Abortion Controversy: Pro-Choice & Pro-Life

You 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 mains areas of focus are:

• Around three quarters of British people believe that you should be able to make your own decision about having an abortion
• To remove the need for a doctor to assess you in line with the current laws and approve your abortion request
• To extend the law to women in Northern Ireland so that no longer have to travel to access abortion services
• 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.

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