What of the real issue....
Today, there has been a reasoned and reasonable debate in Parliament about where to put the legal time limit for performing an abortion in the UK. Currently it's 24 weeks. It may be reduced. But this debate misses what for all of us should be really disturbing statistic: the number of abortions in England and Wales in 2006 was 193,700 (an increase on 2005). That's an average of 3725 per week, 532 per day, 22 per hour, about one every 22 second, of every day, of every month through the year. About 90% were carried out by the 13th week of gestation. Of the 193,700, only 2,000(1%) were under ground E, because there was a risk that the child would be born handicapped. One wonders at the reason for the other 191,700. The numbers are publicly available on the Department of Health website. But the numbers, the facts don't really help, except to alert us to an unfolding disaster that speaks volumes about the kind of society we've become.
No one with any sense would deny that underlying these figures are tens of thousands of individual tragedies for the women involved. While some perhaps undertake this course seeing it as no more than another form of contraception, I'm prepared to believe that many do so after careful thought, deliberation and no doubt for some, for many, anguish. All of this misses the point. We're not talking about the disposal of fridges or dishwashers. Or a choice between a car and a holiday. We're talking about the systematic ending of life (actual or potential) on a massive scale. And, as almost a byproduct the risk of lasting damage to the woman concerned. While for many there is perhaps relief and even escape, how many thousands remain scared and damaged? I ask because I don't know. And as with so many issues around abortion, answers beyond the bare numbers are hard to disentangle from polemic.
There can be no flip answer. Surely the current situation can't simply be ignored. Banning abortion wont end it, just hide it. Simply suddenly restricting it at the point of demand is likely to be as damaging at the current situation. In any case, having opened the box, there can be no neat, instant way of shutting it again. If there is to be a right to choose, perhaps we should begin by enabling a real choice. Proper options for the potential mother, a proper taking of responsibility for the potential children by the rest of us. There's a lot of responsibility being ducked in current circumstances, on all sides. While on the one hand this is an intensly personal situation, given the scale of what is going on it has a public dimension.
But "right to life" vs "right to choose" has delivered us into, rather than delivered us from, a mess. No answers, just more questions - at least from me.
Today, there has been a reasoned and reasonable debate in Parliament about where to put the legal time limit for performing an abortion in the UK. Currently it's 24 weeks. It may be reduced. But this debate misses what for all of us should be really disturbing statistic: the number of abortions in England and Wales in 2006 was 193,700 (an increase on 2005). That's an average of 3725 per week, 532 per day, 22 per hour, about one every 22 second, of every day, of every month through the year. About 90% were carried out by the 13th week of gestation. Of the 193,700, only 2,000(1%) were under ground E, because there was a risk that the child would be born handicapped. One wonders at the reason for the other 191,700. The numbers are publicly available on the Department of Health website. But the numbers, the facts don't really help, except to alert us to an unfolding disaster that speaks volumes about the kind of society we've become.
No one with any sense would deny that underlying these figures are tens of thousands of individual tragedies for the women involved. While some perhaps undertake this course seeing it as no more than another form of contraception, I'm prepared to believe that many do so after careful thought, deliberation and no doubt for some, for many, anguish. All of this misses the point. We're not talking about the disposal of fridges or dishwashers. Or a choice between a car and a holiday. We're talking about the systematic ending of life (actual or potential) on a massive scale. And, as almost a byproduct the risk of lasting damage to the woman concerned. While for many there is perhaps relief and even escape, how many thousands remain scared and damaged? I ask because I don't know. And as with so many issues around abortion, answers beyond the bare numbers are hard to disentangle from polemic.
There can be no flip answer. Surely the current situation can't simply be ignored. Banning abortion wont end it, just hide it. Simply suddenly restricting it at the point of demand is likely to be as damaging at the current situation. In any case, having opened the box, there can be no neat, instant way of shutting it again. If there is to be a right to choose, perhaps we should begin by enabling a real choice. Proper options for the potential mother, a proper taking of responsibility for the potential children by the rest of us. There's a lot of responsibility being ducked in current circumstances, on all sides. While on the one hand this is an intensly personal situation, given the scale of what is going on it has a public dimension.
But "right to life" vs "right to choose" has delivered us into, rather than delivered us from, a mess. No answers, just more questions - at least from me.
Labels: abortion debate parliament
posted by Paul at 12:16 PM
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