Abortion in Great Britain: "The Statistics Tell Their Own Story."

It seems as if very few weeks or so I run across something like, "Why I, as a Feminist, Abhor How the Abortion Law Has Been So Abused." Written by Amanda Platell, the lengthy article (2,033 words) appeared in the [London] Daily Mail yesterday.

These articles lament the extreme to which the "right" to choose has gone. What was supposed to be reserved as a "last resort" has morphed into "the situation we have in Britain today where tens of thousands of women (doubtless egged on by their male partners) treat abortion as just another means of contraception -- as freely available and readily accessible as the Morning-After Pill."

The authors, in this case Ms. Platell, want abortion to remain legal, but are distraught that the internal logic (abortion is a "right" and the unborn some sort of quasi-human entity) has  obliterated all nominal checks and balances. Women can have abortions up through 24 weeks in England, and (for all practical purposes) at any point onward, if they are able to convince the abortionist that there are extenuating circumstances--not exactly a difficult assignment.

Typically, what brings matters to a head is a trifecta of factors. The first is the aforementioned abortion on demand. As Ms. Platell puts it, "The statistics tell their own story."

There were just under 55.000 abortions in 1969, the first full year abortion became legal in Britain. "Last year, there were more than 214,000," she writes, "the highest rate of abortion of any European nation, and equivalent to a population the size of a city such as Coventry."

The second, as Ms. Platell eloquently points out, is the impact of ultrasounds. "We know that as early as 13 weeks, a foetus appears to yawn and rub their eyes; that at 15 weeks, they gain a sense of taste; that at 18 weeks they begin to hear," she writes. "Who now can look at those images taken recently of a 23-week-old foetus in the womb, sucking its thumb and playing with its toes, and not shudder at the inadequacy of the current abortion legislation?"

And the third is that, even though there are, in practice, no limitations on abortion, the abortion lobby wants to make access to abortion easier, faster, and more widespread. And this is no idle speculation.

Later this year Parliament will revisit the 1967 Abortion Act which "will be open to amendment." However, according to Ms. Platell, rather than tightening the law up, "Egged on by the lobby group Abortion Rights, and supported by a huge number of Labour and LibDem MPs for whom 'a woman's right' has become an article of faith, they are pressing for abortions to be made even easier to obtain."

That includes such proposals as having nurses perform abortions and perform them in women's homes. They are aided and abetted by the influential British Medical Association's Medical Ethics Committee which is "similarly seeking to change the current law that requires two doctors' authorisations before an abortion can be carried out (to be replaced with a single doctor's signature) and are also endorsing the move to allow nurses to carry out the procedure."

What qualifies as irony squared is, according to Ms. Platell, that there is a huge groundswell--led by women--that wants the laws tightened up in a serious way.

"A staggering body of research to be unveiled tomorrow shows that 68 per cent of people in this country want to make abortion law tougher and reduce the upper limit from 24 weeks to around 13 weeks," she writes. "Fifty-five per cent believe there are too many abortions and want the Government to take steps to reduce that number."

In addition, "Seventy-two per cent of women think the abortion limit should be almost halved from the present limit, to around 13 weeks..

This is not our position, of course,  nor the position of pro-life groups in Great Britain. But the willingness on the part of people such as Amanda Platell to rethink their position bears striking witness to the widespread uneasiness that comes to most thinking people when they realize that abortion as a "last resort" has morphed into abortion for any reason, or no reason, and that there are NEVER enough abortions for the Pro-Death Lobby.

You can read the piece its entirety at www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/columnists.html?in_article_id=481103&in_page_id=1772&in_author_id=463&in_check=N.

Please send your comments to Dave Andrusko at daveandrusko@hotmail.com.