h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Abortion is such an individual issue. It cannot be legislated... there can be laws for and against, but the final decision rests with the mother, if she's affluent enough to obtain a termination safely.

There are many factors: is the pregnancy a result of rape? incest? accidental? inadequate birth control methods? ignorance? If one engages in consensual sexual activity, then one needs to be responsible for the possible repercussions.

Is adequate education provided? Do parents of children of reproductive age care enough about them to teach them abstinance or safe sex practices? Do these parents rely on "morality," church or school to teach their children?

Unfortunately, we live in an age wherein education is not available to all, incest and/or rape occur every three minutes, responsibility for one's own actions is not the first and foremost tenet of being alive, accountability to one's community is a bygone underpinning, thus, abortion is necessary in the day and era.

Promote sexual education and responsibility -- abortion rates will decline.

I agree with that last sentence. I would add:

Promote ready access to all major forms of birth control.

In the US, about 15 percent of people have no health insurance coverage and have not had any for at least the past year (statistic from the US Census Bureau, 1999). Poorer women (largely minority women) must take on financial burden or accept charity to get access to birth control pills, IUDs, the morning after pill, and so on. They may only have ready access to over-the-counter solutions like condoms, which are far less effective in preventing pregnancy.

The problem is compounded for teenagers, who are unable to schedule doctor visits without their parents' consent. Because of this problem, and unfounded fears that selling or giving condoms to teens will increase sexual activity, the Unites States has the worst rate of teen pregnancy for all developed nations (Alan Guttenmacher Institute).

There is a public mindset that only "stupid" or "sinful" people get pregnant unexpectedly. This opinion is based on ignorance and a lack of compassion. I support Planned Parenthood and similar services that offer birth control pills and gynecological tests at reduced prices. I also support an effort underway by a portion of the FDA to make the birth control pill an over-the-counter drug. This would release poor women and teens from the necessity of paying for a doctor's visit to get the pill, and would reduce prices for the drug too.

Even the pill is only 97% effective for your average woman. It would be much higher if all women took it unfailingly at the same time every day, but the reality is that doing so is harder than you think. Life sometimes gets in the way. This means that every year, 3 percent of sexually active women on the pill *will* get pregnant (Planned Parenthood data). And over the course of a lifetime, this 3% per year lottery adds up to a very real risk of unwanted pregnancy.

In fact, half of all women in the US will or have had an unintended pregnancy during their lifetimes (National Institute for Health). About half choose abortion. Those who choose abortion simply don't discuss it with people outside their immediate family. We place too high a stigma on them for their honesty. And that's a shame, because if you look around you, every fourth woman you see had or will have an abortion. That's a lot of women to condemn so easily.

it would be better if anyone could get *confidential* help on contraception or abortion. this would almost certainly lower the number of teenage girls that accidently got pregnant or waited to long for an abortion because they were afraid to come to their parents about it for one reason or another such as: they might get beaten, they might get thrown out, they are embarassed or ashamed, they are afraid their parents would distrust them.

In the UK, contraception is free (thanks to the National Health Service) and all forms are available through either GPs (except condoms) or Family Planning Clinics, the latter allowing a greater degree of privacy.

I do not know the exact policy of prescribing contraception to the under-age, and it often seems to be somewhat at the discretion of the GP concerned. In general though, the policy is to respect the patient's privacy, and not disclose details (for instance, to parents), unless there is a definite risk to the patient concerned.

Part of the problem for teenagers is that they are often unaware of the contraceptive measures that can be taken, even up to five days after intercourse, and are only prepared to face up to the problem of unwanted pregnancy when it reaches a stage where their condition can no longer be concealed.

Presumably this discussion will produce an entry on 'Abortion' and hopefully also 'Contraception' (if such entries do not already exist), as h2g2 is uniquely positioned to offer that missing vital information and feedback which is so often the cause of 'mistakes' in the first instance.

Well done h2g2 and Peta for raising this discussion, especially in a medium where both sides voices can be heard equally!

~A~

I would agree that this whole discussion has been surprisingly mild and pleasant. I expected an opinion war to break out when I read the topic, but I needn't have worried. h2g2's atmosphere continues to happily surprise me.

well, of course there haven't been any opinion wars....because there haven't been any dissenting opinions. reading through these threads, of the people who have expressed an open opinion, i have seen one pro life poster. if there were more conflicting opinions, the threads would be pages long by now, but it's hard to have a debate when there are no opposing viewpoints.

Perhaps this speaks volumes about the open-mindedness of most of h2g2's researchers?

Now if only the whole world were to follow our example...

~A~

There are a number of options when confronted with an unwanted pregnancy. (Sorry if i sound like I'm telling people what they already know) Abortion is of course only one of these options. In many cases the continuation of pregnancy may lead to either physical or mental injury to the mother and so in cases like this it would seem that abortion is the only answer.

I'm not going to sit on the fence here though. I disagree with abortion unless the birth of a child or the pregnancy will cause physical or mental damage to the mother. ie rape/incest cases. pregnancy amongst mothers with mental/physical health problems. (no doubt there are other situations that would also fit the bill.

I believe that if I were to get myself pregnant I should shoulder the responsibility of bringing up the child. OK it is likely to make my life very dificult and certainly would not be how I planned things but my concience wouldn't allow me to go through with an abortion. I believe that inconvinience is no excuse!

Part of the reason I believe this is due to the fact that I as adopted. My mother could have chosen abortion but instead decided to continue with the pregnancy and put me up for adoption. For that I thank her every day. I have a great quality of life, a wonderful family, and a good job. I could have been aborted if other peoples advice had been followed I would not even be here.

I know that this doesn't happen to everyone and I probably have a very one sided opinion of this matter but thats what H2G2 is all about.

At the end of the day choice is what is needed. If you remove legal abortion all that happens is the creation of back street abortion clinics who work outside the law and have no one to check that medical standards are being met. throughout the world millions of women have been injured, killed, scarred or emotionally damaged through visiting back street abortion clinics.

People need to be educated to the options open to them. (Adoption, Abortion, keeping the child etc) Once they have made their decision they need all the help, guidance and support available to them.