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The Forum > Article Comments > The case for decriminalising abortion is not so simple > Comments

The case for decriminalising abortion is not so simple : Comments

By David Palmer, published 4/7/2008

There is an ever expanding database of women having an abortion and paying a terrible cost.

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David,

There are lots of things about abortion that are bad, however, there are also many bad consequences of stopping abortion, and the world in general has decided that a woman should have the choice of what occurs within her own body, much in the same way that she should have freedom of religion, freedom of association, and freedom of speech.

The world of our fore fathers allowed a woman none of these, and no one actually wants to put the clock back.

The catholic church no longer holds the moral high ground, condemning abortion and contraception while covering up homosexual paedophilia within its ranks (re the Pell incident). The old case of do what I say and not what I do.

2/3rds of unplanned pregnancies are due to the failure of contraception. Their choice in the first place was not to have a child, yet more than 50% still choose to carry the child and not abort. That only 1% give the child up for adoption shows that it is not the easy alternative choice touted by the pro lifers.

Abortion is not a choice easily undertaken, but needs to be available in today's modern world.
Posted by Democritus, Wednesday, 9 July 2008 6:01:32 AM
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Its interesting that the same old arguments are continually trotted out by the religious right.

There is no biblical or religious basis for opposing abortion. Christianity did not historically oppose abortion this is new in history so basing an argument on that premise is wrong.

Melinda Tankard-Reist was an advisor to Senator Harradine and is associated with the Southern Cross Bioethics Centre a catholic think-tank and strongly opposes abortion.

No independent reseacrh has confirmed that women suffer post-abortion syndrome. It is not recognised by any legitimate medical or psychiatric peak bodies, only by those associated with religious organisations. It is a made-up condition by the religious right. Some women may suffer mental stress after abortion but many suffer post natal depression after birth, so this argument is a furphy.

The religious right are not pro-life. The only time they care about any form of life is from conception to birth. They could not give a damn about children after birth. Not for them the welfare state that redistributes wealth to the poor as Jesus mandated in the new testament, to help children living in poverty. Their concern is not life but control over other peoples' minds and bodies. Theirs is a deep seated narcissism that must impose its values on other people, it does not reflect the values or humility of Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus was not overwhelmingly concerned about sexuality or abortion nor did he whip himself into a frenzy over the consensual sexual behaviour of other people, his primary concern was social justice and the plight of the poor. The religious right have totally distorted christianity.

Anne
Posted by Lititia, Wednesday, 9 July 2008 1:54:28 PM
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Lititia,
The same old arguements for abortion are being trotted out (eg a woman's right to choose, the fetus is not human etc), but it would be interesting to know if you would like to see an incresae or a decrease in the number of abortions being performed.

1 abortion to every 3 live births does seem a very high ratio, particularly in a country with so much contraception available.

It would also be interesting to known if any university academic has researched ways to reduce abortion, and has drawn up a list of ways to reduce the number of abortions (preferably in order of priority), or are university academics too scared to do so.
Posted by HRS, Thursday, 10 July 2008 10:17:46 PM
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Hi HRS
I’m not sure whether you’ve read all of our comments or just Lititia’s, but we’ve discussed ways to reduce abortion rates.
IMO, the answer lies in legal, easily accessable abortion combined with comprehensive sex education and freely available or easily affordable contraception.
The availability of counseling for women who are dealing with an unwanted pregnancy, so that they are well informed of all the options, may also help.
The ultimate decision the woman makes ought to be respected.

http://tinyurl.com/5e2k8y
“The legal status of abortion does not predict its incidence
The lowest abortion rates in the world—less than 10 per 1,000 women of reproductive age—are in Europe, where abortion is legal and widely available.
By contrast, in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, where abortion law is most restrictive, the regional rates are 29 and 31, respectively.”
“Abortion rates have fallen worldwide, but primarily in developed countries “

“1 abortion to every 3 live births”
I’m quite sceptical about that.
We simply cannot know because there are no statistics kept by hospitals or Medicare in Australia.
I believe that the abortion rate in Australia is lower than 1 to every 3 births.
Posted by Celivia, Friday, 11 July 2008 8:51:11 AM
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Celivia,
I'm assuming that as a university academic who is funded by the public, Lititia does not want to give out too much information to the public (at least regards abortion).

But are you sure that lower abortion rates are due to "easily accessable abortion combined with comprehensive sex education and freely available or easily affordable contraception."

The average woman having an abortion in Australia appears to be a single woman in her 20's (who must know something about sex by that age) and there is freely available or easily affordable contraception in Australia.

So what else creates high rates of abortion?
Posted by HRS, Friday, 11 July 2008 10:47:36 PM
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HRS
Aha; I hope that Lititia will spill, too :)

Yep, I’m pretty sure that sex ed and affordable contraception plays a major role in lowering rates of unwanted pregnancy because all the evidence points to this.
For example, abortions in the Netherlands (who in 2005 experienced the lowest rate in the world) were for the vast majority performed on Turkish and Moroccan immigrant women, who had missed out on comprehensive sex education.

If we look at countries that do not have easily accessible abortion, we see that these countries have higher abortion rates than countries with liberal abortion laws.
But I don’t deny that other (re-active) aspects can play a role, too, like support from partners and family, even the economy.

Yes, you’re probably correct: women in their 20s are the most likely to seek abortion.
European countries with low abortion rates (lower than 10 per 1000 women) are simply better at preventing unwanted pregnancies, which result in fewer abortions.
Why won’t we prevent unwanted pregnancies at this level in Australia?

Firstly, the religious right believe that fornication is a sin. Sex education in this country is therefore ludicrous.
Hence, half to two-thirds of pregnant women who were using contraception didn’t have a clue about usage and risks.
Men also blindly rely on their partner’s contraception because they have no clue.
People in Australia leave school without knowing all that much about sex/contraception. They learn as they go- that’s why we have a higher than necessary abortion rate “if” the numbers are a guide.

Secondly, contraception such as the pill are not free or Medicare funded (the govt. rather spend it on baby bonuses) so students, who barely have enough money to survive on, cannot afford to spend their money on contraception.

Thirdly, even working women in their 20s who are single and have only sexual intercourse occasionally, often rely on condoms only. If they were educated, they'd not make that mistake.

If men as well as women were well informed about sex and contraception, if that contraception was freely available, then we could prevent many more unwanted pregnancies.
Posted by Celivia, Saturday, 12 July 2008 4:18:07 PM
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