To this that the abortion age should be lowered

[Hai1988]

Hi all i just wanted to know what peoples thoughts were on this?

At the moment the cut off time to have an abortion is 24 weeks, but on here there has just been a story about twins born at 23 weeks!!

I think the cut off time should go right down to 12 weeks.

What do you lot think??

i am not saying that either treas.

Why are you posting all this then asking what abnormalities?

How about having no kidneys, damaged heart lungs and brain and zero prognosis of
Life outside the womb?

Actually, terminations can happen up to full term if the mother's life is at risk. I guess they would try to save the child by C Section but it is still legal.

1% of terminations happen after 20 weeks. They are always for awful, heartbreaking reasons. The vast majority are for medical reasons, so the fact of a very small number of healthy babies surviving at 23 weeks makes no difference to whether or not someone should be able to terminate a pregnancy at 23+6.

12 weeks is arbitrary, has no basis in scientific evidence and serves only to force more women to carry babies to term against their wishes. I do not agree with you, OP.

Poppy what does that mean

"How lucky for you hai that you never have to be in that position"

It means that saying things like I never would are all very well (as i said that myself) nil
You are in the position where a late termination is something that you are actually faced with.

12 weeks is a ridiculously low, arbitrary limit, especially as many abnormalities won't be picked up until 22 weeks. And why do you ask what is meant by abnormalities? Just Google. There are plenty of truly awful conditions not compatable with anything remotely resembling a quality of life.

Can I also remind everyone that under the current law abortion for purely social reasons is still illegal, whilst abortion for severe medical conditions relating to the baby are legal up to 9 months.

Treas view on matter probably better expressed than your post that came across possibly as more forceful than you intended.

I think that as soon as a baby is recognisable then it shouldnt be aloud, which i know that means before 12 weeks but sometimes women dont know they are pg till later on.

See you are getting yourself muddled. Either abortion is ok or it's not. Appearance of the foetus has nothing to do with anything. It's not an argument.

You ask what young girls are suposed to do if they get pregnant.

Well if they have got them selfs pregnant and didnt know before 12 weeks then they have the baby or there is adoption, there are lots of ppl out there who would love to care for all these "unwanted children"

I'm not sure about 12 weeks, but I also feel uncomfortable with abortions being allowed at such a late stage for any non medical reason (and yes, I know the vast majority are for a medical reason. And I thought the same thing when I heard about that story too.

So I I think you are mostly not being unreasonable

disagree that it should be lowered to 12 weeks............many women are only just finding out that they're pregnant around that stage and would be forced into making a snap decision without having time to think about their options.

Also you're making a hell of an assumption about the health service jumping to it when tests/abortions are needed. Some people are waiting weeks for a test, weeks for an abortion - are you going to say "ha, missed the deadline!"?

Also mental health problems in the mother are sometimes an issue - someone I know had two tiny children already and pregnant with a third when her husband left her. If she had been forced to continue with the pregnancy it would have tipped her (further) over the edge and left the other two children without a capable parent.

I think YABU

The world is not black and white and as many previous posters have said, late abortions happen for specific, heart-wrenching reasons.

Just because some 23 week old babies have survived (with heavy medical intervention I should imagine) doesn't mean the law should be changed.

And 12 weeks is a random cutoff.

YABU.

I should say straight off I am a member of Abortion Rights and feel very strongly about this and that women have the right to make their own choice.

The proportion of women having abortions as late as 23 or 24 weeks is absolutely tiny, less than 1% of the total. These women are by and large the most vulnerable and need the most support, not to be told that they have to continue with an unwanted pregnancy.

I think any woman would choose to have an early abortion if they could - much less risky and less traumatic to have it earlier than later. Pre-12 weeks is the ideal of course and the majority of abortions happen in the first trimester. But some women don't realise they are pregnant, or the 20 week scan shows up something which makes the pregnancy not viable for a variety of reasons, or they are teenagers who are terrified of telling anyone, or they are women in abusive relationships who can't cope. There are just so many reasons why the option has to be available up to 24 weeks.

I think what you're suggesting is that the rights of the feotus trump the rights of the woman and I have a real issue with that. I wouldn't presume to judge other people's choices on this issue tbh as it is so personal and every situation is different. I also would not have an abortion but that's to do with my personal situation - I would definitely have had one if I had fallen pregnant at 16, no question.

No one is going to force you to have a late-term abortion, but you can't take that choice away from everyone else.

I would also second what hildathebuilder says about babies born at 23 weeks and quality of life for those babies. The media headlines about babies surviving at that stage are very very misleading - it doesn't mean that they go on to have normal lives.

thankfully it isn't up to people like you to form our medical guidelines for abortion. If you stopped for one small moment to question why people might abort so late you might realise it isn't likely to be for a trivial reason.

Generally abortions are carried out asap. If it happens post 20 weeks it is most likely a decision that has arisen post 20 week scan, where (as someone said above) it may have been determined that the baby will be severely disabled, or it might simply not survive post birth or even be carried to term.

As for 12 weeks, cos you think it looks like a baby?! What impact do you think that would have on women on wanted to terminate and hadnt caught their pregnancy til late on? How many unwanted babies would be born? How would that be a positive outcome?

i'm sorry YABU but at least it isn't something you actually have any say over!

so what about an underage girl who was say for example raped or abused and didn't tell anyone till after 12 weeks that she was pregnant, you are suggesting that she carry the baby to term...can you imagine what that would be like?

YABU.
The majority of abortions taking place after 20 weeks are linked to very serious, heartbreaking medical reasons.

The fact that it is now possible for extremely premature babies to survive shouldn't be related to the abortion limit.

Look i am very sorry if i have offended anyone.

I should of said that abortions for no reason should be lowered.

Medical reason are a tottaly difrent matter

indeed poppy. Its up to each individual woman what she does with her body.

what do you mean abortions for no reasons, there is always a reason for fucks sake

Clearly half-term has really started

Perhaps it's time for the OP to pick up her holiday homework and learn to spell 'allowed' and 'herself/themselves'

Well if they have got them selfs pregnant and didnt know before 12 weeks then they have the baby or there is adoption, there are lots of ppl out there who would love to care for all these "unwanted children"

Forced gestation. Forcing a woman to undergo pregnancy and birth against her will. Nice.

Women don't 'get themselfs pregnant' you know - they tend to need a little help. You are a judgemental little creature aren't you.

Adoption is not simple or straightforward either - for woman, child or adopter. We also have an excess of children waiting for adoption and a shortage of adopters at the moment. Why would you want to create more children to grow up in the care system, or neglected or abused by parents who didn't want them?