All about abortions

Or everything you want to know about abortions but were afraid to ask

Most important fact: nobody, absolutely nobody likes having an abortion, and many abortions are avoidable by using the ‘emergency contraceptive pill’ within 72 hours of having unprotected sexual intercourse.

Not using emergency contraception if you are worried that you could be pregnant, is ‘burying your head in the sand’ and hoping for the best. Get down to your family doctor, or any other family doctor, or your local family planning clinic or your local ‘emergency room’ NOW and get yourself the ‘emergency contraceptive pill’. About half of girls under the age of 18 who get pregnant decide to have an abortion, so much, much better to make sure that you do not get pregnant in the first place.

Facts about abortions

There are few subjects which raise more emotion in people than that of abortion. The arguments rage backwards and forwards from ‘it is murder’ to ‘it is the right of every woman to have an abortion if she wants one’.

These arguments all have some truth in them, but dealing with the facts:

Abortion of foetuses up to the 24th week of pregnancy is legal in England, Scotland and Wales (in Northern Ireland is only legal in exceptional circumstances)
Abortion is available in these countries subject to the approval of two doctors
180,000 legal abortions are carried out in Britain every year
The majority of abortions are carried out before 12 weeks

Further facts are:

Legal abortion is very safe for the pregnant woman, and there is very little risk to your health particularly if you have it early on in the pregnancy
Legal abortion does not normally interfere with you having a baby later on in life
Legal abortion is free on the National Health Service in England, Scotland and Wales

If you’re thinking about having an abortion

Who to talk to

The laws about having an abortion

The methods of ‘abortion’ that are used

Some useful numbers for more information

Hear and see what young people say about all that stuff