What are our politicians doing about this issue? Avoiding it, for the most part, because it's a difficult one. What might work, at least to a degree, is a change in our culture whereby all children are taught that while sex is enjoyable, and intimate, and part of loving, it is also the way babies are made, and that is one of the most serious acts any of us can undertake. It is also a way in which we can pick up nasty diseases. Therefore, we do our very best, each of us, every time, to practise safe sex, until we are in an apparently permanent, serious, long-term relationship and are desiring to make a baby that we are able to care for.

That won't eliminate abortions, but it ought to reduce their frequency. Yet I never hear anti-abortionists going down this path. It's as though they think people should simply put off having sex, like putting off buying a house. Life isn't like that.

David Palmer “Abortion is bad: there are far too many of them, and so the question to our politicians is, “what are you doing to reduce the number of them?”

Abortion might be “bad”.

I certainly see no reason to brag about any “abortion rate” statistic.

but I see the “abortion rate” as something no politician is responsible for doing anything to reduce the numbers thereof. Why?

Because the decision to procure an abortion is a private matter pursued by a private individual and not something that or should be at the behest of government or the “politicians” who are supposed to represent us.

Far worse than a “bad abortion rate” would be a legislative environment imposed upon women which would deny them the right to exercise sovereignty over their own bodies.

Far worse than an abortion rate is where women are reduced and demeaned by having to pursue a pregnancy against their individual will simply to appease the sensibilities of others.

runner “The only place abstinence has proven a failure is in those silly enough not to listen! It has worked very well for those with a moral conscience”

Nothing like the judgemental barking of the self-righteous echoing the cause of the anti-abortionists.

When I am personally responsible for the outcome or consequences of a pregnancy and / or abortion, I will want to exercise my right to manage that responsibility.

In the mean time, I will respect the decisions those individuals who are personally responsible for the outcome of a pregnancy, supporting their right of choice as priority above and before the moral anguish of the non-responsible bystanders, church leaders and politicians

Cornflower claims that the 'lions share' of abortions are sought by women between the ages of 25-35, their prime career years.

If anti-abortionists really wish to reduce the numbers of abortions sought by women in this age group they could put their energy into demanding the changes and improvements needed to maternity leave allowances, child-care access and women's pay issues, so that having a child is not such a fraught decision

Why is it so difficult for the anti-choice brigade to understand that when legal an abortion will not be forced upon them? YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE AN ABORTION. Promise.

You can choose to continue with your pregnancy to full term, like the majority of women do. Bearing in mind of course that 1 in 7 pregnancies result in a spontaneous abortion (miscarriage)anyway.

Cornflower, I'm not sure that abortion 'statistics' in Australia can remotely be relied upon. Many gynea procedures like D&C's are included. These would be more common in the age bracket you mentioned than with young women. Many women who have had miscarriages would have a D&C. Or if there is intermittent between menstrual cycle bleeding.

As Celivia and Yabby pointed out, legal abortion does not result in more abortions. Abortions are not reduced by making them illegal. Gerrit can attest to that with the heart breaking story of one of his daughters. Abortions are reduced by clear and explicit sex education.

Runner, in the USA abstinence is a big movement. It is a Western nation with a very, very high rate of single underage pregnancies AND abortions. Wouldn't you rather reduce the number of abortions and underage single mothers? Leave it up to your God to deal with those who have 'sinned' by being unchaste, at least it would be less likely that they 'killed'.

Xoddam, great post. The most distressing issue with these discussions is always the implied opinion of some that women would undertake a termination of a pregnancy lightly.

Celivia, yvonne

Numbers are available from the Health Insurance Commission. Quoted here:

www.fpq.com.au/factsheets_brochures/student_info/Abortion_statistics.pdf

"The only place abstinence has proven a failure is in those silly enough not to listen! It has worked very well for those with a moral conscience"

Lol runner, clearly nobody is listening, or it would show up in
the figures, despite the hundreds of millions of $ spent by the
Bush regime, preaching it. Come to think of it, he can't even
keep his girls off the grog, let alone preach to the masses.

Come to think of some more.. All those priests and preachers whom
we know about, who according to you have no moral conscience, despite
years of religious seminary attendance, IMHO would only be the tip
of the iceberg. How many cover ups are going on, that we don't know
about?

Ignore nature at your peril. Sex is normal and natural. When people
try to pretend its not, what you land up with is a disaster, as
the evidence shows.

Time to rethink things runner, clearly you are barking up the
wrong tree.