"The Government has decided that abortion is the best option for unplanned pregnancies"

The Queensland Government has decided no such thing.

One assumes at 18 you knew how women became pregnant? Yet failed to observe something as simple as what I told my own daughters. If it's not on, it's not on.

And if you were aware and gave your informed consent? How dare you try and load your guilt trip on others. Already traumatised enough having to choose between their careers and whether or not they join the ranks of single mums living below the poverty line.

I was raised by a single mum with help from various orphanages and foster homes, Who nearly died in the struggle! And I'm here to tell you all the horror stories you hear About Catholic care are true!

Moreover, its no fun being the poor kid in a classroom full of better off kids. nor attending more schools than years of schooling! Par for the course for kids of single mums.

I don't know where your daughter is now Madeline. but wherever innocents without sin go, she is there and not subject to the endless cruelty and ignorance of a world full of judges and cruelty. And gormless politicians making this choice almost compulsory for folk who want a life.

If the child was the product of incest and came out intellectually challenged? Would the child and society thank the mother, or the adoption agencies, when they found they couldn't place damaged goods?

And if the child is the product of rape? Should the non-consenting female be forced to go full term then live with the trauma of giving her baby away? It's so easy to bleat about what you coulda shoulda done and try and make others share your personal guilt trip.

If you feel so strongly, go adopt an unwanted baby and improve the lives of three people! Rather than spread your propaganda/BS here.

People have rights over their bodies. And nobody ought to be able to force them to become unwilling incubators.

If you didn't still a heartbeat? You took no life! End of story.
Alan B.

Thanks Madelaine for your honesty. Trust you have found forgiveness from the only One who can forgive sin and heals. The lying supporters of this murderss act ignore biology and use emotional blackmail to win over the ignorant. Yeah unborn babies matter but not to much of the swamp as recently shown by the lowlife's trying to destroy a man's life because they see their 'right' to murder under some sort of threat by Kavanaugh. I use and still think that the majority of evil in this world was done by males. The lowlife regressive feminist are right up with the worst of the males.

Few issues have so divided people as has the morality
of abortion.

At the root of the controversy is a basic value judgement
about the human status of the fetus. If the fetus is
considered a baby, then abortion is a form of killing -
if it is considered a mere collection of cells and tissue,
then abortion is a morally neutral surgical procedure.

However the status of the fetus is inherently ambiguous:
it is neither self-evidently a human being nor self-evidently
just tissue (for if these matters were self-evident, there
would be little disagreement about abortion).

The issue is compounded by a related issue, the right of a
woman to control her own body, then of course we also have
the rights of the father that need consideration.

And so it goes. I don't envy any person having to make the
difficult decisions involved. I can't even begin to imagine
how difficult that would be. However, I do firmly believe
that we are in no position to judge the actions of others.
Nor blame people because of our religious beliefs.

I feel so sorry for the author of this article and she's
very brave to share her experience with us. Thank You. I hope
with time she will be able to heal and move on.

'However the status of the fetus is inherently ambiguous:
it is neither self-evidently a human being nor self-evidently
just tissue (for if these matters were self-evident, there
would be little disagreement about abortion).'

blatant lie.

Your comment about the “ignorance of a world full of judges”, Alan B. applies to you in your unwarranted personal criticism of Madeleine. I admire her for courageously telling her story to warn other women of the heartache that she experienced.

All she is asking for is better support for women with an unwanted pregnancy, so they don’t feel they have only one choice. And proper independent counselling and informed consent requirements so women can know of the risks. What is wrong with that?

You say: “People have rights over their bodies. And nobody ought to be able to force them to become unwilling incubators.” Well, actually, the time for choice is before you engage in sexual intercourse, because in that act you are not only making a commitment (hopefully) to your partner but also to the new human life you are potentially creating. Every act of lovemaking is an act of potential life-making. So people need to accept responsibility for their actions. So except in the rare case of pregnancy from rape (which is not as rare unfortunately), a woman or girl chooses to invite a new life into being.

And she should be supported by her partner, but unfortunately often is not, and abandonment and coercion by irresponsible and selfish men is rife. Hence, abortion has a lot more to do with men’s liberation than with women’s liberation. Coercion of and lack of support for pregnant women is exploitation, not freedom.

You say: “If you didn't still a heartbeat, you took no life! End of story.” Madeleine tells us in her article that she had her abortion at 8 weeks of pregnancy. If you knew anything about foetal development (and most people don’t, which is why this should be part of informed consent provisions), you would know that the heart begins to beat at 5 weeks’ gestation and brain activity can be recorded at 8 weeks.

5 weeks is about the time a woman discovers she is pregnant. So every abortion kills a unique and irreplaceable human being. It stops one heart and breaks another