Sam said -
Whether you heard about it in media or law is immaterial.The woman was restrained through use of bandaged-wrapped back boards,attaching her forearms to the cotside railings.She was in a 4 bed shared ward only as it was in full line of sight from the nurses' station.
As you say you are a doctor I'd expect more compassion from you,knowing full well what women go through during an abortion.
The journey to the decision to have an abortion is fraught with stress and exhausting emotions which you don't witness,merely the end result,for which you have no respect.
Women have the right to determine whether or not to carry a child to full term and no grandstanding or breast-beating from men should be able to change that simple fact.

People. My hypothetical wasn’t intended to open up any kind of debate about workplace practises, work/life balance or what SHOULD happen in the face of sexism in the workplace. It was all a set up to see if Iain Hall would support a women close to him in making a decision about having an abortion or whether he would attempt to talk her around. He missed question.

I should have just asked: ‘If your mature daughter wanted an abortion AND your support, would you give it?’

I think anything other than support for her decision amounts to not trusting the woman with her own body.

Having an abortion isn’t about human vs cell cluster or career vs motherhood, although these are influencing factors. It’s the decision of one woman and one woman alone.

StewartGlass – I’m not sure Audrey or Billie will stoop to answering your question, but I think that they both know that a foetus is a living thing, like a tapeworm. And I think we all see what you’re getting at: human life starts at conception, all zygotes are as much walking talking laughing loving human beings as the people posting on this blog.

Try this on for size: human life begins when the pregnant woman says it does. All the razzle-dazzle about ‘killing human children’ is worded to imply that there are 90,000 Australian women out there who consciously murder babies. These women are evil. These women are untrustworthy and cannot be allowed to handle their own sexuality and fertility.

Having an opinion about abortion and the actual start-time of human life is one thing, but having the strength to hand over the power to make the decision about it to the woman who will carry and care for this person is quite another.

Are any of you in the anti-abortion camp strong enough to look a pregnant woman considering an abortion in the eye and say ‘I will support your decision, whatever it is’? Or do you still have a say over some part of her body too?

FRANZY - so you believe a fetus is living, though not human. When then do you believe it is human? Are you suggesting that a fetus at 39 weeks, is not human because the mother says it's not? ("human life begins when the pregnant woman says it does")

I am just trying to understand where you draw the line. Obviously you, and Billie and Audrey don't see yourselves as selfish or murdering - (though you do see abortion as killing but not murder).

PS - thanks for letting me know what a zygote is! I had never heard the term before

Many years ago I had to act as a parent for an unrelated 18 year old who had just discovered that she was pregnant to her boyfriend who had disowned his obligations in the matter.

Her family refused to give her any help whatsover and so it was left to me to compassionately run through her 3 options. They all bravely disowned her!

1. Have the baby
2. Have the baby and then have it adopted out
3. Have a termination.

I even offered (if I could afford it)to assist her financially if she chose to keep the baby. I didn't want money to be the reason for her decision.

After many tearful, heart breaking discussions the young woman of her own informed free will decided to have the termination.

Once again no-one (not the boyfriend nor the family nor the govt)offered her any assistance - just little old me. I took her to the termination, sat in the waiting room, and paid for the termination as she couldn't afford the procedure.

Do I feel bad about what I did... not one bit! I was more pro-life than the parents, the boyfriend or anyone else for that matter. I was pro the young woman's life - unconditionally.

You can argue this topic till the cows come home... but unless you have been through the process and been at the coal face watching an emotionally brittle young person take the biggest decision of their lives ... then please shut up!

Where are all the single fathers that shared in creating all the single mothers? Oh that's right they're down the pub boasting of their latest conquest, whilst the poor woman is at home worried sick about hers and her possible babies futures.

Many of the men (thankfully not all) I have spoken to on this subject want a say in the decisions but no role in the obligations that go with the decisions.

I remain "Pro Choice" - the woman's choice

Stewart - this is my point. It doesn't MATTER when I believe human life begins, nor does it matter when you believe it begins. The pregnant woman and the pregnant woman alone makes that decision. Nobody else gets to even speculate. Because once you do, you’re taking away control the woman has over her own life. You are saying to the woman ‘You cannot be trusted with your own body.’
And, before you start with the ‘what about the baby’s life’ line of thought, the woman’s life is also at stake. This runs around to the debate between the camp that sees women who get abortions as doing so because it will interrupt cocktail hour with the girls (essentially: women’s lifestyles are just frivolities and women who get abortions are doing so for shallow, selfish reasons) and the camp that actually realises that for a woman to have a baby will change her entire existence and being and a failed contraceptive isn’t the proper catalyst for this kind of change (essentially: lifestyle is something you do and are every day for the rest of your life. Not having control over this because some bastard labels you a baby-killer is a horrible thing).

“Are you suggesting that a fetus at 39 weeks, is not human because the mother says it's not?”

What a monstrous inference. How dare you suggest that there are women out there who would think like this. That kind of question is exactly what I’m talking about when I say that anti-abortionists can’t allow themselves to trust women with their own bodies.

ps. Zygote – year eight biology!

Franzy
Just how can you expect any one to take you seriously when you say two things within on post that each contradict the other?
I reproduce the offending sentences below
This
“The pregnant woman and the pregnant woman alone makes that decision. Nobody else gets to even speculate. Because once you do, you’re taking away control the woman has over her own life. You are saying to the woman ‘You cannot be trusted with your own body.”

Contradicts this
““Are you suggesting that a fetus at 39 weeks, is not human because the mother says it's not?”

What a monstrous inference. How dare you suggest that there are women out there who would think like this. That kind of question is exactly what I’m talking about when I say that anti-abortionists can’t allow themselves to trust women with their own bodies.”

You are undone by a refusal to admit the humanity of an unborn child. Even in the current law there is a point beyond which it ceases to be a simple matter of the woman deciding that she wants the child killed. Can’t you see that a woman’s right to kill her child is NOT as absolute as you wish to claim it is.

Frankly I would say that YOU are the sort of woman who HAS claimed as you do here in my first quote, that a fetus of 39 weeks gestation is NOT a human being.