Holiday things not to do

1. Don’t show up at the office Christmas party with a Marie Stopes “party purse”.

A total of 5,992 abortions were carried out at Marie Stopes International’s nine UK clinics in January – a rise of 13% on the 5,304 in January 2005.

“We may be seeing the consequences of the festive season, when partying excess and alcohol consumption combine to increase libido and lower inhibition, with the inevitable consequences of unprotected sex resulting in unplanned pregnancies.”

[…]

Last Christmas the charity offered festive “party purses” stocked with condoms and the morning after pill.

Liz Davies, MSI director of UK operations, said: “Despite our efforts we have still seen the biggest rise ever in abortion figures in the month after Christmas.

2. Do NOT use an unexpected pregnancy to exhibit your awesome powers of fertility.

Abortions usually peak at the end of long school holidays, according to newspaper reports in South China’s Guangdong Province. The past month – after the end of the school summer vacation – has seen more students having abortions, according to the Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Evening News.

A similar increase was reported a few months ago after the week-long May Day holidays when at least 1,000 students, most under age 20, visited hospitals in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, for abortions, according to the Xinkuai Bao newspaper.

And, the weeks after the Spring Festival – the Chinese Lunar New Year – and the week-long October 1 National Day holidays have also become peak seasons for student abortions, according to Doctor Yang Jin of the Gynecology and Obstetrics Department of Zhujiang Hospital in Guangzhou.

[…]

Many high school girls adopted a light attitude towards abortion and even considered it’s a way to show their ability to bear a child. Some even arrived at the hospital as a group in a festive mood.

3. Lastly, whatever you do, even if you put off shopping until midnight on Christmas Eve, do NOT, I repeat… DO NOT resort to buying your partner a Planned Parenthood gift card.

Indiana residents in need of a quick stocking stuffer this holiday season have an unusual option: Planned Parenthood gift certificates.

The group’s Hoosier State chapter on Wednesday began selling gift certificates redeemable at any of its 35 facilities for any service provided — from basic health screenings to birth control to abortions.

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Andrea adds: Too late on the Marie Stopes Party Purse, Jennifer! Our office Christmas party was weeks ago. Seriously, however, I’m trying to think of what my family would do if I gave a “Planned Parenthood gift card.” It would probably result in an immediate psychiatric assessment of some kind, hurried consultations and an intervention. That, or just lots of yelling.

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