Again the venom of those opposing any kind of debate is clear. Seems to me all David wants to do is find ways to protect women. The VLRC report does to seem to be "purpose written" to protect abortion clinics rather than women.

Mermac.

The palpable grief I see on the media following the violent death of a young child, contrasts to those who think killing a human being in waiting, is acceptable.

Post 32 weeks, we have to ask those who take an oath to "at least do no harm" for a decision.

Tenderness, love, compassion and understanding seem to go out the window in this debate.

We have to live with our decisions for eternity; which is a fairly long time.

Apart from the obvious civil liberties issues, it is essential that all means to control runaway population growth that threatens our future, including the right to have an abortion, be made available to women. This is even more desperately urgent in Third World countries where lobbying form the Catholic church and other religious right organisations effectively prevents many Industrialised nations from providing birth control aid.

A related article "Why is the UN so complacent in the face of over-population peril?" at http://candobetter.org/node/631 may be of interest.

I'm greatly encouraged to see by some of the responses to this article that not all commentators here are hostile to an approach to abortion that considers the welfare of both the mother and the unborn child, and seeks to extend the love of God to both. I was beginning to think that the rationality-free, venomous,and ad hominem responses of ianbrum, Foyle and Doc Holliday constituted the Forum's house style. Foyle's alleged quotation of John Raulston Saul in particular is infamous, implying that Mr Palmer must be a child-molester or an adulterer, and I shall be complaining about it to the forum administrator.

I can never understand those folk who demand to impose their will over the sovereignty of another person.

I fully accept that some women will, with varying degrees of grief and emotion, regret a decision they may have made to abort.

Such feelings are among the consequences of taking responsibility for the decisions we make.

Such feelings are insignificant compared to living with the pain of a decision imposed upon us by strangers, in this case, enforcing women to endure a pregnancy against her will.

However, when every anti-abortionist is complaining about the thousands and thousands of abortions undertaken every year, a book annotating 18 individual events cannot be called “significantly representative”.

I see no representation for the views of the thousands and thousands of women who, knowing their own circumstances and aspirations, which presumably did not include or embrace pregnancy at that particular moment time, had an abortion and believe it was the right thing to do.

I discount the sensitivities of the religious minded. They are entitled to pray for a different world and even work towards it but they are not entitled to impose that “world view” on the secularly minded citizens of this or any other country, any more than the secularists are entitled to outlaw or ban a religious creed.

I trust all will find my post completely deviod of any ad homenins, venom or a bitter vile response to anyone.

Daggett whilst I share your sentiment, I do not agree the issues of abortion and world population are or should be considered as in any way related.

Of the two, world population is serious but the right to abort a pregnancy and individual sovereignty is far more critical.

World population issues ultimately affect the style in which we live.

The right to make sovereign choices affects not the style in which we live but whether living is reduced to mere existing.

I've got a few friends who have had an abortion (or maybe more) and they've never felt so relieved. It was one of the best days of their lives. And now they have recovered from that hideously depressing time, put it behind them and are now enjoying their current work and relationhips.

I don't argued with anti-abortionists anymore. I used to but there's not point. I am now in favour of tactics which make opening their mouths a less than pleasant experience.