Twisting statistics
Make late abortions easier, says sex lobbyist [thewest.com.au]
I usually refrain from commenting on the topic of abortion, since it is a complicated and divisive issue, in which there are not always black and white answers, but this story from today’s West Australian newspaper bothered me somewhat.
They are reporting the statistics of a jump in the number of late term abortions in WA in 2005, to 49 from 38 the previous year. In WA we have appropriately strict laws which make access to termination of pregnancy beyond 20 weeks tightly controlled. In general it is limited to major foetal abnormalities or severe maternal medical conditions. In 2005 there were 45 for foetal abnormalities and 4 for maternal conditions. So all we can infer from these statistics is that there was a higher number of terminations for foetal abnormalities in 2005. Whether this is a one off result or the beginning of a trend it is too early to say, but it certainly does not reflect any broad societal change.
So those statistics on their own did not disturb me particularly - it seems that the current system is working and these late abortions are only occurring for serious problems for which there is some justification. What bothered me was how the spokesperson for Family Planning WA Dr Alison Creagh has jumped on these stats to use them to advance her own particular agenda, in which a late term abortion could be justified by “such things as thinking I really don’t want to have a child. It’s not the right time for my schooling/work/finances/relationship.” This is a completely unrelated issue. Aborting a healthy fully developed baby, only weeks away from being able to survive outside the womb, for such frivolous reasons, is very different from the difficult decision to terminate a pregancy in which a severely malformed child would not survive anyway or where the mother’s life is at risk. It bothers me that Dr Creagh is taking stats drawn from these complicated and heart rending situations and using it to inappropriately push her pro-choice, abortion of convenience, agenda.
Categories : Medicine, Obstetrics, Personal | 0 Comments
