another country , b) have children they dont want who will end up abused or int he care system or c) try and commit suicide or have a back street abortion.

The naivety and hand wringing infuriates me.

If this includes ectopic pregnancy and fetal anomaly, does it also include miscarriages that aren't naturally completed? ie medical miscarriages or D&C as well- because those are technically abortions too. No judgment, just curious about the figure as it does seem surprisingly high.

Malariahilaria ·
...Basically no one wants to have an abortion, its a horrible experience....

Really?
Or is abortion, whether legal or not, only acceptable if women are suitably repentant and traumatised by it?

Interesting perspective, something to think about.

You must prove to be suitably traumatised before strangers can decide whether they think its OK.

Because of course people dont block out their hurt, anger and guilt and pretend to be fine, do they? those dreadful folk "using it as contraception"

The abortion of the unaffordable third child is the big win for Tory policy.

Of course, now we have a declining birth rate and I guess within a decade we'll see a rather different policy tactic.

Meanwhile women get tossed about in the mill trying to make the best of the cards they are dealt, and as always, judged for it.

If 90% of pregnancies ended in abortions I think that would suggest the women in that society don't have access to adequate contraception.

Does the abortion rate include the MAP and fitting of a copper coil after contraception fail? What is the abortion rate in the rest of the Europe? Poland has abortion only for medical reasons (includes incest and rape) but the rest of Europe has abortion on demand.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/abortion-statistics-for-england-and-wales-2021/abortion-statistics-england-and-wales-20211^

Having read this now, I don't think the figures include incomplete miscarriage.

Social deprivation and women having repeated abortions seem to be prevailing themes, and sadly these are likely linked.

Even that's ridiculous though, in Poland. The arrogance for someone else to decide it's OK.

Re the access - if 90 percent of women are having abortions, perhaps society shoudl look at why instead of banning it.

Alcoholics die every week yet alcohol is still legal. Guns are legal despite the fact they can literally only be used to shoot things.

So why is this demographic being targeted?