Any one see the Abortion documentary on Dispatches last night?

[Elasticwoman]

Not in the news exactly, but certainly current affairs as it dealt with how recent developments in science might alter our moral views on abortion. Or not, depending on your point of view. I did not realise we have the most liberal laws on abortion in Europe, and that in most European countries the time limit is 12 weeks, not 24 as it is here.

saw end.was determined not to watch as what i read upset me.

Yep I saw last half of it. I can see why the law could reasonably be dropped to 20/22wks, but like the documentary said, realistically the only people you see beyond 20weeks are in desperate circumstances, I assume with mainly chromosonal abnormalities, which will be terminal/severely disabilitating to any child anyway.

It is a very emotive subject, and I surprised myself by NOT being upset. However, I channel hopped on to it by accident and hadn't read anything about it in advance.

What did you think about the end Moljam?

Switched it on out of interest to see current status of debate on the subject and got drawn in - fatal mistake. I was surprised how violently I reacted to it - I'm normally calm and can remain detached from things that don't affect me directly, but I was in tears, on my own on the sofa and I just couldn't stop. Kept thinking of DD on her 21 week scan and her 12 week scan and comparing - most distressing

Anybody who is raising a child with Down's Syndrome could be mortally offended by your comments on chromosomal abnormality, Frizombie.

it was literally last 5 minutes.but was undecided if maybe i should have watched as factual or wether not watching because may upset was good choice.so dunno!

I was interested about the effect on doctors and other staff of participating in the operation, and also how new research into whether the foetus feels pain raises the question of whether foetal pain relief should be used.

I knew some one who had an abortion for foetal abnormality at 17 weeks. It was non-surgical in that labour was brought on and she gave birth. She refused all pain relief during the process, i think in the mistaken belief that an epidural would cause more suffering to her baby. This programme made me think that in fact the opposite would be true: an epidural would anaesthetise the baby. The end result would be the same though.

Re Elastic Woman's comments on Frizombie's post - I don't have a child with Downs but my DD2 was born with a very serious condition and we are very lucky to have her here with us. I was given the option of a termination just before the 20 weeks mark. I am now involved with a support group for parents of children with the same condition and I never feel angry or offended by anyone making a different choice from mine, just desperately sorry that they found themselves having to make the choice at all.

I watched this by accident and found it profoundly shocking, well the images were. That tiny broken ribcage. Awful and I'm not sure if that footage was essential. It was very sad and I bawled at the thought of all those lives lost.

I would like to see the upper limit for 'social' abortions dropped down to 16 - 18 weeks but ultimately I believe the rights of the woman come first and that no woman should be forced to have a baby she does not want.

I don't see the issue with termination for severe disabilities or where the mother's life is threatened - that's available right up until 40 weeks.

I didn't know abortion for severe abnormality or threat to mother's life was available up to 40 weeks, and it didn't seem to be covered by the programme. But it is such a wide subject to cover, I suppose you could never touch on every eventuality unless in a whole series of programmes.