(no subject)

[liliaeth]

Just something interesting I found while I was answering a comment on ontd_political

What can I say, I occasionally like to check what I'm saying, esp. about my own country*g*



I also liked this page

For the record, I'm pro-life and pro-choice. I would never choose for abortion myself, but I'll fight for the right of any other woman to make her own decision in that regards.

I like the Belgian way of handling it. Abortion clinics require six days of counseling before an abortion is performed. It makes sure that the woman really wants an abortion, that she's given all the options outside of an abortion, that she knows her rights, the possibilities she has and the help she could get with her child in case she doesn't go through with the abortion.

In other words, it puts the woman, her decision and her choice central, rather than just put the emphasis on the fetus. And it makes sure that she isn't making a rash decision that she'll regret for the rest of her life, yet it doesn't force the woman to carry a child that could harm her health, either mental or physical, or cause her economic distress.

I know, government interference and all that... but I like government interference when it makes life better for people.

Comments

[pfeifferpack.livejournal.com]

What a sane way of handling the issue! Like you I am not one who would ever have had an abortion but I will not impose my beliefs on another woman and prohibit her from getting one done by a professional in a medical facility! I like the idea of real counseling and learning all options. I think the women that chose abortions that way will have less trouble afterward than those who rush into it and later wonder if they made the right choice. Brilliant and what I have advocated here to no avail....that one issue is completely polarized here. You are either pro "life" or pro "choice"....ridiculous!

Kathleen

[snippy]

That works great in Belgium, where you're never more than an hour's public transit from your abortion provider. What is a woman in rural eastern Oregon, for example, supposed to do? Travel to Eugene and home again every day for 6 days? Come up with the money to pay for a hotel room for a week?

Basically this requirement means that only middle income and upper income women, plus women who live in big cities, can get abortions.

(you're on my husband's friend list, in case you're wondering why I'm reading this)

[liliaeth]

And a funny result of both this and the way we handle birth control, sexual education and help to the mother, as is said in the first link, Belgium has one of the lowest abortion rates in the world.

[liliaeth]

The solution to that would be providing more abortion clinics, and/or providing suitable abortion in regular hospitals. (since you guys need more hospitals anyway, which should be payable if you guys got universal health care like we have.

That or allow planned parenthood, or how do you call that in the US, to help with the counseling, and then have the woman make her determination clear.

Or providing counseling at home. There's ways to get around that six hour drive, which is indeed long, if the government is willing to work at it and focus on the woman or girl in question, rather than on the unborn.

On top of that, another thing that helps keep our abortion rate low(one of the lowest in the world btw), is that we focus on sexual education at schools, birth control and providing help for new mothers.

Edit: for example, if a girl is still at school, there's no reason that her school counselor can't do the required counseling. And if every town has a planned parenthood office (not sure how it works), they could have someone there to fill that requirement, before sending her on a six hour drive)