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

[FestiveNut]

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?

Pro choice so i dont get to decide on the choices other women make or why they make them

You have summed it perfectly what being Pro Choice is about CosmicCanary thank you

Good to see you about Piglet

All of the anti abortion crowd need to start working harder to provide better funding for disabled people, childcare, and benefits before you start taking away women's rights

Yep.
Also better (and compulsory - not parental opt-out) sex and relationship education.
Free and convenient access to contraceptives (including emergency contraceptives).
Better help for getting out of abusive relationships.

"There really aren't families queuing up to adopt premature, likely disabled newborns with family histories of alcohol/drug abuse, mental health issues, incest etc."

Precisely. All those who waffle on about adoption should bear in mind that the supply of healthy babies for adoption used to come about because of the stigma of being an unmarried mother. Thankfully no longer the case. Those women were forced to give up their babies. Anti-choicers want to force women to have the baby and then give it up. Nasty.

@FestiveNut obviously our termination was for medical reasons but we had to have an injection to stop his heart and then I went through induction and labour.
Not something I can believe anyone would go through without needing to.

Yes, the dirty little secret is that restricting access to abortions doesn't make women stop having them.

There would be a queue of fantastic families wanting to adopt.....

You are either naive or stupid.

I consider myself incredibly lucky my 28 weeker "only" has chronic lung disease. Not one member of my family (his birth family) are prepared to look after him alone as they can't work the oxygen/don't know CPR/don't know the signs he is getting poorly.

Compared to other prem parents we ARE lucky.

You have summed it perfectly what being Pro Choice is about CosmicCanary thank you

It is very simple imo there are no buts if you are pro choice.

I think the law should be changed, but in the other direction. Termination of pregnancy should be easily available at any point for any reason. I think the current law is much too restrictive and makes it too difficult for vulnerable women and girls who need abortions.

Yes OPs adoption point sounds like she hasn't given this a lot of thought. A newborn who was delivered at 22 weeks by definition has shitloads of medical issues. They don't just come out, get a bit of oxygen then get taken home happily ever after, and you don't know when they're newborns what the long term health impact will be.

And the adoption failure rate in this country is appalling. Given what having a newborn micropremie involves and the toll it takes, there are probably more people who think they could cope with adopting one than who could actually do it.

@Treaclepie19 sorry for your loss

@ladylance thanks, I'll take a look.

A close friend of mine had a late termination at 23 weeks four years ago because she didn't find out she was pregnant till 19 weeks . She had to travel to London but it wasn't the same as induction , over the course of two days she had an injection trough her stomach to stop the fetal heart and cervical dilators put in then the next day had a d&c so I'm not sure why people are assuming a late termination = induction and vaginal delivery .
I know this because I went with her . She had a general anaesthetic on both days .

And to the original op , as early as possible but as late as necessary ! If someone is opting for a termination at any point but especially a later one , they're not going to be in a good place . Why on earth would you want to make it more difficult for desperate women ?

rhythumstick

I would want:
Free contraception available in all public loos, in pharmacies, in pub/club loos

Free pregnancy tests available from any pharmacy

Free councelling for anyone who wants it available within 48 hours of contact

All abortions to be carried out within 7 days of contact unless further counselling is needed

All pregnancy related expenses paid for any one who decided to go ahead with pregnancy but wants child to be adopted

Much better services available for this who do adopt - more conselling, more parenting support and more financial assistance for those who take on the more vulnerable children ether through disability or from outcomes related to maternal health

One doctor only needed to sign off on abortion but with 20 week cut off unless there is medical reason seen after this point.

I know a woman that had a late term abortion and it was purely on a whim.
To me personally, aborting a healthy foetus/ baby past a certain point is wrong and it's not just a case of 'it's the woman's body' because there's another body involved past a certain point.
I support abortion up to the point of non surgical methods and then after dependant on compatibility with life/ illness etc.
But my opinion is my own and I wouldn't force it on anyone else.

Sorry noname Bit rude jumping in there!

It's very, very tricky. I'm still very conflicted. The bpas info LadyLance signposted suggests that late term abortions for non medical reasons are much more common than I thought. There are lots of very good reasons within it for not having another baby. I don't personally know if the reasons are good enough to kill an existing baby, which is how I can't help but think of a 22 week old foetus. I do not envy the policy makers who come up with the legislation. I mean, logically, abortion is better for the mother, who as the existing person takes priority and means that another baby isn't added to our already overpopulated little island, putting pressure on services. It's safer than birth. It's more convenient for everyone.

But part of me still just thinks it is wrong.

Overall, after considering the evidence and viewpoints presented, I don't think I'd push for a change in current legislation yet. But I do think it should be reviewed every couple of decades to keep pace with medical advancements.

LadyLance's link below, if anyone is interested. It's a worthwhile read:

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.bpas.org/media/2027/late-abortion-report-v02.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjv_Lu86bXfAhVlQxUIHaJJBQkQFjAAegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw1PkmK6D7CcAbPx8kbg0vBo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.bpas.org/media/2027/late-abortion-report-v02.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjv_Lu86bXfAhVlQxUIHaJJBQkQFjAAegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw1PkmK6D7CcAbPx8kbg0vBo

Noone should be forced to be pregnant against their will or have a forced birth. Its barbaric.

Pro choice so i dont get to decide on the choices other women make or why they make them
This.

Mybatterredchair
I did exactly the same, except 11 years ago.

I know a woman that had a late term abortion and it was purely on a whim
What, one day at 5 months pregnant she woke up and thought "ooh I fancy giving birth to a dead foetus"?

Hard cases make bad law, OP. And restricting abortion either forces women into unsafe abortions or negates their human rights.

One thing all of the following cases have in common is they have desperately harmed women and are the result of the enforcement of bad law:
A literal forced birth
UK woman prosecuted for abortion
Savita Halappanavar, denied help to complete a miscarriage, resulting in her death
Women charged with murder for allegedly self-inducing abortions
14 year old victim of abuse and rape legally prevented from accessing abortion which led to calls for women to prove they were not leaving Ireland to seek abortion
Thousands of people denied terminations of non-viable pregnancies

These type of threads always depressm me.

Years ago it was almost exclusively the church and men who controlled what happened to women's bodies in this country, I'm sad to see so many women (including mothers of DDs!) thinking they know what's best for other women around this type of issue too.

What part about "it's not your body / life" don't the anti-abortion brigade understand?

Thank God I live in a country where you don't get to decide my life course / decide what is medically and not medically necessary.

The ego on some idiots!!

@IHaveBrilloHair 💐

And in case you thought it safe to leave it to the doctors, Dead woman kept alive because of foetal heartbeat

I find the idea of late abortion very upsetting but the idea of forced birth is abhorrent
Agreed, but this isn't an either/or situation. Women who get beyond about 16 weeks have to give birth, whether to a live or a dead baby. Late term abortions don't offer a solution or an alternative to forced birth; they only offer the option of being forced to birth a still baby rather than a live one.
I'm pro-choice but I think the ease with which abortions are accessed here is problematic because of how many women are forced or pressured into abortions they don't really want.