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The difference forty years makes?

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Is this the difference in cultural mores that forty years can make? Through the normalization of taking a life? Then…

Josephine Woodgate was 25 when she had one of the UK’s earliest legal abortions. Today, 40 years after women were given the legal right to abortion, she remains haunted by the choice she made … “Over the years, the regret I felt has never waned. Even now, I still catch myself wondering about the child I might have had, if only I had been given more information at the time…”

…and now…

Kat Stark, 24, a union administrator from Warwick, has no regrets about having an abortion. She was 19 when she became pregnant while at university. “When I found out I was pregnant I didn’t have any money or a partner. I knew there was no way I could have a baby,” she said.

Sex is a sacrament and not a commodity?

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Woah. Must be some deeply religious news source—perhaps a newspaper from the Vatican—making this recommendation:

Re-instituting the traditional Christian message on sex – it is a sacrament and not a commodity – would be a good place to start.

Not quite. The same paper reports high teen abortion rates: One in 23 teens in some areas have had an abortion. I must be jaded, because that doesn’t sound that high to me. It’s worth looking into the stats and figuring out very precisely how many women have had abortions. In Canada, 70 per cent of abortions happen before age 29. But how many are repeat abortions, which would change the number of women who have had one, and the rate. This is very important. Why? For accuracy alone, which is a good reason all by itself. The other reason why it’s important is that pro-abortion activists would like to “mainstream” abortion. It’s just so normal, why look! One in three women will have one before the age of 45. I highly doubt this statistic as cited by Planned Parenthood in the U.S. And as with so many of these finer points, it is critical to know the exact and correct number.As for sex education and abortion: I’m not convinced calling sex a sacrament will help (far too many don’t know what a sacrament is). But that it is not a commodity, not to be taken lightly, and to be avoided entirely as a teen: Why, oh why, is this so controversial in the public square? 

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Just stumbled across this: This item suggests some women have repeat abortions. Up to five, in spite of sex education. Interesting.

This is big

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For decades, the medical establishment has maintained that there are no mental health risks for women after abortion. That is changing. Read about it here.

Several studies, including research published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry in 2006, concluded that abortion in young women might be associated with risks of mental health problems…

I know the American Psychological Association is also reviewing their position statement on women’s mental health following abortion. The new statement has not yet been released, but the very fact that they took down the old one saying abortion has no negative mental health effects means they know about the growing body of credible evidence showing quite the opposite. (Those studies show increased risks of suicide, suicide ideation, depressive episodes, hospitalization for depression and even things like increased drug use and engaging in risky sexual activity.)

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Andrea emphasizes: This is not yet another study coming out showing negative mental health affects for women the result of abortion. This announcement from the United Kingdom shows a body of doctors paying heed to the existing research.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists says women should not be allowed to have an abortion until they are counselled on the possible risk to their mental health…

That’s why this announcement is so big. Because the studies showing poor outcomes have existed for a while, it’s just no one listened to them. That’s what’s changing.

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Tanya adds: It is big, I agree. The question is what took them so long. After all, a the British Medical Journal reported this in 2002 , and in 1996, a Finnish study concluded an “increased risk of suicide after an induced abortion.”

Then there’s the New Zealand study which reported in 2006 that “Young women who have had an abortion may be at increased risk of developing mental health problems.” Yet 98.9 percent of abortions granted in New Zealand are “done on ‘mental health’ grounds.” Why did it take so long for women to get informed consent?

The pitfalls–and promise?–of socialized medicine

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Ninety-four per cent said that an alcoholic who refused to stop drinking should not be allowed a liver transplant, while one in five said taxpayers should not pay for “social abortions” and fertility treatment…

Managers defend the policies because of the higher risk of complications on the operating table for unfit patients. But critics believe that patients are being denied care simply to save money.

It’s not because the government cares about us that we have such a zealous anti-smoking campaign. It’s ’cause when we smoke, it costs them money in treatment. Now this article from the UK discusses other problematic aspects of health care. Ending taxpayer funding of “social abortions,” would be a real coup, where in Canada at least, the vast majority of abortions are done for social reasons. But denying the elderly? The obese?

No health care crisis here. Nope, there’s nothing to see here. Pro-choicers talk incessantly about access as if they’d like a clinic beside every 7-11. Here’s betting the vast majority of Canadians are more concerned about the fact that they can’t find a family doctor.

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