Monday, April 16, 2007

Good news on abortion

Abortions 'crisis' threatens NHS

Many doctors are opting out of providing abortions
An increasing number of doctors are refusing to carry out abortions, leading to a crisis in NHS services, experts have warned.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says there has been a big rise in the number of doctors who are "conscientious objectors".

About 190,000 abortions take place in England and Wales annually.

The NHS pays for four out of five - but half of these are carried out by private sector providers.

This is double the proportion performed in the private sector 10 years ago.

Abortion is legal in Britain up to 24 weeks, however it can occur later if doctors believe the baby has a severe disability or if the mother's life is at risk. - BBC

5 comments:

Fenella said...

Is it right that a woman who has been sexually assaulted is forced to struggle to have a termination? Has she not been through enough trauma?
Abortion is never an easy answer. It causes grief , pain regret and trauma. Ther eis nothing good about not being able to have one . Perhaps these conscientous objectors would like to pay for the babies upkeep, social welfare cost and consequence of their actions.fen who is supposed to be resting as exhausting and in very bad pain//

John said...

If I may, Graham?

Fenella,
There are objectors to abortion who would deny all right to a termination at any stage and for any reason but many of them, strange as it may seem, would like to pay for all these things rather than have (if I may be so pointed) the unborn child pay for the sins of the father.

For the particular instance you cite, the trauma is liable to be considerably lessened by seeking help immediately. Moreover, whatever the grounds of objection to abortion — and nobody has no objection to any form of abortion whatsoever! — it cannot be denied that use of an abortifacient (routinely administered after rape) is less traumatic for the mother than any sort of invasive termination afterwards.

I trust that your pain will be over soon and that you'll be able to return to work and actually start blogging. Being able to help people with eating disorders is a great blessing to share and, I would have thought, something that needs to be blogged about.

mimi said...

Does the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists suggest why the change of some to be conscientious objectors?

Graham Weeks said...

Hard cases make bad law. These cases are a miniscule proportion of abortions, most of which are done for social reasons.

Secondly two wrongs do not make a right. if the unborn child is a person, the only justification for termination is to save the life of the mother. Such cases are very, very rare.I have very sympathy with the victims of assault but do not believe it warrants abortion. Europe's indigenous population is in decline. Abortion is in part to blame as is secularism. "All who hate me love death." Pro 8:36

Graham Weeks said...

In response to mimi, the article (click on the header)says,

Experts say the decline in the number of NHS doctors willing to perform abortions has also declined because they are able to "pick and choose" the areas they train and specialise in - and very few opt to carry out terminations when they can choose other areas such as fertility medicine.