The Question of Abortion

A Debate Position

Dr Diana Birch - Youth Support

Is it a            MORAL                  RELIGIOUS                      ETHICAL

MEDICAL                LEGAL                             EXISTENTIAL
PRACTICAL                      ECONOMIC
SOCIO CULTURAL  or RACIAL (eugenic) issue?

We have heard arguments along each of these lines numerous times. There are arguments re - foetal / maternal conflict; foetal rights - and there have even been published papers raising the subject of foetal confidentiality - whether the foetus has a right to confidentiality in respect of blood test results performed in utero which perhaps the parents should not know about - in my mind this represents the height of the ridiculous!

Are people legally or morally ‘entitled’ to abortion or to choice.

Do people ‘own’ their own bodies and therefore do they have the right to do what they want to their bodies - (parallel scenarios exist in relation to drugs self harm etc)

So is the foetus part of your own body and if not when does it stop being part of mother and become a new being - introducing the concept of self or ‘personhood.’ In considering the question of abortion and the ethics involved there are also ‘Fudging’ issues such as timing - 1st trimester (the earlier the more OK it seems)

reasons -      OK? Rape maternal illness

not so OK? Girls age

not OK single financial limit number children

Service issues - include access to services and availability - the control of access to services can be a subtle way of effecting an imposition of others ideas by limitation of access. There are always conflicts between the issues of conscientious objectors versus the concept of duty to provide best possible care.

One could tackle the question of abortion from an academic viewpoint or from moralistic preaching of my personal views. One could also become tied up in statistics and papers - opinions and figures. This is a fertile ground for dogma and people taking a ‘stance’ a pose which can nearly always be backed up by production of some statistics and rates -  But how does this relate to PEOPLE    to REAL PEOPLE - what we would call case histories, although the term itself belies their individual nature as feeling, hurting people.

When I was a medical student I spent time at Coppetts Wood infectious diseases hospital where we had a whole ward devoted to the treatment of septic abortion with it’s own separate operating theatre - a whole ward full of dying women with greenish grey faces, all on antibiotic drips. This was pre 1967 abortion act - they had illegal abortions. Later when I went back there as a young doctor in 1970 - after the abortion act - the ward was closed. SPUC talks of deaths and murder - but how about the deaths of those suffering women?

Looking at Young People - Decisions are hard, it can be agonising to choose abortion but sometimes it is the right choice. But who makes the decisions? Sometimes there are conflicts within the family or with a boyfriend and it can be equally disastrous for a young girl to have an abortion against her own will or to be denied one because of other’s views and feelings. Timing is also an important factor. Girls conceal or deny pregnancy through fear of the consequences or to protect their boyfriends with the result that often those whose need for termination is greatest are denied or are too late for an abortion or have the most dangerous (later) procedures.  Decision making is complex and depends on the emotional and psychological development of the girl - an example of two sisters illustrates this. Carol and Susan  became pregnant in similar circumstances but Carol had dropped out of school and had no prospects for a bright future - she became a schoolgirl mother at 15. Susan had done well in exams, was the bright hope of the family - they had invested a lot in her future and she was promised a good career - a baby at 15 was not in anyone’s plans and so she bravely waited until her 16th birthday and then came for abortion counselling. Her decision was not easy but it was the right one for her - she was looking at her future - but in order to do so you need to have a sense of future which some young people have not yet acquired, and you also need a future worth investing in.

What is the Motivation behind the abortion question? Most if not all of factors involved in the decision making process surrounding the abortion debate have in fact nothing to do with the foetus or developing child.  Arguments purporting to consider the welfare of the foetus are in effect merely used emotively as justification of a position and as a displacement of true feelings and motivations.

If in fact one truly cared about the foetus - would one not look at the quality of life for the child of an unwanted pregnancy - apart from the obvious cases of children with a congenital defect - apparently ‘normal’ children born of an unwanted pregnancy have been reported to suffer from a catalogue of difficulties such as ill health and are more likely to suffer non accidental injury.

For example a girl who kept her baby ‘for her boyfriend’ watched as he held the four week child under a hot tap causing severe scalds.  Having babies is not all happiness and fun .. Dora was depressed throughout pregnancy, hinted she would like an abortion but could not bring herself to discuss it - her baby was the result of incest with her father. Another girl was forced by her pastor to keep her child conceived through sexual abuse by a neighbour. SPUC talks of ‘violence against the innocent’ is this not violence against the innocent? These girls are further abused by being forced to carry their babies to term and give birth to unwanted children.

Unwanted children are also more likely to suffer increased socio-economic difficulty; have less Education and less stable marriages  (parents and child) - they are subject to rejection and many end up in the care system.

Our answers to the abortion question are dependant on how we perceive the child? What do we attribute to the foetus? Invest in the foetus. This is based on our own ‘inner world’ - Looking at the concept of inner child, inner adult and inner parent -

P     moral, prejudices

A     practical, knowledge facts

C     emotional - primitive magical

a young abused rejected girl will identify with and see the foetus as an ‘internal object ... inner self .. inner child. Such over-identification will result in a feeling of - if I was rejected - how can I now reject ‘myself’ the foetus is seen as part of herself - she cannot therefore make a decision to terminate her pregnancy even if logically this is the best course of action for her.

For all of us to an extent, there is a similar mechanism - the developing foetus is felt as part of ourselves - leading to the male feeling of rejection (of sperm .. bible seed) .. get rid of my baby .. get rid of me.  This feeling can extend to the third party - for example professional or anti abortion campaigner who may be identifying with the rejection and thus bringing their own personal agenda into the argument. They are arguing for themselves - not for the ‘foetus’.

Symbolism - what does the child stand for - part of me - inner child  or part of him ... bit he left behind leading to feelings like - ‘at least I’ll have something when he’s gone’ the foetus becomes ‘something to keep hold of’ and  ‘maybe he won’t leave me now’.

When others become emotional about abortion they are bringing their own inner feelings and concepts into the equation rather than seeking true answers to the question of abortion. These feelings also encompass anger punishment and retribution with a need to control - as in the mother who insisted her daughter carry her baby to term because she herself was forced to do the same as a teenager ‘your bed, lie on it!’. Jealousy and vindictiveness can surface when those who want a child are faced with what they see as ‘someone getting rid of’ a baby - thus verbal attacks on girls in gynaecology wards by women having infertility treatment.

So we have a situation where others attempt to control and impose their own standards, ‘morals’ and feelings on others - instead of exercising compassion and looking at each individual remembering that ‘there but for grace of God go I’.

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