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Original poster

To think late-term abortion rules may need tightening up?

999 replies

FestiveNut · 23/12/2018 09:11

Should people be able to abort healthy fetuses in a low risk pregnancy past 20 weeks gestation?

I read a very sad story concerning this earlier. I considered myself pro-choice in all circumstances but this thread has caused me to question that.

Should the threshold be lowered?

OP posts:
TwistedStitch · 23/12/2018 22:03

What about rape MamaDane? If a victim takes longer than 12 weeks to process her trauma and seek help what then?

Xenia · 23/12/2018 22:14

ui htink English current abortion law is about right and it is a bit too mucho f a hornet's nest to revised it - it allows abortion up to the birth for disabled children and 24 weeks in most other cases I think it is.

However I respect the views of others who think life starts at conception and that it is wrong to abort babies.

MrsHares17 · 23/12/2018 22:24

@user1457017537 all those things are great with the benefit of hindsight...until it happens to you.

bumbleymummy · 23/12/2018 22:39

pointythings it’s not a red herring. It was the point of my question. If you support abortion to term then you have to be ok with a perfectly healthy baby being killed at 39 weeks. No burying your head in the sand with the ‘but it wouldn’t happen’ argument as a PP was saying, You said the woman would die without a 39 week abortion and I’m wondering what scenario exists where the 39 week old baby needs to be aborted to save the woman’s life rather than just be delivered.

MamaDane · 23/12/2018 22:43

@TwistedStitch My answer won't come as a surprise, but I think she should be given extensive therapy and counseling, like all rape victims should, and be advised to give it up for adoption if she doesn't want the child or won't be able to care for it, and then continuous therapy that suits her specific situation and needs.

ReggieKrayDoYouKnowMyName · 23/12/2018 22:49

Another voice echoing SpartacusAutisticusAHF

As early as possible, as late as necessary, for any or no reason.

And I have two children and have a friend who was born at 24 weeks gestation and lived. But I’m pro choice and that’s what pro choice means.

TwistedStitch · 23/12/2018 22:58

MamaDane I'd have some respect for your view if you were against abortion full stop- I'd still strongly disagree but at least you'd be consistent. But you appear to be saying that a rape victim presenting at 11+6 should get an abortion no problem but one presenting at 12+1 be forced to carry her rapist's child regardless of her trauma- and still no explanation for why 12 weeks is the non negotiable cut off either. Bizarre.

Summergarden · 23/12/2018 22:58

Another vote for as early as possible, as late as necessary. Figures were posted early in the thread that show how vanishingly rare late abortions are.

In these days of right wing men (with invariably misogynistic values) gaining power and popularity across the globe, I feel strongly that any moves to reduce the rights of women should be avoided at all costs.

BreakYourselfAgainstMyStones · 23/12/2018 22:59

I’m wondering what scenario exists where the 39 week old baby needs to be aborted to save the woman’s life rather than just be delivered.

What about if the father become violent during pregnancy and is threatening to use the child against the mother. That baby would tie them together for life. The man would always have control over her if the child was born.

MaisyPops · 23/12/2018 23:05

MamaDane
So your view is really 'my opinion matters so much that a child who is the product of a violent and sexual assault should be brought into the world against their mother's will'.

I am generally pro life for my personal choices. The laws of the land give me the freedom to choose my position and actions. I dont understand how any woman can want to be complicit in removing rights and choices from another woman.

ICJump · 23/12/2018 23:09

Pro choice isn’t the same as my choice.

I wouldn’t have a very late abortion althought was considered one this time round up to 23 weeks.

Being pro choice is about letting other women have control of thier body. Would I make the same choice maybe maybe not but it doesn’t matter. What matters is the woman has the choice to have safe legal abortion for what ever reason she needs it. And simply wanting one is need enough.

You can’t be pro choice with limits

MamaDane · 23/12/2018 23:19

@TwistedStitch I told you that I support abortions while it is only an embryo. I tolerate abortions from that point on and until 12 weeks, because I understand that the transition from embryo to fetus is very early on in the pregnancy. So I find 12 weeks to be an appropriate cut off. That does not mean I think it's good that a woman has an abortion at 11+6, but I won't be against it. If a woman decides to abort at 5-6 weeks, then I'm not that bothered. The closer you get to the due date, the more it develops and the more bothered by the termination I am. So of course I would not be as disturbed by a termination at 13 weeks as I would 23 weeks or worse 30+ weeks, but I do still think 13 weeks is too far into the pregnancy to terminate. It's fine if you don't respect my opinions. I don't like yours either, but I understand why you have them.

Phuquocdreams · 23/12/2018 23:20

Fecking hell. I am totally grossed out by the amount of people who think killing a 39 week old healthy foetus for no reason is justifiable. It’s just an entirely different mindset.

Esker · 23/12/2018 23:26

Agree with the general sentiment 'Not my body,not my business.' I don't think women take late term abortion lightly, and any that do, are they in the best position to have/nurture a child?

I read a really interesting book about the abortion debate in the US by a pro life obstetrician based in Mississippi. Interesting history of the politics of abortion in the US and the way in which the debate has been captured by political interests. It's called 'Life's Work' by Willie Parker.

SudocremeQueen · 23/12/2018 23:36

@user1457017537 you are one of the people I referenced in the start of my post.

Let’s break it down

If you are never allowed leave the house alone and your every move is monitored how do you get to a refuge?

Oh and refuge places as sooo easy come by, aren’t they? They’re just full of empty beds……

Many women live in denial that they’ve been raped,

And as for your comments about me personally, you clearly didn’t read my post correctly. If I have a natural period I would have to test frequently from day 15 onwards till my next period, which could be a year, shockingly as a HCP I could not afford that. Which is why despite me being functionally infertile we still use protection.
(Doubt my qualifications all you want, after all anyone can claim to be anytime on the net)

I see you have no solution for sex slaves etc.

Or child sexual abuse victims?

LRDtheFeministDragon · 23/12/2018 23:40

I cannot think of any reason to allow abortion at 39 weeks.

How about avoiding putting a foetus through the pain and distress of labour when it is certain that foetus will not survive?

There are conditions like that, and they are not always known. There is a condition where the baby would be crushed and broken by the womb contractions during labour, and would die soon after - it's a form of osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease). I cannot imagine who would think it was more human to suffer agonising pain and then die.

decemberfrost · 23/12/2018 23:47

@makeahouseahome

You should need NO reason to have an abortion - I WANT to is enough.

And there should be no threshold of when you can have one.

Oh dear God. Confused

Thank GOODNESS you will never be allowed to change the law!

Reducing to 20 weeks is what's needed; not allowing a woman to abort as far into the pregnancy as she likes!!!

userschmoozer · 23/12/2018 23:51

Thankfully the medical professionals who actually have to make these decisions disagree with you.

frazzledasarock · 24/12/2018 00:00

No way should the abortion deadline be reduced to 20 weeks, that’s the point when serious anomalies are found.

I’ve a close friend who discovered her much wanted and longed for baby had a condition that meant baby would not live past birth. This was discovered at the 20 week scan.

Then it takes another appointment to double check and time for the couple to discuss the matter and come to a decision.

No just no to reducing the time frame. It should be easier to get an abortion in the first place and there should not be time frames imposed earlier than already is.

You can do what you want with your body but forcing another person to live by decisions you think you’d make when you have no idea how you would in reality deal with a specific situation is wrong and very conceited. I think this really is a case of mind your own business

bumbleymummy · 24/12/2018 00:49

Frazzled, terminations for medical reasons are allowed up to term. This discussion is about reducing the 24 week limit for other, non-medical reason, abortions.

OkPedro · 24/12/2018 00:59

yellowgreen I have no words xx
As usual people like bumblymummy and mamadane give no fucks. They care only about their opinion and don't want to hear about the living, real women who go through trauma when pregnant.
You both should be ashamed of yourselves. You pretend to care but you don't.

Oliversmumsarmy · 24/12/2018 01:00

LRDtheFeministDragon

Surely a caesarian would be the answer not killing a child.

Friends ds was born at 22 weeks. He is healthy after a bit of a rocky start.

What happens if you have a late term abortion and your baby is born alive

OkPedro · 24/12/2018 01:03

Oliver that doesn't happen though and you know it. You have been reading the anti choice propaganda again?

GunpowderGelatine · 24/12/2018 01:13

What happens if you have a late term abortion and your baby is born alive

Abortions don't work like that.

moredoll · 24/12/2018 01:16

Nope, because it's the 20 week scan that often shows foetal abnormalities. Obviously it's not possible to have a termination the same week.