Abortion rate highest ever - I'm sorry I just don't buy the reason suggested for this...

[CountessDracula]

"But pregnancy advice groups said the figures probably reflected poor access to contraceptive services"

What utter tosh

You can buy condoms in many loos in clubs and pubs. In any chemist or 24hour shop.

You have access to family planning clinics and doctors with free contraception

You can buy the morning after pill over the counter ffs

Shouldn't people take a bit more responsibility and get themselves to these places and get some bloody contraception?

another reason i heard for the increased rates on the radio was it being post christmas....parties, etc i suppose.just what i heard

As I stated earlier, Fio, you are in the right on that.

There's just been a trial here in Scotland of a man accused of deliberately infecting his girlfriend with HIV and HepC.

The woman in question had carried on a 5 month long sexual relationship with.

During which he 'aggressively' refused to use a condom.

Yet she continued to sleep with him.

What gives?

At some level, we must all take SOME responsibility for our health.

"However.,, the hideous numbers of babies being aborted shows that women in this country have the wrong attitude towards sex and contraception"

And women are making these decisions in a vaccuum are they? With no involvement from men?

What is the right attitude then.

PMSL at the idea that these people are feckless btw. Surely they are not feckless, the fact that they are pregnant means they've had a feck...

And another thing - women in this country have the wrong attitude.

Does that mean men have the right attitude then?

Sorry to pick this scab, but this astounded me.

this thread makes me feel so angry....agree entirely with you posts caligula...and CD, you did call said people thick and lazy and are therefore making a moral judgement not just noticing a rise in rates.

and i imagine it is a nightmare getting the MAP over christmas.

Soph. See my new 'Cat Among The Pigeons' offering on abortion!

I think both a man and a woman have equal responsibility when it comes to contraception.

Also keep in mind though that men often are left out of the decision making process if a baby is conceived.
I think men should get to be involved in all the decsions

Hmm...I think blaming someone because they trusted their partner not to deliberately put them at high risk of getting a fatal disease is like blaming a rape victim for letting their male neighbour their house or the victim of assault for opening the door to a knife-wielding maniac. If you KNOW you have HIV and you refuse to wear a condom and lie abour your status, then yes, I think you deserve to go to prison. Not every woman has the confidence to insist. You may think that is pathetic, but it is true.

paula. The thing is, for a lot of conceptions, the man is not even known.

Therefore, the woman ends up having to make the decision on her own.

But just as often he is and the decision is taken out of his hands.

bubb...where is your incendiary post???

But often PPB, men are the primary decision makers. In the sense that if he doesn't want a baby, the woman knows she's on her own. And in a society which doesn't pay women for raising their own children, that's the decision made.

'In The News', Paula.

Not many takers, so far.

Sorry, Soph.

'In The News.'

Ok what a about a man who wants to keep it but isn't allowed to. My point is that women only want a man involved when it suits them.

I'm not convinced that lack of access to contraception is the MAIN reason why women have abortions either CD! But is it a bugger to get a doctors appointment these days, I find. And if you aren't having much sex in a relationship or infrequent casualish sex then it is hard to get into the habit of taking the pill every day at the right time and you might well not have condoms, and just hope it will be OK because you are in a relationship and you don't have sex much anyway and everything you read these days is about infertility and about when you get to thirties your ovaries shrivel into dust etc etc so I do honestly think a lot of women think conception is highly unlikely, instead of highly likely. I see that attitude all over MN - ie we've been trying for a week and I'm convinced I'm infertile and will die childless etc etc. I blame the Mail!

Unwanted pregnancies have got to be worse than abortion, IMO.

me too bub! i agree totally and said exactly same earlier in this thread

And I do think the fact that women stay single longer and see the price paid in the workplace for having children has a role to play. In a marriage (or marriage-type relationship) you might just get on with it, but in a very modern, shaky 30something boyfriend and girlfriend relationship babies are often a taboo subject. It can only be when the pregnancy happens that the man bails out or makes it clear he isn't happy. Babies used to be taken for granted in relationships, I think, now they aren't. Women are terrified of motherhood and think of it as the end of everything, and men think they can be young forever, as long as they aren't pushing a buggy. I also suspect women are sometimes ambivalent, they want children, but don't dare admit it, so find it hard to use contraception reliably.

I'm not saying its pleasant to go through an unwanted pregnancy. I'm saying its the responsible thing to do. Anybody who has sex knows that contraception is not 100%, you should be prepared that pregnancy may be an outcome. Killing a baby because its easier than going through the pregnacy is irresponsible.

i ALWAYS blame the mail aloha

please please find a prolife website paula....your views are odious.

Er, no, having a baby you don't want and won't love is irresponsible.

I'm sorry I thought this was a place for expressing views and opinions.

Agree with Caligula. I don't think I would have a termination myself, but I wholeheartedly support the rights of other women to do so.