Women considering a termination could be offered independent counselling as part of the biggest shake-up of abortion laws for 20 years.
The move is designed to give women a breathing space before going ahead, and pro-life campaigners claim it could cut the abortion rate by a third, or 60,000 terminations a year.
At present counselling is offered by abortion providers, but there are concerns that the advice may be biased because they are run as businesses.
There’s a reason pro-lifers refer to these clinics as “abortion mills.” I’m a capitalist, and I totally get wanting to promote the services of your business, but when you’re talking about the taking of a human life, don’t you think there should be more ethics and less business involved?
Women regret abortions every day. They generally start to regret them when the first cramps hit, but by then it’s too late.
If a woman has her heart and mind set on a termination, seeing an ultrasound or talking to a counselor won’t dissuade her. But if she’s having the abortion for reasons she knows to be wrong – convenience, or at the behest of some baby-daddy who doesn’t want to pay child support – then counseling may help steer her towards the help she needs.
Last year 180,000 abortions were carried out in the UK. How many regrets?
I used to think the only folks who should have a say are women capable of having children. Now I’m not so sure anymore.