Celivia... contraception in Australia truly is that cheap. After having my first child I looked at many of the options available. Implanon was by far the cheapest, the pill or Depoprovera (the 3 monthly injection) were about the same - the only thing being that for the pill you have one doctors appointment for 4 (3 monthly)scripts and you needed a doctors appointment every 3 months for the injection. Condoms were the most expensive, but then were also the only option that provides some STD protection. As I was in a long term relationship with my childs father and expected more sleep deprivation choosing Implanon was very easy.

The abortion debate is very different depending on which part of the world it is looking at. My personal opinion is that Churches (particularly in the Third world) are a tool of power and control, not faith, and it is absolutely in their interest to ensure that women in particular do not find economic freedom that will lead to further education and emancipation. Keeping them barefoot and pregnant is one way to ensure the congregation grows, and that they are too busy trying to keep themselves and their children alive to rise up against the position they have been placed.

However... the abortion debate in Australia is significantly different. We are educated, information is freely available yet there is a group of people (male and female) who would prefer to forgoe any personal responsibility for ensuring their fertility regardless of the facilities available and demand abortion/termination as their right. Being concerned about this does not make someone a 'right-to-lifer'... it is saying that with any right comes a responsibility, and that responsibility must be taken seriously and conscientiously.

After all an abortion carried out at the end of the first trimester means that a foetus (about the size of a tennis ball) with arms, legs and heart beating is going to be killed at the request of its mother. But at that stage it certainly isn't an 8-cell zygote (you wouldn't even know you were pregnant while the embryo was that size).

Meelamay, you are right. There are some people who are irresponsible and do not bother to use reliable methods of contraception. And yes, the fetus at the end of the first trimester is not the same as the zygote.

However, the point that the article is trying to make, is that the pro life movement opposes contraception with the same zeal that it opposes abortion. They oppose all the contraceptive methods that you have mentioned. They do not distinguish between the zygote and the three month old fetus. Do not take my word for it, check it out for yourself:

Birth control pills kill babies:
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-bcpill.html
http://www.prolife.com/BIRTHCNT.html

If you think that women should have access to contraceptives, you should write to the pro life organizations and tell them!

Meelamay “who would prefer to forgoe any personal responsibility for ensuring their fertility regardless of the facilities available and demand abortion/termination as their right.”

Actually, “exercising choice” is to take on the responsibility.

Denying responsibility would be to succumb to a fatalistic attitude or to victimise oneself by not exercising conscious choice.

Of course exercising “conscious choice” does not pre-suppose that the outcome means having an abortion, it might equally mean accepting the notion of going through with a pregnancy consciously, rather than unconsciously.

Anti-abortionists would deny a woman choice. That would, effectively, deny her the right to accept any responsibility for her condition.

Celivia “Anti-abortionists such as religious leaders who object to contraception prove that for them, it is not 'all about saving "babies" '.”

It is about greater social control by an organization formed around a theocratic despot.

Basically the Church of Rome demanding its right of interference into the lives of everyone, regardless those people be of the faith or, in my case, a heretic.

When we look back at its history, it has brought such delights as the inquisition and the practice of castrati (more for the enjoyment of its bishops than the castrated) to blight the lives of people everywhere, whilst simultaneously protecting pedophiles and sexual deviants

Meelamay, I'm equally uncomfortable with the idea of so many 3+ month old foetuses being aborted - so we need to look at what circumstances lead to that. I'm quite certain that in Australia lack of availability of RU-486 is a big part of that - in the aforementioend Western European countries (with low abortion rates), the drug is widely available and most abortions are in the first few weeks of pregnancy, often non-surgically.
Social attitudes towards abortion also make a difference - a woman who realises that she's pregnant and is in no position to bring a child into the world will quite probably hesitate for a weeks if there is a stigma attached to abortion. But of course the longer you leave it, the closer to infanticide the action arguably becomes.
OTOH, I note that the Netherlands has a 5-day waiting period.

Ideally what should happen is that young people should be properly educated about the risks involved in early sexual behaviour with regard to their intellectual and psychological development, the impact on their life, the short term and long term financial implications and the emotional baggage that it can produce and later carry.

Only when young people fully understand what might be the consequences of their actions(or have at least been provided with the information)then we may just see some more thought out and better choices being made.

Young people need to be told that they can choose to confidently say no to teenage sex and wait until they are older, and focus on other things.

Many teenagers are engaging in sex too early and sexually transmitted diseases and/or pregnancy are usually part of the result.

I do believe that there should be contraception and the morning after pill readily available. At this point in time you cannot really blame teenagers for the way that they are behaving given the push in the media for this type of behaviour so we have to protect them and help them to change.

Education - Keeping them HOnest
http://jolandachallita.typepad.com/education/
Our children deserve better

the fact is even if contraception is free and readily available there will also be those women who are irresponsible and careless enough to get pregnant when they don't want to be.Then they are selfish enough if you force them to give birth to keep their unwanted child it is then that child who suffers long term Abortion therefore should be legal to stop children living unloved and feeling unwanted