Abortions - the easy option?
The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned that abortion is being seen as the easy option for many women.
The Archbishop criticised old abortion laws, which were legalised 40 years ago to provide women with options when they were in extreme circumstances.
The Archbishop said: “Nearly 200,000 abortions a year in England and Wales tell their own story. We are not now dealing with a relatively small amount of extreme cases.” He has also suggested that nowadays where abortion is concerned, Britons risk losing the sanctity of life.
Williams’ intervention was welcomed by doctors, MPs and pro-life campaigners who say the harrowing procedure is seen as nothing more than an alternative to contraception.
The Archbishops comments come at the same time as new figures are released on the amount abortions carried out because of minor, treatable birth defects. In one area of England alone, more then 50 babies with club feet and 37 with cleft lips or palates were aborted in three years, raising fears that the procedure is being used to satisfy parents demands for the perfect baby.
The intervention of the Archbishop comes as an influential committee of MPs discusses whether the 24-week cut-off point for abortions for so-called ‘social reasons’ should be lowered. The commons science and technology committee is also examining whether it should be made easier for women to abort babies in the first few weeks of pregnancy by allowing nurses to carry out the procedure, or permitting medical home abortions for those in the earliest stages.
Dr Williams also pointed out that the current limit for having an abortion is 24 weeks, which was set in 1990 when babies born before 24 weeks had little chance of surviving outside the womb. However, nowadays there is a growing amount of babies born prematurely before 24 weeks who survive with the help of medical aid. In light of this, the current law perhaps needs to be revised.
Dr Williams also commented that: “The pregnant woman who smokes and drinks heavily is widely regarded as guilty of infringing the rights of her unborn child. Yet at the same time, with no apparent sense of incongruity, there is a discussion of the possibility of the liberty of the pregnant woman herself to perform the actions that will terminate a pregnancy.”
Thanks to the Daily Mail, 22/10/07
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Last Modified: 22/10/2007
Related Chat 5
For medical reasons - yes
For social reasons - no - its just selfish
Not sure if I am replying here to all or just yummy mummy but this is just in general.
I don't think abortion is an 'easy' option regardless of the reason for doing it. When I found out I was pregnant this time at the age of 42 and 13 years after my husband had a vasectomy, I was concerned about the medical implications as I was actually attending a pre-op at the time. I have to have a thyroidectomy as I have a cyst growing inside my thyroid which they cannot rule out as being cancer until after the lump is out and analysed. They will not do this now until after the baby is born (unless an emergency). My husband was adamant that we abort at first as we hadnt wanted more children, and he was worried about me. I refused and had to fight long and hard to keep this child. My only concession to him was that if the Amnio or detailed scan showed a problem then I would abort, but I KNOW it would have been the hardest thing in the world for me to do while at the same time knowing I would not cope with a disabled baby. I had severe post natal depression after all 3 of my previous pregnancies (I had a miscarriage between the two children I do have) and am fully expecting it again this time (although hopefully I will cope better being older now), so to have a disabled baby would not have been an option for me. I just hope nothing goes wrong from now on and I have to cope anyway as I am too attached to him now. Sorry for the longwinded story!
For medical reasons - yes
For social reasons - no - its just selfish
I am 'pro' for the right reasons and as long as it' before 10 weeks
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