Termination

An article in today’s Observer discusses the increasing public opinion that the time limit on abortion should be reduced. In their own survey, they found that 47 per cent of women believe the legal limit for an abortion should be cut from its present 24 weeks, and another 10 per cent want the practice outlawed altogether.

As I write, I can feel my 19-week fetus fluttering around inside me. These tiny movements are so real, so human, so much potential. This unimaginable creature has already taken over our lives, and turned us from a couple into a family.

This baby was planned and longed for, and that makes me very lucky, because I don’t have to make that decision. In other circumstances, I would and could and have made it, albeit long before any scans or movements gave the tiny clump of cells any tangible reality. To abort in the first trimester is relatively easy, both in terms of logistics, and emotionally. I don’t deny that it leaves a deep impression, but I cannot begin to imagine the anguish of making that decision after months of carrying a child.

I’m not talking about someone dithering until 20 weeks, or suddenly changing their mind; there are still people who do not know they are pregnant until the second trimester; some women continue to have periods throughout, and some are too ignorant or too frightened or even deep in denial, and it simply doesn’t hit them until it’s nearly too late. And if they really are that ignorant or frightened or unable to face reality, there’s a strong chance that their world is not a good one to bring a baby into.

But the really painful decision is reserved for the parents who want the baby, and find out that there is some abnormality such as Downs Syndrome that makes it impracticable for them to continue the pregnancy. The AFP test, which indicates a likelihood of chromosomal abnormality, is only possible at around 18 weeks. If this gives a positive result, then you are advised to have an amniocentesis. It takes two to three weeks to get the results of amniocentesis. This puts us at 22 weeks, which is the upper limit now proposed by David Cameron. Doesn’t give you much time to make that ultimately difficult decision, does it?

I’m not sure I even dare to imagine carrying a baby for five months and then having to give it up. Especially if you are in the Older Mother bracket, and running out of time. But if you feel strongly that you don’t want to be the parent of a handicapped child, then being forced to go ahead with a pregnancy that you no longer want must be much, much worse.

A baby born at 23 weeks has only a 17% chance of survival, yet pictures of a 23-week fetus are being used to persuade politicians that this is a person with a right to life. But that right to life should surely include a right to be loved, wanted, cared for by someone who is emotionally and financially able to do so, and not have an 83% chance of dying after a few weeks in an incubator?

I am not among the 47% of women who think that the time limit should be reduced; what I do want is more support to be given to the women who do have to make this decision at such a painfully late stage, and to those who do not face the reality of their pregnancy until they reach the line.