It is pretty obvious the majority of mp's are men by this decision. It is sick! 24 weeks how irresponsible. A small child at this time, May also feel pain!

Jessica, uk, uk

Women have the right and responsibility to do what is right for them. The proposed laws are a positive step for woman who are in need of an abortion. It seems to me that some of the comments on this message board do not consider the fact that it is NOT an easy decision to make, in fact choosing to end the existence of something growing inside you is one of the hardest decisions a woman will ever make. Of course woman and men who are having intercourse without the intention of procreation should take all the steps necessary to ensure that this kind of decision does not need to be made but contraception can fail even for the most careful of couples and individuals.

S.J. Lister, Cheltenham,

Did anyone tell you that a baby has a heartbeat between 23-24 days after conception? I know that this is a scientifically proven fact. So the lies that have been told by Planned Parenhood are not true that it is only tissue that is aborted!! Furthermore I have seen the dead babies 8 weeks and older...They are not a pretty sight. The bodies are literally ripped apart!! The babies that are older around 5 months and more, are killed with salt poisoning!!
Their skin is burned and mom delivers a dead baby. I have listened to tapes and read newsletters how women go through a lot of depression, drunkenness committed suicide because of having aborted their babies. You can check on a web site silentawarenessnomore.com
I want to share about the birth of a baby weighing 10.5 ounces in Hanover, Germany. The baby came home in September, 5 months after she was born. You can read more about this news in the October National Right to Life paper.

sabina epley, Ottawa, Illinois

I am all for abortion - i think all women should have the right to abort if they want to but that doesn't mean it should be encouraged. We should be making the process more difficult, that way only those people who really need an abortion would be getting one not just any old person who cannot be bothered to give birth. I was told about a case where a woman wanted an abortion because having a baby would mean that she wouldn't be able to go on a ski trip, is that really the society we want to bring up children in?

Gary Horlock, Crawley,

I am not against abortion for medical or personal circumstances. But to make it easier for people, is wrong in my view.

A month ago, i lost my daughter, she was stillborn at 22 weeks. People may think this is nothing important, but she is still my daughter and i bonded with her.
My friends were shocked when i showed them pictures of her, they weren't expected to see a fully formed baby, but rather just cells.

What i am getting at is, alot people do not realise that from conception, there is a life there, a child.
And see abortion as just another form of contraception, which is so wrong.
People do need to know, that abortion ISNT contraception. And also, having abortions as though using a condom, is damaging their bodies also!

Alyssa, Burnley,

It not what it is at the time, its what it could become...a baby

Alyssa, burnley,

It angers me the amount of people who feel that they should impose their beliefs of the 'babie's' rights onto the mother. It should definitely be down to the individual's choice, and that abortion is made available for them. It is not fair on those who have legitimate reasons for not keeping the baby and contraception is not a fail-safe option, though it should be used. As an 18 year-old who is keeping a personal interest in this law, I want to make sure that I can exercise this right. I also believe that young teenagers need to be better educated about contraception, but that ignorance of this is most probably at the fault of the parents or schools. The time limit should not be shortened, as it can be a long process when detecting pregancy and doing something about it. Even at the upper time limit the 'baby' would have immense difficulty in surviving and could develop problems because of such an early birth. Medical advances are not yet sophisticated to justify a lower time limit.

Charlotte, Derbyshire, England

God will not be mocked forever. Judgement will come one day.

Eddie, Powys, Wales

I am a 23 year old lady from London. I have the beginnings of a successful career, I have a loving and supportive family, I have a solid degree, and I am financially sound. I am in a new, yet committed 6 month relationship.

Two weeks ago, we found out that I was 6 weeks pregnant. I am on the pill, but I had a stomach upset, and we were advised by the doctor that this could have caused the conception.

After much deliberation, we decided to have a termination. I am not proud of this, although I do not regret it because for me, (I had an amazing childhood) I know that I cannot offer what I feel crucial to being a parent. My partner and I are young in age, and our relationship. We do not live together, let alone own a home - and we both are in job sectors that require us to work every hour under the sun (this is not something I would want to give up).

The reason I am so determined to work so hard right now, is to be in a position to have a family. I have always, above everything, wanted to be a mother. However, after watching friends go through motherhood 'too soon' and the effects it has on their children, I know that I made the right decision, not just for me, but for the child.

It has been without doubt, the hardest time of my life. Parting with my baby was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Please do spare a moment to consider how personal this issue is when you are making your comments. As much as it was my decision, and my responsibility - it is something I will never look back on and feel good about.

In this day and age, with the pressures of the modern world, you do have to be at a certain stage in your life to be a 'fit' parent. Those who have made the choice to have an abortion, are not in that position. I think it far better for a baby to be lost in an abortion, than for a child to be rejected, unloved or unsuitably cared for in later life.

Anna, London, United Kingdom

I miscarried my third and last child at only seven weeks but it was a child ,my child with a beating heart.Sadly ,nature chose to end his or her life and I have been left with a broken heart. It may be that abortion is a womans right to choose, but are women at all aware of how much emotional suffering they may be setting themselves up for .My friend is still wracked with guilt 29 years on and feels that more recent tragedies in her life are God,s retribution for what she did .I do not judge any one who chooses an abortion ,but I can only ask them to look deep inside themselves and be sure that they can live with themselves in the longterm.

Margaret, liverpool,

A heart beating inside a foetus is an undeniable fact that there is life . Ergo , Abortion at any stage is an act of murder .

AMI - MALTA

Albert Muscat - Inglott, Sliema, Malta

I really fail to see why such a proposal should arouse such controversy amongst the other (male) commentators on this message board. Given the huge implications upon a woman's life that will result in having a child or not, she should be entirely free to choose whether she decides to have an abortion or not.

Also, let's avoid the needlessly emotive language of the embryo or foetus being a 'full human beings': they clearly are not. The only full human being is the potential mother and surely her rights are more important than a cluster of cells in her womb.

Finally, please spare a thought for the women of Northern Ireland who are denied the right of having an abortion for anything other than medical reasons. I hope that Westminster extends this right across the Irish Sea and puts an end to the present anachronism brought about by the power of the religious fanatics in my country.

Daniel, Belfast,

They should focus on teaching people to be responsible rather than bring down the time in which you can abort because there are 'too many abortions', otherwise women who desperately need abortions wouldn't be able to have them, such as women involved in rape cases and women who have used protection but its been unsuccessful, rather than people not using any protection and being irresponsible

However, I do think it would be better for abortions to be made 'easier' as they are evidentially traumatic, but also more support is needed too, as many women go through it alone. You should try not to let it happen in the first place but if it doesn't then it is an awful ordeal to have to go through.

Zoë, Stockton-on-Tees, UK

It’s so easy to pontificate from afar and it sickens me to read the nature of the opposition arguments, the vast majority coming as they do from a high handed theistic stance!

I hate to say it but I just hope that one day every opponent of these plans finds themselves or a very close loved one in a situation where the issues become 'real' to them and not just a 'moral debate'. I feel sure that the arguments of many of the detractors would then change dramatically if only they would admit it.

Kev Tomlinson, Swansea, UK

May i add that my 5 year old daughter has just began primary 1 at her local primary school here in Scotland.
This little girl was born 16 weeks premature in Glasgow and is walking testament that with todays medical intervention and with the love of her family around her babies at this gestation CAN and DO "live"to tell the story.
Yes it was hell watching her fight every minute of every day,but she is here and i would just like to reiterate what is already known,that babiesof this gestation,that is the legal or illegal,whichever way you look at it,live and grow to be beautiful human beings.

jimmy r, glasgow, scotland

Excuse me but this is a good thing. I had an abortion when I was in my early twenties because no, I did not want the baby of someone who wasn't mature enough to be a good dad and when I couldn't support the child myself. To all the men to have made their small-minded judgements, yes accidents do happen even when you are responsible. Also, funny how men don't have to develop responsible attitudes to sex. I have never regretted my decision and no, I have not been plunged into decades of mental despair, I didn't need someone to show me the light at the end of the tunnel (i.e their opinion), nor has it affected my ability to have children. I have a wonderful son now. I dearly wanted this child, as did my partner. Abortion is a choice that women must make for themselves so sorry boys and pro-lifers, any woman who decides to have a termination will have one no matter what the process - and anything to make this difficult process easier can only be good

Elizabeth, London,

This is desperately sad. Why are we so verbal about human rights when it suits us and so selfish when it doesn't? I fear we will all hang our heads with shame when our grandchildren ask us why we did nothing to stop this in years to come.

tim, peterborough,

I totally agree with Robert from Tucson.

- You want to reduce the number of late abortion: improve the access to the service at earlier stage, if you manage to cut the wait by 2 or 3 weeks, it would help a lot; removing the 2 doctors authorisation requierement is a step in the good direction but I'm afraid more is needed. And realisticaly, 24 weeks abortions are such a low percentage of the total that are only carried out in very difficult case.

- You want to reduce the number of abortions: Provide better education... why is UK ranking so high compared to other european countries for termination, SDT and for teenage pregnancy: education, eduction, education, or the lack of... (alcool/binge drinking being another factor)

- Banning or limiting access to abortion never reduced the number of abortions (see the Lancet study); it only make them dangerous, expensive and more traumatic.

Stephane, Oxford,

Of course women will feel depressed post-abortion if most people are guilt-tripping them instead of suppporting them. In any case, the rich and wellconnected always have had abortion on demand. And abortion has been or is practised as contraception by many traditional societies via herbs, bamboo sticks, massage etc. I don't know why there is an abortion 'debate'. Pregnancy happens inside a woman's body. It changes her mind, body, responsibilities and livelihood drastically for 2 years and in some ways forever. Unless the woman is of totally unsound mind, she should have total control of whether or not to go ahead with this. Otherwise it is like saying that 5 minutes of sex and the ordinary consequences of primitive species survival can make a woman forfeit her identity and self-determination.

Vee, Oxford, England

Abortion is a very emotive issue and both sides can often lose objectivity. The bottom line is that an induced abortion is the planned cessation of a human life, albeit still in the womb.
The phrase " a womans right to choose" somehow neglects the right of an unborn human being to live. The reasons cited for choosing abortion can be compelling e.g." I'm only 14 and I didn't think I would get pregnant", or " we can't afford to look after another child". As a society we have our abandoned our previous stricter sexual morality and are paying the price for this in terms of unwanted pregnancies and STDs. Also larger houses are unaffordable by most, and most women now have to work in order to afford to bring up children. Medical issues are not the point here; There are straight moral/ethical/spiritual choices to be made, i.e. what value do we place on human life and how can our society reflect this.

David, Bournemouth,

Oh the irritation... as someone who doesn't want children, but who has been refused sterilisation by her doctor with the given reason being 'you're too young, you'll probably change your mind' (I'm 33, and i've never felt any different!) my current birth control method is the contraceptive pill. I was unlucky enough to be one of the few people who actually managed to fall pregnant on the pill, and if I could have had the option of having the second part of the medical abortion carried out at my home, I would have jumped at the chance. Abortion is a crappy enough experience due to the hormonal shifts you go though, without having to deal with the stress of sometimes having to travel over three hundred miles to the clinic that has been designated for your use..

How interesting that all the comments, bar the sensible one from Roger, are all from men. I wonder if they would feel the same if they were female, and had men trying to make decisions about THEIR bodies for them..

Tara Hays, Newport, UK

I am, for the record, female and a mother and grandmother. I personally find the cost-cutting exercise - and make no mistake about it, it is a cost-cutting exercise - deplorable. They do not take into account the very real issues surrounding the decision to have an abortion. The need for time and the space to consider the step, assimilate and digest the information available.
Though I am pro choice and believe abortion should be available to those women who need and require it. Relaxing the provision of abortion will do anything towards ensuring that we view abortion as the extremely heart-rendering option it actually is.
Ultimately it belittles the embryo, the would-have-been-mother and the meaning of life itself.
A disgusting option and indeed indicative of a trend in policy and law making that has no regard for the value of people either on mass or as individuals.

Miriam Binder, Brighton, UK

This country is morally bankrupt.

Andrew Brown, derby, UK

wow IM from Germany you are clueless. Ever seen a baby born at 23 weeks? Very few survive. Ever heard of amniocentesis? Its carried out at around 16 weeks and the results can take 3 weeks. It is one of the very few certain ways of finding out if the baby has certain abnormalities eg Downs. So late abortions are sometimes necessary however distressing it may be. These things are about personal choice and you shouldn't try to impose your views on other people when you don't know the facts and you aren't the one who has to live with it.

Dr ZE, oxford,

first of all, dating the pregnancy may not be as easy as it sounds and it full off inaccuracy even by scan. Also,when you say 22 or 23 weeks, what about 23 wk +1day? or 2 day? it is not as clear cut as it may seem. Secondly, abortion is a very traumatising experience, even if it is medical abortion. If abortion is done at home, it may be even harder for the women to overcome the psychological stress of the abortion as she would be constantly reminded of the process being in the house. and of course there is the possibility of side effects from abortion, e.g. excess bleeding.

s, Huntingdon, England

The impact of abortion is more horrific if the time limit is described as 6 months instead of 24 weeks.It must also be remembered that Britian has aborted babies equal to the entire population of Ireland.Talk about reducing declining populations in Europe! Unless support is given to single mothers, it is also pointless to talk about reducing abortion

gabe, dublin, ireland

I cannot help but find symptathy with the poor persons who are still at a foetal stage in their lives and cannot defend themselves.

Yes...lets make it easier for women to kill foetus's as form of 'contraception'...utter madness.

Simon, birmingham, uk

As a woman, I personally would not be able to have an abortion for emotional reasons. However, I support those women who do in their choice and I think it ludicrous that people seem to fixate on the rights of an entity unborn and, up to a certain stage unable to survive on it's own.
The choices relating to abortion should be made by thewoman in question and never influenced by any other party and as such i fully support any attempt to make it easier for those women who have chosen abortion to obtain one.
Nodoubt the same people who are preaching tehse women should go through with these unwanted pregnancies are often the same people complaining about teenagers with asbo's and people living off the state. Where do they think these unwanted children often end up and how do they expect these reluctant mothers to pay for them!?
The whole deabte makes me angry!

Lola, birmingham,

Women always get the blame and stigmatisation regarding abortions just because they have the equipment to grow babies. It takes two to tango and mistakes are made - those mistakes are made by two people, not one. Children are a huge responsibility, for life. Research into history will tell you that most women were not happy with such large families, the physical and mental strain was just too much and to be a single parent was the kiss of death - totally ostracized from society. Death came as a blessing to some with a high rate of suicide.
Let there be choice, I say. Whatever reason is given for wanting an abortion, or not, it is the female body that is violated one way or another.
Surely male children should be taught early on about hormones and what women go through for the next 30 years and the serious burden a baby can cause a relationship that starts out as a night of discovery through enjoyable sex. The tragedy of rape should be better understood and supported, too.

Kathryn Colas, Uckfield,

Medical evidence from around the world shows that women who abort are three or four times more likely to die and twice as likely to have a very premature child. Suicide is six times more likely. Infertility and a range of other medical problems like breast cancer are more common.

However about 50% of 24 week old premature babies s survive and threequarters of those have no as disability later.

This evidence was given to the science and technology committee of the House of Commons in the last two weeks

Furthermore, these findings make 98% of British abortions illegal.

How badly this country needs healing from all this.
How much we need parliament to stop this mass medico-legal negligence by the medical profession.

Adrian, Sheffield,

It is noteworthy that our modern secular state has, though far more benignly, the same ultimate aim as the soviet and nazi states - the extirpation of Christian values (& eventually traditional and orthodox Christianity) as a necessary process in the creation of a 'new society'. It has been doing this slowly and surreptitiously, in the hope that no one will notice, since the 1960's.
This much appears indisputable. Whether or not you agree with the aim depends on whether you believe in the brave new world that is being created. Brave new worlds may differ, but they all require the destruction of traditional Christianity.

Dave, Wrexham,

I think that it's absolutely incomprehensible that human life is becoming so disposible. A pregnancy is not simply a physical state which can be altered. An abortion can have serious emotional effects on the woman later in life. There is something amazing about the creation of a new life and the connection between a mother and her unborn child. As a Christian I am opposed to abortion, but I feel a great sense of concern for the 31% of pregnant women worldwide who decide to have an abortion without considering its emotional effects. The biggest problem is that the government doesn't offer enough information to pregnant women about the severe emotional distress a termination can lead to in later life. I believe that human life is sacred and we do not have the right to decide when it should end. It has been medically proven that an unborn child feels pain from around 20 weeks or less. The average upper limit in Europe is 13 or 14 weeks for a termination - why is it so high in the UK?

Rachel, Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland

Why not promote sexual responsibility and contraception, not easier abortions? Write to your MPs if you feel strongly on this issue. If we make abortions more convenient, then we will have more, along with their attendant problems. Abortions are not simply "medical procedures" as some people view them, they destroy human life.

Jan, Reading,

Why do we use the word "baby"? It’s not a baby it’s an embryo, a potential human. It isn't even self aware yet, how can its existence have the same value as an adult human? Would you give gametes or an egg cell the same value? I don’t think so.

"One must make concessions to the fact that prematurely born babies can survive at a much younger age today than at the time when this regulation came into force. " - IM, Hennef, Germany

What is your point? In the future it may be possible for a baby to exist in an artificial womb, and survive being born no matter how prematurely. This doesn’t change anything. The unborn child is exactly that - an unborn, potential child, which cannot possibly be treated as though it has the same rights as an existing child.

Morgan, London, UK

forget doctors' signatures, what about the prospective father's signature? or are we just assuming that men don't care and shouldn't have any more right to protect their unborn children than the children have to protect themselves? do we just let women decide who lives and who dies depending on how much a positive decision might cramp their style (or style their cramps)? women get a choice whether to get pregnant. that's the time to exercise their right to choose. in any case, they should know what they've done to themselves within 12 weeks, not 24.

jem, london, uk

Repulsive.....obscene. What happened to contraception? Taking precautions etc?

And why should taxpayers money be used for it in any case?

Phil, Preston,

Unwanted pregnancy can happen to any woman at any time, regardless of age, education and social status. It is not restricted to the young, the feckless or the ignorant. The current process is judgmental and damaging to women often already in a horrific situation, and not always of their own making. Perhaps those who advocate tightening the laws still further(mostly men who have no chance of ever envisaging being in this horrendous situation) would wish us to go back to the days of aborted foetuses in the river and the sewers and women dying of septicaemia due to botched 'at home' surgery. The abortion debate always arouses such passion from both sides, but most of the 'anti' arguments are about power, not ethics.

RD, Kingston, UK

This is worrying. The government won't budge on the 24 week limit and at the same time MP's propose to make early abortions easier. With over 200,000 abortions being performed in the UK each year it doesn't sound like it's too difficult to have one anyway. For a small minority, it's multiple abortions. It's certainly a long way from what was passed in 1967.

A baby is fully formed after 12-13 weeks, he/she just grows after that (the heart starts beating at week 5 of pregnancy). I would prefer any limit to be set at week 12 and anything after that only for serious health issues for Mum or baby. I also believe that people keep missing the point on the debate regarding reducing the limit from 24 weeks because a baby can survive at 22 or 23 weeks. Surely we should be reducing the limit because it's simply not right or acceptable to be legally aborting healthy babies at weeks 16, 20 etc. It's disturbing and just plain wrong.

martyn, edinburgh, uk

i am deeply concerned that the government is considering making access to abortion easier. Abortion is already used all too frequently as a form of contraceptive. the current proposals can only encourage this! Abortion has physical, mental and emotional side effects including sepsis, impaired fertility, increased risk of breast cancer, haemorrhage, and depression. The impact on womens health seems to be greatly ignored.
As to the debate surrounding lowering the upper gestation limit for abortion; there is growing medical evidence to show that from a much earlier age than 24 weeks, babies experience pain and respond to stimuli. Whilst not independant of their mothers, we can no longer deny that these are sentient beings whose human rights are being ignored under the guise that they dont qualify as human beings until they are born. W e shouldn't be lowering the upper limits for abortion on the basis of extra uterine survival rates but abolishing abortion altogether .

rachel sykes, cranwell, england

Some birth defects aren't even detectable until the pregnancy is further advanced. The option to abort should always be there. And who pays the extreme cost of medical care required for a child born entirely too early to be developed adequately? While it's wonderful to be able to save a child that a mother really wants and was for some reason horribly premature, it should not naturally follow that another woman should be denied an abortion just because through advances in medicine it would theoretically be possible to keep the child alive

Mariah, Bend, OR/USA

Absolutely horrendous.

Richard, Woodham, UK

It boggles the mind that some people would seriously retain the upper time limit of 24 weeks. This is a lot higher than in most 'civilised' western societies. One must make concessions to the fact that prematurely born babies can survive at a much younger age today than at the time when this regulation came into force. From a women's point of view: at 24 weeks your baby moves around a lot and a mum-to-be can feel it clearly and has a relationship with it already. To abort at 24 weeks when any birth defects can be detected so much earlier in pregnancy today is madness and must plunge any woman into mental despair for decades afterwards.
As for making abortions easier: this is also not a women's rights issue, it will also NOT help women to develop a mentally and ethically sound attitude to the subject of responsible sex, giving birth and raising a child. And that is what is needed: sex, pregnancy and raising children are profoundly serious things that no one should mess about with!!!

IM, Hennef, Germany

Why is it necessary to make abortions easier?

The current rules mean that the pregnant mother has a chance to be really sure that she wants an abortion and gets at least some help in making this decision and living with it after. When you make this easier you will have some women who panic and have an abortion quickly and then later realise it was a mistake and find it difficult to live with after.

We are confusing making it easier with not stigmatising having an abortion and should work more to try to help women not become pregnant in the first place. Having an abortion at any stage carries a real risk of complications including losing the ability to have children later on.

joe, edinburgh, scotland

Anything we can do to support the sensibilities of women is fundamental to our societal success when tackling abortion. As if abortion is not traumatic enough for women anyway, why do the above commentors (all men) see this as a keystone in our cultural demise? Making abortion limitations stricter is not going to help tackle rising rates of demand. Better awareness and education, augmented through a psychological, cultural shift, however, will. This, to me, is obvious.

Robert Iddiols, Tucson, AZ

Dear Sir,

This is a repulsive idea, and will only encourage further the present UK tendency to (ab-)use abortion as a means of 'delayed birth planning' (a practice in which the UK rates
second only to Russia in Europe).
However, embryos are ethically full human beings, and we are asked as a society to help especially those who cannot yet help themselves.
I strongly suggest to stop this law, and to install help units for women in difficult situations that advise and counsel women in trouble to make them see the light at the end of the tunnel again.

Sincerely,
Jochen Leidner, M.A. M.Phil. Ph.D.
Certified Paramedic

Dr. Jochen Leidner, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Let me see here we got a western culture of death going on here. The west has low birth rates as it is because to have children is not convenient. We have western couples traveling to the far flung reaches of the third world to snatch babies at record levels and now we want it make it easier to continue this trend?

Paul Bahre, Granby, CT USA

Sickening. Its just sickening and disgusting the direction UK and many other countries are going at the moment.

Yas, Leeds,