People have very strong views about abortion. However, about five and a half million women have had an abortion in the past thirty-five years since abortion was made legal in Britain. According to the latest statistics, the highest number of abortions is now among women aged twenty to twenty-four. The arguments for and against abortion from a wide variety of points of view are presented in this book. The legal, moral and health issues are also explored. The information comes from a wide variety of sources and includes a balanced variety of views.
The information comes from a wide variety of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper reports, features, magazine articles and surveys and literature from lobby groups and charitable organisations.
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Abortion Facts
Religion, contraception and abortion, A humanist discussion of abortion, Termination, The legal position, Coping with an unplanned pregnancy, Abortion and depression, Dealing with an abortion, Abortion, For men, Real life: abortion, Abortion statistics, Global Gag Rule, Unsafe abortion and poverty.
Chapter Two: The Debate
Ethical consideration, Abortion: the answer to unplanned pregnancy?, The new pro-lifers, Can a foetus feel pain?, Foetal development, Viability, Abortion and confidentiality, Rights and wrongs of teenage abortion, Teenage conceptions, DIY abortions, What’s wrong with ‘do-it-yourself’ abortions?, UK aborts over 20 babies for minor disabilities, Abortion and disability, Women demand tougher laws to curb abortions, The 24-week limit, Charity calls for Abortion Act review, YouGov abortion survey.
Key Facts
Additional Resources
Index
Acknowledgements
• One in five pregnancies in the UK end in termination. (page 6)
• Despite the availability of effective contraception, it is estimated that one in three babies is unplanned. (page 9)
• 94% of legal abortions are carried out under ground C, which states that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman. (page 10)
• In 2005, the latest full year for which statistics are available, 186,400 abortions took place in England and Wales. That’s a rate of 17.8 per thousand women aged 15-44. (page 18)
• In 2006 alone an estimated 19 million women will undergo an unsafe abortion. Nearly 70,000 of them will pay for it with their lives. (page 19)
• In 1990 the time limit for most abortions was reduced from 28 to 24 weeks in order to take account of the increasing ability of medical staff to keep premature babies alive. (page 27)
• The likelihood of a pregnant teenager having an abortion decreases with age. 61% of 14-year-olds have abortions; among 15-year-olds the figure is 55%, at 17, 41% and at 19, 35%. (page 30)
The Abortion Debate Study Guide
Each book in the Issues series has a study guide. These four-page guides provide a variety of discussion points and other activities to suit a wide range of ability levels and interests.
Publisher: Independence Educational Publishers
Price: £1.50
ISBN: 978 1 86168 384 7
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