Illegal abortions in the UK

[Coito ergo sum]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healt ... asked.html

Abortion investigation: doctors filmed agreeing illegal abortions 'no questions asked'
Women are being granted illegal abortions by doctors based on the sex of their unborn baby, an undercover investigation by The Daily Telegraph reveals.

Wait, so -- if a woman chooses to abort because she wanted a girl and not a boy, then it's illegal? She doesn't have the right to choose?

In three instances doctors were recorded offering to arrange terminations after being told the mother-to-be did not want to go ahead with the pregnancy because of the sex of the unborn child.

No, I'm sorry. Your thought processes are wrong. Therefore you must carry your baby to term, until you pick a different reason for having an abortion. Oh, it's because you don't "feel ready" - o.k. - then up in the stirrups, please!

What a crock. You can't prevent women from doing what they want with their own bodies, unless they don't think the right way.

[Animavore]

It's outright illegal in Ireland.

[MrJonno]

Rights American way of thinking, something is either legal or not 'rights' don't come into it

Abortion is only legal in the UK if to have a baby would be damaging to the mother's health or the fetus is seriously handicapped . However rightly mental and emotional damage are included which means 99.9% of the time its permitted.

It's illegal to have an abortion if its to avoid cancelling a holiday (through if you would be so traumatised by losing the holiday it would be ok).
Abortion on sex of the baby grounds would be legal if there is a proper medical reason (ie genetic disease)

It does sound like the mother is being punished for talking too much

[Tero]

The future may get ugly. You may have to travel to a rogue country for ultrasound or CVS and abort the wrong sex fetus at home.

[Svartalf]

It's outright illegal in Ireland.

Abortion in general, or abortion for gender selection?
It's illegal here too... I think that by the tame the gender of the baby can be discerned, it is a bit late to arrange and abort it anyway.

[Coito ergo sum]

Rights American way of thinking, something is either legal or not 'rights' don't come into it

Abortion is only legal in the UK if to have a baby would be damaging to the mother's health or the fetus is seriously handicapped . However rightly mental and emotional damage are included which means 99.9% of the time its permitted.

It's illegal to have an abortion if its to avoid cancelling a holiday (through if you would be so traumatised by losing the holiday it would be ok).
Abortion on sex of the baby grounds would be legal if there is a proper medical reason (ie genetic disease)

It does sound like the mother is being punished for talking too much

Rights are an English way of thinking. We got it from you. Our country, and our rights, were the 'rights of Englishmen.' You know....Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, and all that, wut wut and tut tut...ay what?

[MrJonno]

Rights are an English way of thinking. We got it from you. Our country, and our rights, were the 'rights of Englishmen.' You know....Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, and all that, wut wut and tut tut...ay what?

We have moved on from those days of religious moral absolutes of god and kings etc,

Abortion is legal as mainly none of my business what a women does with a fetus, however if someone could show me abortion result in lots of child murders (even if not by the person having an abortion) or that women who have abortions all go completely mental either being institutionalised or going around with sharp knives trying to stab people it would be my business as this would put my health in danger and cost lots of tax payers money. There isnt any evidence for this of course and in fact the biggest cost for society is people having babies they can't cope with /don't want. I would glad offer a £500 bribe from the taxpayer to anyone who have an abortion , if they wanted a baby they would tell me to fuck off and go to hell if they took the money they shouldn't be parents in the first place.

So I'm not pro choice or pro life I'm pro abortion

[Animavore]

It's outright illegal in Ireland.

Abortion in general, or abortion for gender selection?
It's illegal here too... I think that by the tame the gender of the baby can be discerned, it is a bit late to arrange and abort it anyway.

Abortion in general.

[Rum]

I am curious as to where this originates, if it turns out to be true.

We have a significant South Asian population here and male children are often valued rather more than girl children in the older 'tradition'. In India abandoning girls babies to die is common.

Just a thought.

[MrJonno]

It true reporters got this response from doctors but whether this happens with real people who knows

[Xamonas Chegwé]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healt ... asked.html

Abortion investigation: doctors filmed agreeing illegal abortions 'no questions asked'
Women are being granted illegal abortions by doctors based on the sex of their unborn baby, an undercover investigation by The Daily Telegraph reveals.

Wait, so -- if a woman chooses to abort because she wanted a girl and not a boy, then it's illegal? She doesn't have the right to choose?

In three instances doctors were recorded offering to arrange terminations after being told the mother-to-be did not want to go ahead with the pregnancy because of the sex of the unborn child.

No, I'm sorry. Your thought processes are wrong. Therefore you must carry your baby to term, until you pick a different reason for having an abortion. Oh, it's because you don't "feel ready" - o.k. - then up in the stirrups, please!

What a crock. You can't prevent women from doing what they want with their own bodies, unless they don't think the right way.

There is a huge problem with gender-based termination among certain (mainly Middle-Eastern & Indian sub-continent) cultures. It is not a case of "wanting a girl" or not. It is a case of (illegal) dowry payments crippling poor families. Girls are simply not economically viable. The ease of gender-testing and the availability of abortion is leading to a pronounced imbalance in the gender make-up of some immigrant communities in the UK.

The problem is not a few rogue doctors, it is a fucked up, anachronistic, cultural preference for boy children.

[Coito ergo sum]

British law doesn't apply in the middle east or Indian sub-continent.

So what if an Indian mother said "this is a girl, I don't want a girl." That would warrant criminalizing her abortion that would otherwise be legal?

[Rum]

Some people seem to go from OPs to opining without the intermediate step usually recommended for foruming...

[Trinity]

I had the opposite situation with my first born. I was 19, extremely naive, had attempted suicide with serious intent a year before getting pregnant, abused drugs and alcohol and lived in a hovel to put it bluntly. It was one month before a test showed positive (or so my doctor told me) and when I saw my doctor ( a female) I explained how frightened I was and didn't know what to do. She persuaded me to think about keeping my child as I would regret it later. She told me she was a parent and that her children were her life. I went home and spent tortuous days trying to decide what to do. Eventually I thought that with my life condition and my poor mental state I probably wouldn't be a good mother, that I would end up being like my mother. I returned to my doctor and told her my thoughts. She tried to dissuade me once again so I went away feeling guilt ridden and spent a few more days thinking things through. Coming to the same decision (but at the same time feeling regret and emotional pain) I told my doctor. She gave me an examination and told me I was three months gone and therefore would not be able to have an abortion on the NHS. My only option was to keep the child or to pay for a private abortion, then costing about £300 which was a joke as I had nothing and no-one to ask to borrow the money. At that point I realised I had no choice and that this baby was determined to come into my life. I wasn't going to risk trying to find an illegal alternative and at that point I felt a connection with my baby. A month later, when I was supposed to be four months pregnant, I went for a scan which put me at 3 months of pregnancy. I realised then that my doctor had outright lied to me about the dates and although I was committed to the pregnancy I was furious at being manipulated.

[hadespussercats]

I had the opposite situation with my first born. I was 19, extremely naive, had attempted suicide with serious intent a year before getting pregnant, abused drugs and alcohol and lived in a hovel to put it bluntly. It was one month before a test showed positive (or so my doctor told me) and when I saw my doctor ( a female) I explained how frightened I was and didn't know what to do. She persuaded me to think about keeping my child as I would regret it later. She told me she was a parent and that her children were her life. I went home and spent tortuous days trying to decide what to do. Eventually I thought that with my life condition and my poor mental state I probably wouldn't be a good mother, that I would end up being like my mother. I returned to my doctor and told her my thoughts. She tried to dissuade me once again so I went away feeling guilt ridden and spent a few more days thinking things through. Coming to the same decision (but at the same time feeling regret and emotional pain) I told my doctor. She gave me an examination and told me I was three months gone and therefore would not be able to have an abortion on the NHS. My only option was to keep the child or to pay for a private abortion, then costing about £300 which was a joke as I had nothing and no-one to ask to borrow the money. At that point I realised I had no choice and that this baby was determined to come into my life. I wasn't going to risk trying to find an illegal alternative and at that point I felt a connection with my baby. A month later, when I was supposed to be four months pregnant, I went for a scan which put me at 3 months of pregnancy. I realised then that my doctor had outright lied to me about the dates and although I was committed to the pregnancy I was furious at being manipulated.

Trinity, that is shocking. That doctor had no right to impose her values on your life that way. Maybe it did work out well in the long run-- but she had no way of knowing that at the time. Given what you were going through, it's a testament to you that you pulled through as well as you did. Someone else in that same situation, with a new baby in tow, might have sunk.