THANK YOU Audrey Apple for your great piece. You are wonderful and brave in this society were the Abbott’s have had too much power and had it for too long.

I am so sick of the current Howard Government language of “too many abortions”. Who says? Which particular ones were the ones too many? Who decides? And if there is a point of too many - by the same token - then there must be point of too few. Who then decides which ones were the ones that should have had abortions? It is just so stupid and illogical.

A woman’s body – a woman’s choice.

Onya Audrey,for a refreshingly straightforward,no nonsence article.

“It was not a baby. It was a fetus”

Denial of a fetus’s humanity

.” As far as I’m concerned, it’s an area in which they shouldn’t DARE to try and dictate the parameters of to women”.
This is Misandry , Men have a stake in this debate as well.
“Peace out (and respect to all those that fight to defend sexual freedom).”
You are like every other person free to copulate with any one you please but don’t think that “sexual Freedom” extends to the inalienable right to kill unborn children and pretend that they are not human beings.
Abortion should be available safe and RARE.

Good onya Audrey for speaking out!

I like and agree with this article... though I do think men should have some input into whether or not an abortion takes place... I'm certainly not saying they should be able to override the woman's choice, but to ignore the father entirely isn't fair either.

And Iain... you say a fetus is a baby. Many don't. If you're going to fight this argument, that's where the real persuasion has to take place. Those who hysterically scream 'baby killers' are about as persuasive as those 'end is at hand' screeching types.

When I read this article on the author’s website I was disturbed by women respondents who applauded the author as a heroine and lauded the operation as a victory and a triumph. Some went so far as to suggest that a celebration was in order.

By definition, an ‘unplanned’ pregnancy is an accident. Hopefully such accidents should be unusual for adults (at least) given the availability of birth control.

Where there is abortion by choice the moral decision is with the woman, however reasonableness and ethics should indictate that the ‘father’ would be involved in the decision, after all it took two to tango. Nonetheless there could be circumstances where such consultation might not be such a good thing.

However where the father is not consulted or is not in favour of the action taken, how can the community then expect that he be accountable for the outcome?

I don’t think anyone who decides to abort is necessarily brave, although choosing to have and raise a child could well be. Both decisions would involve a lot of soul searching and there is no way practical considerations can be ruled out.

If it is any consolation to women contemplating a termination, there is reason to suggest that the life-long pain of having a child taken away through adoption (as happened to many young girls in the past) would far outweigh the distress of an early termination. Thank goodness for the morning after pill and who could ever return to the fifties?

I do not believe that describing the foetus as a ‘parasite’ or a non life-form assists the long term emotional wellbeing of the woman. De-personalising the 'enemy' is what armies do and it has no application to pregnancy termination. Prior to and after a termination it is normal and OK to mourn and to give vent to very complex, conflicting emotions. It is just awful decision that is less awful if it can be done early enough. That is why most people see value in the morning after pill.