Personally I think that sensible pro-choice people should still consider that there may come a point when the debate becomes on for balance between mother and child. If we can justify the supremacy of choice over religious dogma by saying that until a certain point, life does not begin, and must therefore be subservient to the needs of the woman, to be honest in our arguments, we must therefore believe that there is a point when life begins.

I believe that it is quite feasible that it does within the womb, but not until late into the third trimester.

Even so, if the interests in terms of staying alive or procuring long-term injury are dichotomised between mother and child, as is common in late stage abortions, it is still not always moral to forbid an abortion, on the grounds of utility; we must take into account who is most likely to gain from the woman and the child, and what effect to allow such circumstances to exist would have on the other; with the end goal of securing the most painless total response.

As such, I think that trusting medical professionals is probably the way to go about things.

And you will continue to believe that hard luck stories, ect. will be valid reasons for doing this, and that excuses such as these should accompany the notion of “choice,” and should take predence over a mere infant’s life. After all, he or she has just been born, is just ready to be born or perhaps is half-way out into the world. Maybe the infant could be conked on the head while half-way out if you didn’t like her looks, and then it still could not be called murder.

And then, the period will become 3 weeks, 3 months, ect., following birth. After all, women’s “choices” should be advanced more and more, otherwise we just would not be quite “progressive” enough.

I have always been for the woman’s right to choose and am even more so now. Until you are faced with decisions like this how can you criticise other people for having terminations. I don’t think we will terminate but I am glad we have the option.

Young people are not always told about contraception - SRE in the UK is pretty rubbish, and not even compulsory - governors can opt whole schools out of it, and parents can take their children out of those lessons. And I don’t like the idea of making pregnancy, birth and motherhood punishment for “teenage “mess up’s” ” (sic) - that sounds like a great start for a child.

I’m glad you read the review, though I’m slightly mystified at your comment: you didn’t find much about abortion in it because there isn’t much about abortion in it, because it’s about preventing unintended teenage pregnancy, not about abortion. I suggested you read it because of your comment in spite of increasing sex education and widespread availability of contraception.

I don’t get your point: education, as you agree, reduces unintended conceptions; abortion is about getting rid of a pregnancy that is unwanted, and (I don’t think it’s a great leap of faith to say) in many cases unintended; therefore increased education would reduce abortion. And that’s not just about teenagers - looking long term, that education would hopefully enable women of all ages as they grow older to make decisions about sex and relationships. I think we’d be doing a lot better in terms of reducing unintended pregnancy, STIs and abortions if people felt more able to talk about sex, feelings, sexual activity and contraception.

I think we could also reduce abortion by making contraception easier to obtain, particularly by increasing the choice of contraceptives available. Most women will only be offered two methods of contraception by their GP - the combined pill and condoms, yet they might find that others, such as depoprovera or the coil, might work better in their circumstances. For example, mnay young women have great difficulty managing the pill, as it pretty much requires a stable predictable lifestyle. And condoms are too expensive, as is over the counter emergency contraception.

The right whether or not to continue a pregnancy is fundamental to me, and should be available on the NHS. And I think it’s irrelevant to compare it with cosmetic surgery, although I don’t feel as Winter does about breast enlargements or other cosmetic surgery.

This review highlights a need for countries to adopt a
focus on preventing unintended conceptions (abortion
and live birth rates) as examples from eastern Europe
show that reductions in pregnancy rates may be reduced
only at the cost of higher abortion rates.

I can accept that education reduces the likelihood of conception in the first place, but the fact is that the abortion rates have been increasing steadily since it was legalised. Surely there comes a point at which we have to say: Education really isn’t doing the job when it comes to reducing that rate. If so, what’s the answer?

Besides which, teenage pregnancies resulting in abortion only accounted for 21% of all abortions in 2004. After the teenage years, I’m not sure how education is going to have an effect, given that it isn’t compulsory. What would you suggest to reduce the non-teenage abortion rate?

Winter: A Pair of silicone boobs just because you fancy it, even though your own boobs are perfectly fine and normal.

I think that’s a very judgemental way of looking at cosmetic surgery. There are plenty of women who undergo breast enhancement (or reduction, for that matter) for reasons of self-esteem, or mental health, or even comfort, or for their own perfectly valid reasons. Who are you to dismiss their choices over what they do with their own bodies?

Or are you saying that some women have different types of surgery for trivial reasons, and that society shouldn’t encourage it, least of all pay for it? Perhaps abortions that are performed without a medical reason should not be available on the NHS? They can pay for it themselves.

In cases of disfigurement caused by accident, illness or congenital reasons, yes, of course the plastic surgery should be freely available.

A Pair of silicone boobs just because you fancy it, even though your own boobs are perfectly fine and normal? No. You can pay for that youself!