Abortion - The Choice . Tuesday 13th May, BBC 2, 9pm

[Milliways]

Tuesday 13th May, BBC 2, 9pm: Abortion - The Choice.
"Five women face up to their decision to have an abortion, describing their thought processes as they made one of the most difficult choices anybody can make, and on which there can be no hard and fast agreement. Beyond the chatter, 200,000 pregnancies are terminated in the UK each year and none is anything less than tortuous and painful - as demonstrated by this poignant film."

I wasn't using contraception either. I was suffering from PND and had come off the pill as I thought it was contributing to my depression.
I had a young baby and depression so sex was a once in a blue moon thing, but it happened and we used the withdrawal method, which failed.

It isn't always as simple as saying 'oh she wasn't using contraception'.

I think the impact this program would have on teenagers would be a lot less than on people who have already had abortion and childen.

My opinion of abortions has changed dramatically since having DC's.

that counsellor was so annoying

I watched it, and felt such mixed emotions. I don't want to really say what I thought, because I am wary of offending people on this thread, but it was interesting viewing. With regards to teenagers, I think it would have a huge impact to see the reality.

ah the judgy pants brigade earlier. Feel better for venting your despising of the sinners?

I thought it was slightly contrived but right balance of honesty ( not the blonde middle class bird talk about denial) versus tv editing.
not drawing any conclusions except that although I am pro choice that after 16 weeks I am much less so. No idea why though.

I think it's a shame people feel they cant feel what they really think/feel on certain subjects for fear of being jumped on.

I was so jumped on, on an abortion thread once, and still hold it against those posters.

I would like to be able to say what I think, Lynette, but I don't want to offend people or start a huge argument. Unfortunately it seems that pro-choice people can say what they like, but if you dare to suggest anything different, you are suddenly "woman-hating scum". I think I have a right to my opinion, but I know there's a time and a place for giving it.

expat. I think abortion info in general, along with sex ed in schools would be good for teenagers. If women, especially teenagers knew that abortion in the first trimester is legal and generally safe at this stage of pregnancy - there might be less need for late abortions.

I'm fairly sure that that bloke in the baseball hat on a beach was on jeremy kyle earlier today.

now you know exactly what i did with my day off.

i thought it was quite well done....(apart from that ditsy blonde who wanted to be an actress so i think was hopin it mite get her spotted)

I wanted to be an actress, and got pregnant at an inconvenient time, just as I graduated. I'm so glad I had my baby and then continued with my career - IMO, a few months of "inconvenience" is nothing compared to the joy of having a gorgeous little baby.

What were the health problems of Margarets children that she mentioned as her reason for the termination? - I missed the first part.

i don't know that that was ever explained. she had one termination whilst her husband was ill.

another after relationship breakdown.

don't know about the other two, however.

No not her - the girl who had 2 kids and this was her first termination and when they asked her in the clinic why she wanted it she said she had 2 kids already with health problems and couldnt cope with any more.

That lady who had 4 - I actually felt so sad for her at the end - she was trying to recapture what she had had with her husband instead of dealing with his death.

I hadmsised the begnning and couldnt believe she was 29 though - her life has really aged her.

Thought young girl with heart earrings was gorgeous - my heart went out to her.

Was so hard to watch as someone who has had 2 miscarriages though - always think I am pro choice and then when I watch how the procedure is done I get so upset.

oh, yeah, that girl. no, they never said what their problems were.

one was just a baby, though. must have been something genetic then.

I really want a debate about abortion and I really wanted last night after tat programme to come on and get a consensus of the kind of thing that most people think is a better option. And straight after that programme I was geared up to do it. I don?t know if I am now, i mean this place gets uber nasty talking about kids playing in the street, this is really pushing it.
I have trouble reconciling the fact that woman do this repeatedly (4 times in ten years is high for my sensibilities) if you don?t want any children at a specific moment in time there are options available.

And no, not all options are available for all women.

But I can't believe that the options for women are so few that daily a high number of women go through with this procedure. There will be cases where a woman can't take the pill and is allergic to a condom and has an allergy to a coil and.....but surely the numbers where all these factors come into play are low?(Still on repeated abortions here)

Then don?t understand why, if you had mad passionate sex - didn't use contraception that you would wait until 16 weeks or later.

Again there will be instances where irregular periods or something - but again - I get the impression that this is a high number and I don?t understand why the wait?

Before the mums net massive jump on me, slit my throat and devour me, I would like to say that I realise this is an emotive subject but I wondered whether people could answer in a generally.
Generally, I find it hard to reconcile the fact that after 7 or 8 weeks the foetus has a heartbeat. Now I couldn't kill a gerbil, and I suspect that a lot of people are like me. So then, why do we have this culture that perpetuates that is normal to kill a foetus?
Generally, I think that (excluding medical conditions or failing contraception) you know you are pregnant. You must know there is a chance. So then why is it wrong to say the abortionist a right for a woman, but educate yourself. Get it done as early as possible.

Why can?t we educate this fact?

I must say that watching that programme last night, I thought that the abortion doctor must be a very principled man to uphold the RIGHT of the women. Especially as he is sere rating limbs post 8 weeks.

therefore generally, would I be wrong in asserting that we should as a society make a concerted afford to perform abortions quickly and that there must be a partial responsibility on the system which I can only presume elongates the process?

But partial responsibility must lie with the woman? The head in the sand technique seems like its fine. As long as we remain uneducated - that things like separating limbs occur - it?s ok to have an abortion because it?s not really a baby.

If you are educated about the processes and still feel the same - then that is your fully informed decision. I think that many women just in thinking the it?s their right as a woman - and they have no real idea of what is really happening.

I think I had fell into the societal conditioning that it?s ok - not for me necessarily but for other people. Like I wasn't allowed to have a principle for fear of being considered backward or a religious zealot.

And this programme reminded me of something - it reminded me that I do have an opinion on this and I am allowed to it.

I think abortion in any normal circumstance post 8 weeks is wrong. I believe we should have better and more informed choices about contraception, I believe that the systems in place (referrals etc) need to be refined and sped up, I believe that there needs to be education on the subject of abortion and the blanket "abortion is a right" statement needs to contain more than the right - but an informed educated choice. I believe that if this education was done then many more women would take special care to try not to get pregnant and that they wouldn't bury their head but would rush to get the procedure done as quickly as possible

NB I think the actress was right in the programme, I think that it is more accepted s a right and a norm for the MC's - so as that is a given and this is a predominantly MC forum don?t lynch me all at once

i think the time limit needs to be decreased, FWIW.

i think when it gets to teh stage where you have to be induced, it's too late.

Bugger, missed this. will read back and come back to have a pop at the pro-lifers

But quickly - in response to someone else.

Some people have double contraceptive failure, that's failure of the condom and then failure of the MAP. Obviously I didn't see this programme and so I don't know how slapdash the people were with their contraception, but you can't really deny women the choice when they have contraceptive failures like this. Nor can you deny women the choice who lie about having contraceptive failures like this.

it may be more common among young people. i'm not sure.