Vera Drake

Here's a little article on abortion and how it used to be:

Mike Leigh's Oscar-nominated film about a backstreet abortionist called Vera Drake has opened the eyes of a modern audience to the dilemmas facing pregnant women before abortion became legal in 1967. Some of those women talk about what it was like.

Barbara had three abortions as a young student in 1965 and 1966. The first was performed lawfully by doctors because her mental health was thought to be at risk.

But it cost between £100 and £150, so Barbara used money she borrowed from a friend.

This was more traumatic than her later two "home-made" abortions, she says, partly due to the disdain of doctors which left her a mental wreck. The only advice she says she was given was to stop having sex because "no respectable girl does".

Although the sexual revolution of the 1960s was in full swing, family planners insisted you wore a wedding ring to receive contraception, and took a dim view of sex outside marriage.

"My parents and most of the doctors around were of a generation that lived within the rules," she says. "We were of a generation who wanted to change the rules."

When she became pregnant for the second time she felt she could not go back, so with her friend's help she crudely aborted, despite the fatal risks. The third she did herself.

"I knew it was dangerous and I knew it was illegal, but I had no alternative," she said. Her main fear was being discovered. "We were very young and I suppose foolhardy."

Psychiatric assessment

Legal abortions were introduced after the acquittal in 1938 of Dr Alex Bourne, who performed one on a suicidal 14-year-old gang rape victim and argued in court her mental health was at risk.

The case paved the way for abortion in these circumstances but required the permission of two psychiatrists and was invariably carried out at a Harley Street Clinic.
The cost ruled out most women, but not Deborah, who is now 62. She had a legal abortion just before the act came into force in 1967.

"I'd been having a relationship with somebody I'd met at college for about 18 months and the condom slipped off and that was it," she says.

"I had a good relationship with my parents, so when I became pregnant they were the first people I told.

"I had a medical mother and they were very practical people, and we had the resources, so an abortion seemed the obvious thing to do."

Prison

The procedure cost £150, which was allowed to go ahead after Deborah convinced the two psychiatrists she was "upset enough". She stayed overnight at a north London clinic and had the abortion eight weeks into the pregnancy.

At that time, self-aborting and aborting were crimes which carried life sentences. But mothers who aborted were not usually prosecuted and abortionists were more likely to face prison sentences of five to 10 years, depending on the charge and if the pregnant girls or women died.


Through word-of-mouth and subterfuge, and partly driven by inadequate contraception, abortion was widespread. Newspapers advertised cures for "menstrual blockages", which were often lead-based and poisonous - some reportedly killing and blinding women.

Some of the backstreet abortionists were unqualified, some were midwives and some were struck-off or foreign doctors.

It is believed abortion caused around 15% of all maternal deaths between 1923 and 1933, while countless others were left maimed after botched procedures.

Many women who did abort were traumatised in later life, says Margaret Cuthill, national co-ordinator for the pro-life group British Victims of Abortion.

"Once the pressure was gone to get rid of the problem, many women were left with not only feelings of loss but guilt - and that's what makes it so traumatic," she says.

On the other hand, they were so distressed at the prospect of having a baby, they were prepared to put their lives at risk, says Anne Quesney, director of Abortion Rights.

Weeks after Deborah aborted, the law changed and 164 years after it was banned, abortion became legal in England, Wales and Scotland, due to a Private Member's Bill by David Steel, then a 28-year-old MP.

Today it is estimated 10,000 women come to Britain every year from countries where abortion is not as available, including the Irish Republic, Portugal and Northern Ireland.

But illegal abortions still account for 80,000 deaths worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organisation.

I highlighted that last sentence, because it's utterly disgusting that in this day and age women in many countries still have to go to the backstreets to risk their lives!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4285081.stm

Originally posted by shavixmir
Here's a little article on abortion and how it used to be:

Mike Leigh's Oscar-nominated film about a backstreet abortionist called Vera Drake has opened the eyes of a modern audience to the dilemmas facing pregnant women before abortion became legal in 1967. Some of those women talk about what it was like.

Barbara had three abortions as a young s ...[text shortened]... o go to the backstreets to risk their lives!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4285081.stm

Originally posted by ivanhoe

The article does not adress the question whether performing abortion is morally justifyable or not.

The article as a whole is an "Appeal to Pity", a fallacy very common on the side of abortion advocates in the abortion debate.



Fallacy: Appeal to Pity



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Als ...[text shortened]... hardly make my claim true.

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/appeal-to-pity.html

Originally posted by shavixmir
80.000 lives man!

I'm tired of hearing about abortions for rape and incest victims. I pity them and pray for each one I hear, but the VAST MAJORITY of abortions are just loose women who don't want to take responsibility for their loose lifestyle.

Regardless of how you dress it up, you are taking a human life. Give it up for adoption, but don't kill someone so you can go "la la la" some more.

I agree with what Shav posted in general but I'd like to hear more women speak on this.

The bottom line is to prevent unwanted pregnancy before conception. That satisfies everyone.

Originally posted by Omnislash
The bottom line is to prevent unwanted pregnancy before conception. That satisfies everyone.

Originally posted by KneverKnight
That's not fool-proof and some don't approve of any realistic contraception, but yes, better to prevent.

Abortion is one of many acts that should neither be legal nor illegal. It simply is not the business of the state. The state has no valid reason and no ethical right to get involved.