Abortion

I was listening to Radio 5 on the way home and this story was being discussed.

I personally think that the government views abortion as a "sticky topic" and so trys to avoid dragging it into a public/house of commons debate at all costs.

The lady being interviewed on the radio pointed out that the data the government was quoting was from 1995. Bearing in mind that the last time the Abortion Act was amended was 1990, that's a huge amount of time in terms of the accuracy of the data.

I do find it odd that every time a child is abducted, attacked or murdered there is an enormous outcry yet it is perfectly acceptable to kill a child before they are even born. Whether you find abortion acceptable or not, the fact that 193,000 were carried out in England & Wales last year suggests that an overwhelming number of people do.

I always used to despise the pro-life lobby groups (mainly due to their strong ties to religous groups) but as I've gotten older and I'm heading towards having my own children, I'm starting to see their point.

The pro-choice agenda was all about the rights of a woman to choose when they have children.
So what about the rights of the father and the unborn child?

With the exception of rape attacks, you could argue that the woman effectively chose when she consented to sex - if you can't do the time then don't do the crime.

It seems that the father gets a bum deal out of the whole thing. If he doesn't want the child, the mother can still have it and he will be financially responsible. If he does want the child, the mother cannot be prevented from terminating it. The law says that he made his choice when he had sex with her. So why does she get another?

And who speaks up for the child?

I don't oppose the morning after pill as it prevents conception from taking place. I'm talking about the termination of an unborn child.

As far as I'm concerned you should only be able to have an abortion for medical reasons or if you were raped. How many of the 193,000 does that apply to?

Personally I'm of the opinion that teenage pregnancies would drop if this 'safety net' were removed as less teenagers would be having casual sex as they would be more fearful of the consequences. Unfortunately I'm an idealist.