Wednesday 1 August 2012

What happened to our generation?

Katie just showed me an excerpt from a magazine article entitled "The Teens Who've Had EIGHT Abortions". That in itself stops my thoughts in their tracks....eight abortions! Here are some other facts it lists;

  • 5,300 teenagers who have abortions in England and Wales have already had one previously
  • 4 of those 5,300 had their 6th, 14 had their 5th and 57 had their 4th
  • Figures suggest many girls use abortion as a form of contraception
And, almost as an afterthought, a department of health official states "These figures concern us". Only concern you? I think it should downright shock you! Where did the mentality come from that abortions are ok? Let me rephrase that, I'm not sure of my position on abortion, and accept that for some people they aren't ready or the circumstances are such that a baby couldn't or wouldn't be loved or cared for in the way that it should. However, given the mental and physical trauma involved with such an action, where did the idea come from that it was a simple and everyday procedure? It's a life, or potential life, if you want to view it that way, that you are throwing away, and even more so a part of yourself, whatever stance you take.

I know this is getting a bit close to religious views for anyones liking, including mine, so let's examine a different fact, also involved with the strange mentalities that seem to have spawned within our generation, and grown in the generations since. Babies. I know some women who are onto their second or even third child....others who, for some reason, only want to have a child as soon as possible for themselves already. Bear in mind, most of these women are of the same age as me, some I know of, are even younger. I don't know where the mindset came from that we must procreate so quickly and early in life, that we must rush into such a life-changing event without much forethought.

I could go on forever about so many other things...binge drinking, drugs, smoking, unemployment and the "now generation" (as aptly described the Black Eyed Peas' song) mindsets that all seem to have overtaken the vast proportion of my age-group and the children that have followed, but It would be too long and boring to read. Or write for that matter, so I'll leave it at that, in mild shock.

2 comments:

  1. The rise in repeat abortions is concerning. But be mindful that journalists pull statistics out of context to try and demonstrate their point.

    While the rise in repeat abortions is definitely disturbing, teenage abortions are, on the whole, in decline (as are pregnancies, so maybe most teenagers are learning to use their contraception better?). They are the smallest section of women who have abortions, accounting for 20% overall, considerably less than women in their 30s. It's women in their 20s who account for nearly half of all abortion procedures.

    Prevention is definitely better, absolutely. But the thing is, abortion is often cited as a procedure that causes massive mental and physical trauma. For some, no doubt. As a blanket statement, it's simply not true.

    Mentally: Many women have an abortion with no doubt and no regrets, and never look back on their decision as anything but the correct thing to do have done. Some people view an embryo as a (potential) life, many others view it as a clump of cells that they have absolutely no emotional attachment to. Neither viewpoint is right or wrong. It's a personal belief and cannot be dictated to.

    Physically: Most abortions are non-invasive and performed done early in the pregnancy – well over three-quarters occur within the first ten weeks. This means that the women take two drugs, 48 hours apart. The side-effects are similar to those of an early miscarriage (cramping, bleeding). Until you get to abortions performed from week 20 onwards (typically carried out because of a significant birth defect only detectable from that stage of pregnancy), abortions are still often day-cases, sometimes performed in minutes, that don't require anything stronger than local anaesthetic. Clinically, they are very often simple and everyday procedures.

    I guess what I'm saying is that in an ideal world, there would be no unplanned pregnancies and so no need for abortion. But it isn't. Until it is, we should all be very careful about getting on our high horses and decrying women of any age for having an abortion. For all eight abortions looks appalling, it's a statistic with no context and we should all be very careful of sitting in judgement.

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  2. Fair enough - thankyou for your input and information :)

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