Abortion limit should stay at 24 weeks - do you feel different about abortion after having a baby?

[TheDullWitch]

It is the 40th anniversary of the abortion act and I do feel that there is a generation of 20-somethings who take this right for granted and are doing nothing whilst others seek to chip it away.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7059169.stm

What pisses me off about "pro-lifers" is they don t actually care for the living. The same people who bomb abortion clinics in US are the same saying poor single parents shouldn't get food stamps.

I must admit I d rather a 20 week foetus died than a child was raised in a family who couldn't afford him/didn t want him. I think that is the worst thing. But I'm "pro-living" not "pro-life".

i will actually make myself hugely unpopular here but yes i think she should.

or at worst anyone wanting a termination after 14 weeks should be given some of the pro life stuff.
i watched the clip on one of the sites which shows you the remains of various terminations, from different stages.

the 20 week made me physically sick.
it was incredibly graphic but i am glad i have seen it.

i am still pro choice but it did make me stop and think.
and i knew that if i had to make that decision again i would be making an informed decision.

if you really thought you wanted a late termination you could see those images and decide for yourself if it was worth going ahead or if you really could just stick it out a few more weeks and have the baby adopted or whatever.

87% of all abortions are before 12 weeks was a fig quoted on another thread. Which seems to me to pretty much prove that we DON'T have a huge issue with late terminations in the UK.

And since anomoly scans aren't offered before 20 weeks (later in some cases due to overstretched NHS) then abortion needs to be available post 20 weeks imo.

I am eternally grateful for the right to choose not to continue with an unwanted (and unplanned, despite using contraception) pregnancy. I think lots of young women don't know it has only been 40 years and don't realise their right to it is still constantly under threat.

The cleft palate thing was nowhere near term, it was much earlier than that, well within the 24 weeks. And cleft palette is often an indicator for other problems, non?

I've had an abortion AFTER having my son. It was still the right thing to do and I'm glad I did it, I don't have any regrets about it at all. If anything, because I knew what was involved in having a child I was even more certain I didn't want another right then.

In reference to Dullwaterwitches point, I kind of understand the point that some women, especially teenagers may not realise that they are pregnant until late on.

I'm just theorising here but I would think there are many women desperate situations suddenly realise after 24 weeks that they can't cope/don't want/feel despair at the thought of having a baby. In effect they are being forced into giving birth anyway because there is a time limit and they have no choice.

Not really sure what my point is but unless you say abortion is legal up to full term some women will always be forced to continue a pregnancy they don't want.

I was glad to have the choice when I was younger and I want other girls and women to continue to have the choice. Having children hasn't changed my opinion on that. It is choice I want people to have, and would never judge anyone for either choosing to terminate or not to terminate given any age or circumstance. And I feel just sympathy for those whose circumstances dictate they make a difficult choice later rather than sooner.

that was for social reasons not medical obviously.

im off to get a fire retardant jacket as i know im going to get flamed

Oi, it's TheDullWitch and Wickedwaterwitch not Dullwaterwitch, thanks

does anyone remember this story about 5 years ago? ever since i read about it i thought the limit should be lowered to 20 weeks.

What pisses me off about "pro-lifers" is they don t actually care for the living. The same people who bomb abortion clinics in US are the same saying poor single parents shouldn't get food stamps.

-----------

You see, this is why I generally avoid this topic. I'm pro-life, but I don't go around calling pro-choice people 'blood-thirsty mad people'.

This kind of ad-hom is precisely why this is a topic difficult to discuss reasonably. For the record, I completely support the idea that society should take care of the vulnerable members of it - single parents included.

sorry - getting my witches in a twist!

No having kids did not change my view on abortion.
I am pro-choice.

I'm not sure of all the ins and outs of the law and how it stands but I do think the 24 weeks should only be for special medical reasons. Social reasons should be much lower but I wouldnt want to be the one to decide how far

I'm pro choice. But think limit should be dropped to 14 weeks.

I'm also very very much in favour of a huge educational drive on contraception in schools, on the telly, EVERYWHERE because I think we need it. I want to see accidental pregnancies become an absolute rarity and thus the abortion rate drop too. Not that I'm saying our abortion levels are down to teens but I reckon start getting the message home whilst they are young is v. effective long term.

I really think our young people don't know enough hence our high teen pregnancy rates. And we need to teach them to take more responsibility for the actions they take and what it really means to be a parent. And to let them know they have choices in terms of contraception.

I'm not convinced by the,"Oh, I didn't realise I was pregnant," line unless they aren't very well people.

Along with many others here I object to the term "pro-life" being used to describe those who are, in fact "anti abortion"

I am pro choice, pro abortion if you like, it doesn't make me "anti life"

I wish the anti abortion brigade would at least call themselves "anti abortion" - We're ALL Pro bloody Life, none of us is "Pro Death" are we?

www, both 'pro-life' and 'pro-choice' are used because they are 'positive' descriptions, which try to remove some of the animosity in this discussion.

there was a baby back in february who was born at 21 weeks and 6 days. she survived. it is my opinion that abortion allowed for social reasons should not be allowed after the age a premature baby could survive and therefore anything after 20/21 weeks should not be allowed unless for medical reasons.

I disagree Suebaroo, I think "pro life" rather assumes that those who are 'pro choice' or 'pro abortion' are 'anti life' - the anti abortionists are attempting to clalm some moral high ground imo.

www, no more than the term 'pro-choice'. Is it really worth quibbling about terms like that?

Both sides of the question claim some form of moral high-ground, don't they? Isn't that rather the heart of the topic anyway?

My views about abortion haven't changed after having children, I'm glad I live in a country with a rather good law on Abortion. I'm with WWW post.

But it would be impossible nappyaddict, as anomaly scan are offered at 20 weeks. In some areas they don't even get a 12 weeks scan, and often health problems detected at a 12 weeks scan need to be assessed again at 20.

What is deemed medical reasons for an abortion? If we abort babies at more than 24 weeks gestation then surely we should offer parents of severely disabled/ terminally ill children enthuansia.

There are some horrendous medical conditions where it is cruel keep the child alive. Particularly when a child is in constant pain, can't move or breathe unaided. Late abortions should only be done as form of enthuanisia.

I am not in favour of late abortions for social reasons and I think the limit of 24 weeks is too late. It is illogical that in one part of a hospital a child is being kept alive in a neonatal intensive care unit, yet an older foetus might being killed in an abortion.

yes, I do, very much so

It seems madness that there are people terminating pregnancies and then so many people wanting to adopt but that there aren't enough babies.