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Abortion On Trial

22 replies

IncieWincie · 16/10/2017 21:46

Ive just seen Anne Robinson in a completely different light this evening. What an absolute surprise its been.

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Ylvamoon · 16/10/2017 21:49

Great programme, don't care about AR, but think it's good to hear different opinions on the subject.

MyBrilliantDisguise · 16/10/2017 21:55

Very interesting programme. Bet that young man has been written about in Relationships.

Conniedescending · 16/10/2017 22:02

Great programme - what a twat lee was

CandyMelts · 16/10/2017 22:08

The agrophobic woman made me sob Sad
So brave of every one who appeared on this, I'm in awe of them all

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IncieWincie · 16/10/2017 22:10

Great programme

Yes it was and I was really pleasantly surprised by how Anne Robinson handled it.

As for Lee? Well I did feel for him as someone who was willing to step up to the plate and be responsible but his notion of it being a 50/50 choice soon had me saying you just lost all credibility there and then.

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Yazoop · 16/10/2017 22:16

Lee's idea of giving an "independent" panel the ability to decide whether or not a woman should have an abortion is just incredible in its absolute stupidity. It is clear that his views are borne out of his bitterness with no analysis at all. I feel sorry for him in that it must be horrible to have no say in that situation, and he's clearly still haunted by it, but also repulsed by his views.

Ylvamoon · 16/10/2017 22:21

I think Lee has a point, but he is not very good at putting it across or come up with a viable solution.
I fully agree that the law needs to be changed in regards to having an abortion in a hospital... especially when it is non surgical.

BadHairDay0 · 17/10/2017 14:38

A fascinating programme. More sensitively handled than I was expecting and I thought Anne Robinson was very good. I would have liked to see a longer programme, but even at this length was certainly food for thought.

Nothingrhymeswithfamily · 17/10/2017 14:52

Ive just watched this,
firstly, loved annes house.
I thought it was very very good and very sensitively done. I am amazed how calm it was (mostly!). i feel for Lee, but what he's proposing is forcing women to carry babies. Wanting three judges to make that decision (as long as it was pro life), thats a slippery slope i don't want to be part of.
Men do get the short straw either way, they can be "tricked" into parent hood or they can have it taken away from them. But until they can carry babies i don't think there can ever be 50/50. Its not about equality in opinion, you can't get past women have to carry and give birth. He seemed to be of the opinion delivering them early was the way forward, but that only seemed hinted at.

As for his 3 abortion limit, i think its a shame that poor woman felt she had to go home. Her story was one that Lee would have benefitted from hearing. But I understand why she felt she had to go.

Soubriquet · 17/10/2017 14:59

I'm watching it now on catch up..and it's a difficult watch but I think people need to see it

I disagee with Lee all over. He seems to think it's easy to be pregnant, give birth and just give the baby up

I don't think these people realise just how difficult a pregnancy can be

Italiangreyhound · 17/10/2017 23:09

Just watching it now, just saw about the agoraphobic woman. It was heartbreaking.

Italiangreyhound · 17/10/2017 23:15

Oh Lee is a knob head!

NonnoMum · 17/10/2017 23:20

I thought Ann handled it really really well. You could see her training as an intelligent and probing journalist. She also made everyone's opinion very valid. It's very interesting - people have such different experiences.

I, as a naive youngster, used to be very pro-life believing every child is precious and deserves the opportunity of life.
But then I came round to the woman campaigner's way of thinking - realising that rich woman have ALWAYS had access to terminations (an appendix operation, anyone?) yet poor woman didn't. She paid her ninety pound and lived whereas her poorer neighbour (?) died and left 3 children motherless.
I would love every child to be a wanted, healthy child but life is complicated.

Gileswithachainsaw · 17/10/2017 23:25

I saw this earlier

I was prepared for them to put differing views across and back them up

But deciding a woman was crazy and needed MH people to assess for nore than 3 abortions?

Panels awarding the mums body to the dad?

It made me so cross i was hoping hearing the heart breaking stories might make him think a bit.maybe off camera the reality night set in?

I thought anne was brilliant actually. That point she made about it being 2017 and women having to miscarry on buses..

I

Italiangreyhound · 17/10/2017 23:32

Nonno I thought Anne did very well. I was/is a very emotive topic.

The man who lost his mum, when she had a back street abortion was so tragic.

Very moving.

Nothingrhymeswithfamily · 18/10/2017 10:14

He was lovely and actually i think Lee could have learnt a thing from him. As his "rules" would bring back back street abortions.

ShoesHaveSouls · 18/10/2017 10:31

I'd forgotten that a) David Steel was the one behind the 1967 law, and that b) what a thoroughly decent chap he is. I think he's right, Spitting Image did ruin his career.

Lee was awful, panel of judges, wtf? It's like he can't control whether women have the babies or not, therefore women shouldn't be allowed agency over their own bodies either. Some horrible ideas, which he had clearly not thought through at all. His "idea" could also potentially lead to a woman being forced to have an abortion she didn't want, which I think we can all agree would be barbaric. (Although he hoped this wouldn't happen, because he'd wish the judges to be pro-life!)

I have always fundamentally believed that no woman should be forced to remain pregnant if she doesn't want to be, and I would like to see it decriminalised too. It should be a medical issue - between a woman and her doctor.

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IncieWincie · 18/10/2017 18:34

I have always thought of Anne as an extremely judgemental person who'd forgotten her past.

This documentary changed my opinion of her. She came across very differently.

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Aridane · 19/10/2017 15:14

If you want a deeply though provoking programme / documentary / film on abortion, watch 'After Tiller'. It was about a doctor in the US - one of the very few - who performed very late abortions (and was assassinated by a pro lifer).

V late abortion did not sit very easily with me - but watching 'After Tiller' you realised just how difficult and tragic the individual cases were. And how the decision by the doctors was not taken lightly. And just how heroic they were.

Lamp149 · 19/10/2017 23:06

Anne Robinson and her guests spoke frankly and were gracious in hearing different points of view. I would have liked them to explore why it would be OK to abort a baby just before birth and not to murder it just after. What makes the baby human? I would have been interested to hear the pro life feminists who see abortion as an abuse of a woman's body. I would have been curious to understand what "a woman's context means: objective or subjective? Anne dealt with this topic but with a strong bias towards more choice for woman which she celebrated at the end.

Crumbs1 · 19/10/2017 23:27

I agree Anne Robinson was a surprise and there were some really sad situations but I do feel it wasn’t impartial and more balance in participants views and factual information would actually have strengthened the case.

mrssunshinexxx · 22/10/2017 21:32

Wow just watched this and wasn't sure what to expect but found it very interesting and obviously sad Also. I think it's so important to show documentaries on topics like this

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