...to think these bullies should not be forcing abortion clinics to close?

[twofingerstoGideon]

I'd hoped to see a thread about this over the past couple of days, but haven't been able to find one. Apparently, the actions of anti-abortion protestors have closed one clinic and put another 'under threat'.

link here

I am pleased to see that an open letter to Jeremy Hunt has been drafted and is inviting signatures, but find it appalling that action hasn't been taken sooner. Why are women's reproductive rights/access to care being compromised in this way, while the powers that be stand by and watch it happen?

AIBU to think we need to watch things very carefully, or we may end up in a similar situation to some American states where termination is legal, but effectively almost impossible to access?

If any of you signed the petition for exclusion zones, please consider signing the letter to Jeremy Hunt as well.
link here

Kitty I refuse to believe that women would walk into a hospital at 20+ weeks requesting a termination because actually they've changed their minds!

I have had two losses at 23 weeks due to IC. Like you, I refuse to believe that any woman would go through a termination at this gestation as a "contraceptive choice". The idea is just insane.

I suspect, however, that part of the problem is that people who have not had experience of a TFMR or a loss at this gestation assume that a termination at this date is either pharmaceutical or surgical -- i.e. they think the woman takes a pill and has something like a very heavy period, or they have some sort of D&C under a general anesthetic.

They do not realise that, in almost every case at this gestation, a woman will have to be induced and then labour and deliver vaginally, sometimes with hours upon hours of contractions. And even more so, they have no idea what that experience actually means, nor what it is like.

I too have a massive bee in my bonnet about it, as you may be able to guess.

I refuse to believe that women would walk into a hospital at 20+ weeks requesting a termination because actually they've changed their minds!

It happens. What it may actually mean is that they've only just managed to leave an abusive relationship and couldn't access services before or similar. It might be that a change in circumstances has occurred, that their partner has left them or job loss has changed financial viability. Or it can mean that they've realised that alcohol/drug abuse has compromised the pregnancy, or clouded their ability to access services earlier. Sometimes its because they didn't know they were pregnant until very late, or were in denial at an earlier stage.

There are lots of reasons, but still very few instances overall. If those reasons are good enough for the women concerned, its nobody elses place to judge them.