Abortion Advert on Channel 4

[squidge]

After being urged by a friend on facebook to join a thing condemning Channel 4s decision to screen an advert for Marie Stopes on Monday night I wondered what others thought about this. I actually thought it was discreet and understated. Is it actually advertising abortion? If it is, is it wrong to do so?

You can see it here

http://www.mariestopes.org.uk/Womens_services/Abortion/Are_you_Late$.aspx

[NorthernValeting]

I heard a discussion about this on the radio and they are saying that the aim of theadvert is there to make people aware of the different options when pregnant

[Shabbychic]

I think most people know what options are available to them when pregnant. To me this advert is not so much about caring and more about making money. Have you seen their fees (http://www.mariestopes.org.uk/Fees/Womens_services/Abortion.aspx)? Apparently the ad is supposed to empower women to reach confident, informed decisions about their sexual health....yes, if they can afford it.

[NorthernValeting]

Well I was going to say not all these young kids know about the option of abortion but seeing what they charge...even if this advert does make them aware theyre certainly not going to be able to afford it

[StacNKel]

My god the fee's they charge are disgusting.

One thing i do not agree with is the 24 week abortion, at 24 weeks a baby can hear, its little heart is beating and you can feel it move and if born at this stage has a 50 % chance of survival.

Every woman has a choice but in my opinion choose protection so as not to put yourself in a position where you would have to make the heartbreaking choice of aborting a baby :(

[ROSETIPS]

I agree abortion at that stage should not be allowed, having lost two babies at almost 24 weeks and 1 of them surviving for a few moments after being born, it seems an un natural thing to do.

[pegasus]

my opinion is that abortion is very wrong and to advertise it is a crime.

[rogermellie]

my opinion is that abortion is very wrong and to advertise it is a crime.


i agree, i think every 15/16/17 year old daft wee lassie who gets pregnant should go through with the pregnancy, have a bairn, ruin their life and in most cases be a feckless parent who is a drain on society.

just to clarify, this company don't just 'sell' abortions.

[squidge]

24 weeks seems very late but you have to weigh up the testing process. Not all abortions are for social reasons remember.

Although things are improving with earlier tests such as nuchal scans, in the Highlands we dont have access to these easily and in many places these scans are not available on the NHS. So in a normal pregnancy the first test you would have for any indicator of downs syndrome, edwards syndrome or spina bifida is at 16 weeks when you have the blood test. If you get a high result the first you would know about it is at 17 or 18 weeks when you would get a call back. You then need to decide whether to have an amniocentesis test so lets say that could take up to a week - here we are at 19 weeks, several days up to a week to get the result back and we are at 20 weeks before we know it. You then have to make a decision whether to terminate or not...

The hospital here are really good - i had a visit from a midwife within about five days of my blood test to say that the result was high risk and we went two days later to see the consultant and they were set up to do the amnio straight away if we had wanted it - we didnt. Thats not the story everywhere. Any slippage of this - say you are on holiday or away with work for a fortnight at 16 weeks and dont get your blood test til you are 18 weeks? Do we really want to rush mothers with this sort of issue into deciding quickly so as to ensure that they meet the legal deadline if it is reduced to say 22 or even 21 weeks? Its a very tricky issue and very subjective but .......oh i dont know its too depressing

[macbreeza]

It's every woman's choice and whatever she choses to do is for her and no one else. It's her body and her mind and her decison and its not illegal.

I don't mind the ad one bit, I personally think the doctors is the place to go and as early as possible so that all options are known to the woman.

[ShelleyCowie]

Gosh an abortion at 24 weeks? I could never do that...but thats just me! I started feeling my baby moving about 7 weeks ago and its awsome! Now i get a thump in my ribs at 2am...i wake up, i giggle at it. I love it!

Abortion is a horrible subject, but sometimes in some circumstances i understand why women get them. But personally i really could not.

And the fees for them.....OMG! :eek: That is unbelieveable!

[_Ju_]

i agree, i think every 15/16/17 year old daft wee lassie who gets pregnant should go through with the pregnancy, have a bairn, ruin their life and in most cases be a feckless parent who is a drain on society.


Fine by me as long as the 15/16/17 year old daft and feckless lad does the same!

Who would be punished in following your opinion? Where would the cycle of being a drain on society be broken with your theory? Are you thinking this would serve as a lesson to the "feckless" mother? A kind of "serves-you-right"? It would just serve to perpetuate a already viscious cycle. More of the same? No thank you.

[horseman]

squidge,ignore all replys from males,we have no entitlement to prounounce on such a big isssue as that.It's a girly thing!!

[Dadie]

Squidge I was going to write the same things as you but couldnt get "it" to sound right!
Not everyone who has abortions are silly little lassies who cant keep their legs shut.... ps where are the silly boys who dont use contraception, they dont seem to be shot down!

The time frame between knowing of a problem, finding out how bad, talking it over, making a decision, seeing the doctors, and getting an appointment for an abortion can take you pretty near the 24 week mark.
Can you imagine rushing that proccess and going for an abortion without knowing all the facts and without counselling and regretting it for life?

Thankfully I have never had to make the heartbreaking decision myself.

[daddycool]

Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion, mine is that I don't like the thought of abortion and I would be devastated if I knew that an unborn child of mine had been aborted. But at the end of the day it is a right of any pregnant woman and should continue to be so. In todays society, where so many children are born into abusive families and suffer throughout their lives, perhaps it is better for some children to not be born into such circumstances.

As an example, if poor little baby Peter's mother had had an abortion, think of the suffering and torture he would have been spared. Brings us onto the not entirely unrelated, but ever controversial topic of compulsory sterilisation, which under the right circumstances I would be fully in support of.