UK won't lower abortion limit from 24 weeks
Some great news out of the UK!
Attempts to cut the upper limit for abortions from 24 to 22 weeks have been rejected by MPs after a free vote.Tory MP Nadine Dorries, a former nurse who proposed a 20-week limit, said: "There comes a point when it has to be said this baby has a right to life."
But her plan was defeated by 332 votes to 190. A move to bring in a 22-week limit was opposed by 304 votes to 233.
Fuck yeah, I love good news!
Via the f word. Pic from jessmccabe.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: UK won't lower abortion limit from 24 weeks.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/7493
Weekly Feministing Newsletter
Feministing RSS Feed
That is good news, although the fact that it's only 24 weeks still makes me sad.
What's the point of decreasing it 2 weeks anyway?
Great news, tho.
"What's the point of decreasing it 2 weeks anyway?"
I believe the limit was originally set based on the supposed age of viability. Recently, a superpremie baby (22 or 23 weeks I believe) was born in the UK and has survived to 6 months (again, I believe that is the number. This was news a few weeks ago, but I can't remember enough details to google it in the limited time I have), making some lawmakers reconsider the supposed age of viability.
WooHoooooo! the tide is turning (crosses fingers and hopes)
Good. I am sick of the anti-choice people continuing to push the abortion conversation to the edges and extremes. Focusing on later abortions not only chips away at abortion rights if the legislation is successful, but it diverts the conversation to the "gray" areas of abortion.
Late term abortions are the vast minority of abortions - less than 5%, I think. And these are the worst of the worst situations for these mothers - women who have fetuses with anomalies, or who already have poor access to care or money. Focusing the conversation on these later term abortion serves to make average people squirm at the choice conversation as we push ethical/viability boundaries, and reframes the issue falsely.
Actually parliament voted on a whole raft of attempts to reduce the limit from 12 to 22 weeks. All were rejected. Nadine Dorries has openly stated her all out opposition to abortion and that she wants to reduce the limit to 12 weeks. She pushed for 20 weeks because she thought that might get through. It's a relief that our MPs stood up for women's rights though it feels more like a defense of the barricades than a progressive victory.
With 24 weeks being the minimum age for viability - and this is not to say that a baby born at 24 weeks won't have serious lifelong health issues, like vision or respiratory problems, why the hellwould 20 or 22 weeks be considered viable? I really hate when people who should know better want to impose bad policies.
That's more than five and a half months. Why does that make you sad? It's pretty much the same deal here and in more liberal countries (such as in Scandinavia) the limit is closer to 12 weeks.
"There comes a point when it has to be said this baby has a right to life."
Translation: "There comes a point when it has to be said this woman has to sacrifice her freedoms for something in her body that she doesn't even want."
Thanks for the link :)
It's also worth noting that on the same night, our Parliament voted to scrap retrograde requirements for IVF clinics to consider the need "for a father and mother" before giving treatment.
This has been replaced with language to do with "supportive parenting", a great boon for lesbian couples and single women looking to get IVF treatment in the UK.
Good news but we have to be careful. The Tories may get into government again soon and they will try this again.
Good news but we have to be careful. The Tories may get into government again soon and they will try this again.