ISSUES
: Abortion
Chapter 1: Abortion facts
16
Abortion controversy: pro-choice
and pro-life
Y
ou may have heard lots of
information about abortions.
Some may have been
positive and in favour of them
whereas others may have been
strongly against them. There is
often news of protests going on
outside abortion clinics and women
feeling intimidated to attend them.
Some people believe that you have
a right to choose what happens to
you while others believe that your
foetus or unborn child has the right
to life and that should not be taken
away from it.
The pro-choice abortion
argument
Pro-choice campaigners aim to
ensure that women have the right to
choose whether or not to continue
with a pregnancy. They believe
that the Abortion Act 1967 should
be modernised and that safe, legal
abortions should be made readily
available to all women as and when
they need it.
Your right to choose what you do
is imperative to these groups and
they feel that the law should be
changed to reflect this, removing
the need for a doctor to assess
you to determine your need for an
abortion. They also believe that
abortions provided through the
NHS can be restrictive and quite
often are delayed.
Pro-choice groups are trying to
get the current law brought in line
with the majority of current public
opinion and the main areas of
focus are:
Ö
Around three quarters of
British people believe that you
should be able to make your
own decision about having an
abortion
Ö
To remove the need for a doctor
to assess you in line with the
current laws and approve your
abortion request
Ö
To extend the law to women
in Northern Ireland so they no
longer have to travel to access
abortion services
Ö
To reduce NHS waiting times
and make the delay between
your appointment and abortion
no more than three weeks no
matter which NHS Trust you go
through.
The pro-life abortion
argument
Pro-life campaigners aim to protect
the right to life from conception,
through life to then having a
natural death. They believe that all
life, including that of a foetus, is
precious and should not be ended.
Your pregnancy, your foetus
primarily, is important to these
groups and they place great
significance on the development
of it deeming abortion “unjust and
discriminatory”.
While they are completely for your
right to choose what you do with
your own body and whether or
not you have sexual intercourse
they are firmly against your right
to choose an abortion. There are
also groups that do not believe in
abortion due to religious beliefs.
You should try not to be swayed by
opinions other than your own and,
while this can be difficult, if you
find out the information for yourself
you can then make an informed
decision that is right for you.
Ö
The above information is
reprinted with kind permission
from UK Health Centre. Please
visit
for further information.
© UK Health Centre 2015
