Would each of you who believe that women should have access to abortion please state what you would say to those people who, incredibly, have survived being aborted?

Would you be prepared to say to their faces, you should be dead! If not, why not? After all, their mothers had attempted to do what you believe they had every right to do, ie end this person's life, but somehow the attempt failed.

So such people are supposed to be dead - would there therefore be anything wrong in saying that to them? I don't think though that any one would actually say that to them, but why not?

What if you were to find out today that your much-loved husband/wife/partner was a survivor of an abortion attempt? Could you honestly say to them, But you should be dead!

Some people find it easy to say of little human beings hidden in the womb that it is alright to kill them. But it is not so easy later to say to those human beings who somehow survive abortion that they should be dead.

Shouldn't this tell us something?

My attitude has always been that if you don't agree with abortion (or most other things for that matter) - don't do it. But don't lobby authority to restrict others' choices.

I also believe that the decision cannot be made by anyone other than the person in that situation at the time, and I am in no position to judge (one way or the other).

Better sex education would be helpful for some, better access to contraception for others. Sometimes though, you just have to accept that the person choosing to have an abortion cannot be pregnant at that point in their lives, or under those circumstances.

Well said Nomad. No one wants to have an abortion and no one is forcing people to have them.

I fell pregnant after being punched in the stomach, vomiting and consequently losing the efficacy of the contraceptive pill. I was also being pressured by my husband to have a baby (he thought he'd have more control over me then). Clearly I left the piece of human waste I was married to because I am alive today and able to make these posts.

To those who choose to judge - walk a mile in my shoes.

Hello Trinity and others

I am not pro or agin abortion. I think it is very sad that people take such strong emotional and political stands at the risk of compassionate and reasoned comment. But then, I have little to offer but emotional comment.

I guess I will be challenged for throwing in red herrings.

I was diagnosed with infertility 1979. Joined the Melbourne IVF in the early 80s - number came up in 1987 in Newcastle. I knocked back my opportunity for IVF - realised that child bearing is not a right - it is a privilege. I could have had a child in a very poor family environment - my ex-husband was an alcoholic and wife basher. I could not bring a child into the world knowing this - even though I thought and felt that my role in life was to be a mother and a teacher of children.

In 1993 I was gang raped. I was so glad that I was infertile. I still wonder what I would have done if I had been impregnated by those bastards if I had not been infertile. I was a mature age woman of 45 years at the time. What about young female children who are raped and impregnated?

Kalweb

Thank you for your post. On the subject of parenting I don't think an apology is necessary for being emotional. Clearly the topic effects us all deeply.

As you say parenting is a privilege and not a right. I too would have loved to have been a mother - but circumstances have prevented me from attaining that responsibility. I do not regret my decision to have an abortion when I did. Like you I was concerned about the environment into which a child should be brought. This is why fertility is about choice. The choice to be a responsible parent - even if that means not ever being a parent at all.

Much love to you

Dear GP,
There was a wonderful Op-Ed piece in The Age earlier this week, still on their website, by Michael Read. To prasee it (and not do it justice, I'm afraid) Michael is a man with a disability who has had a good and successful life and, from the compassion and thoughtfulness displayed in the article, is a wonderful human being.
In the article he says that his being born ruined his mother's life and that, really, he should not have been born. He argues that had she had an abortion he, as a foetus would neither have known or cared, and therefore the consequences to her, as a fully conscious human being, must weigh more heavily than the consequences to her foetus.
I, for one, am glad he was born as I am sure his mother now is, but that does not weaken his point. Many potential people are not born, through miscarriage or just no fertilisation taking place, parents may grieve over miscarriage (I did) but society does not, but any sorrow that is felt is for the parents loss, no-one feels sorry for the foetus. And why should they, the foetus doesn't know what it almost had so cannot mourn its loss.
In my own case, had I had the child I conceived in my youth, I would not have had the two children I have now. I am a much better, wiser and more loving parent to the children who were born much wanted, than I ever would have been as the immature person and unwilling mother I would have been earlier. To my mind, things worked out for the best. As I keep saying, my regret was about becoming pregnant is the first place. That is what I had hoped to avoid.
As they say, GP, one door closes, another door opens.