Well said Malcolm, especially "As much as Jane Caro wishes women to wash away their shame for having abortions, many women cannot, and no Pope or priest can achieve that either. But in the person of Jesus Christ we find a God who is willing and able, and who is more merciful and wonderful than any of us can ever imagine. " Though you should not write off what a "Pope or priest can achieve"...One Saturday afternoon I received a call from a highly agitated and distressed woman who had just had an abortion. With only rudimentary counseling skills I grabbed a copy of the late John Paul 11's Encyclical The Gospel of Life and read out his words "to women who have had an abortion "...among which were: Do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly. The Father of Mercies is ready to give you His forgiveness and His peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.." etc etc.The calming effect effect was immediate.I know and understand the divergence of belief and opinion on the issue of the Sacrament of Reconciliation between Catholics and our much loved and respected Baptist fellow Christians...but for many like that Saturday afternoon caller, only the Sacrament of Reconciliation will "reconcile" them Malcolm. So, from someone with a life time of experience with aborted women, it is important not to dissuade women from this Sacrament. The "professional counseling" which was subsequently offered to the woman of whom I speak, was declined once she had been reconciled in the Sacrament of Reconciliation..and incidentally, has now become in the words of The Gospel of Life "among the most eloquent defenders of everyone's right to life.

TTBN, you said Apart from the odd occasions of rape, danger to a woman's life if she continues with a pregnancy or if a scan reveals a hopelessy disabled child, there is no excuse for abortion in modern times.

You forgot to mention the circumstances that the child is born (a 14 year old giving birth or termination) or that the parents are drug users/useless people who will abandoned the child or abuse it. Or simply not mentally capable of looking after a child.

We need a licence to have a dog, but any useless human can have a child.
Where do you draw the line? My wife was told to have a termination as it was life threatening to her. years later we have 3 healthy children. The Doctors at the time said a termination was the safest thing to do.

If the mother can't or wont be able to look after a child, then she should have the right to termination, not religious nutters choosing for her.

I would rather have 10000 terminations a year in Australia (in safe hospitals) than 10000 unwanted neglected or abused children and/or 1000's of back yard terminations

You really gotta laugh out loud when people propose that the Bible, particularly the "Old" Testament is a binding guide to sexual morality and moral behavior altogether.

If ALL of it were taken seriously just about everybody in all times and places in the Christian based world would have been summarily executed at a young age - no ifs, buts or maybes.
Google the topics:
76 Things Banned In Leviticus & Their Penalties
The Bible Is Not A Guide to Sexual Behavior.

Who, therefore is going to cast the first self-righteous stone?

@Rhys Jones if you can't see the difference between a adult human and fetus then you've got nothing useful to add to the conversation.

@ Cobber the Hound: If you cannot recognize the humanity shared by the adult and the fetus then you have nothing sensible to add to this conversation.

Ultrasound technology, together with biology, embryology, fetal surgery, and examination of the human remains of an abortion, all tell us that the victim targeted for abortion is a human being, belonging to the human family, a human being who can be identified as a daughter or son, a ‘who’ not a generic ‘thing’.

True justice requires that elective abortions be recognized and treated not as harmless, idiosyncratic, personal ‘choices’ but as abusive practices, as human rights violations perpetrated by individuals and involving the complicity of politicians, judges and others.