4thought.tv

Not only patronising but full of moral and religious dogma. Abortion is not wrong or irresponsible, it is often the best decision.

Non-directional counselling is the key. If a woman decides she does not want to have an abortion, an abortion clinic counsellor would happily refer her on to services she feels could offer support in continuing with the pregnancy. Sadly, a reciprocal arrangment rarely occurs when organisations have their own agenda and views surrounding morality if the woman's decision is to terminate an unplanned pregnancy.

Non-directional Counselling is indeed key. However telling the woman that one in three women have had an abortion is directional and abortion clinic counsellors use this technique. They also stress the importance of deciding quickly. Both of these are self evidently 'directional'.

Some Counsellors do not refer to abortion clinics which is entirely in keeping with the conscience clause principle, and does not violate the non-directional principle.

Obviously pregnancy and parenting support is not 'reciprocal' to induced abortion, however many non-directional pregnancy counselling services not linked to an abortion provider do in fact assist in referrals and it is by no means a 'rare' occurrence.

Non directional non judgmental user friendly user guided unbiased and non moralistic, that means pro life counsellors may have to put aside their own beliefs and accept that the choice is not theirs. If they do not like these conditions of service they should not be in the profession. Your first and foremost responsibility is to the client. There are many more issues than taking ‘responsibility’ for pregnancy this is a rather over simplistic political response.

Jim, The accusation of an 'over simplistic' response is absurd. 4thought films are about one minute and 30 seconds long! The editors have the difficult job of getting across the jist of what the interviewee is driving at in a very short space of time. To put it bluntly for you to say that there are many more issues is patently obvious and self-evidently an oversimplified criticism.

Hoisted by your own petard I'm afraid.

I have not seen the film but feel that this is not a suitable time to show this clip. Headlines today complained about Jeramy Clarkson;s comments being offensive and perhaps causing difficulties for parents with young children . Surely discussing abortion before the watershed could cause equal if not worse difficulties for parents with young children

I myself have had 1 abortion over 6 years ago. I never felt i had the chance (thought i was read a script that i did) to talk about it before or after. I found myself to be pregant 9 months ago and was going to have another abortion when the day before the procedure I felt I needed to talk to an unbiased person who would not tell me what they thought was best but listen to me and offer me unbiased advice. I called a pregnancy help-line and spoke to an amazing woman who did just that. I did not feel I was able to do that at the clinic (during consultation) or with my GP. I also did not want to talk to abortion help lines as I believed them to be of the biased opinion. I am days away from having my baby and have never looked back at my choice. I am 35 and single and scared to bits but I made the right choice this time and am awaiting the arrival of my miracle!
Abortion clinics only want one thing and that is money.
Liza

I do not think Mr Ed Rennie should even be entering into a debate about abortion !

To describe the options as either 'pro life' or 'pro choice' is wrong! It's possible that an unwanted baby could cause distress to a young woman and affect there future greatly, therefore pro choice really is the only option. Choice allows each individual situation to be evaluated independently and a decision to be made when all or at least most of the considerations have been considered. 'Pro life' is a very one sided way of looking at things and is therefore wrong. There is always two or more, sometimes many more ways to look at any situation including pregnancy and abortion. Narrow mindedness is wrong and should be stamped out.

It's an extremely difficult topic, but I do appreciate what was said about a second sexual revolution, in which we reclaim our responsibilities.

Sex does often lead to pregnancy, and responsibility for a child, born or unborn, is a pretty big deal.

Note that I'm not saying here that abortion is an irresponsible choice, just one that shouldn't be arrived without time, thought and good advice.

It sounds strange for me to be saying this, but I've come around to the idea that sex really is for procreation. - Eric Clapton

Pro-"choice" is definitely the wrong term. In abortion an unborn baby is robbed of her or his Life and all her or his choices. Mothers are rushed through quickly by money-grabbing abortion clinics offering no reality-check on the brutal violence of abortion. They do not offer life-affirming alternatives or practical help for mother and baby well being. 64% of women in a 2004 study reported feeling coerced and forced into their abortions. (ref. medical science monitor 2004)

Education For Choice did a study of 'independent' pregnancy advice centres earlier in 2011 and found that many were clearly biased against abortion and/or incapable of or unwilling to give accurate information about abortion or the referral process to the women who came to them. People supporting women should check out centres like this before referring women to them. Most abortions in this country are provided within the NHS or paid for by the NHS and provided by non profit making specialist clinics. Of course the people who work in them are paid to do their job as are doctors, nurses, dentists etc in your local hospital, but they do not profit directly from women having abortions or have a personal financial incentive to direct women towards abortion. We have observed counselling sessions in abortion clinics and talked at length to abortion providers and find that they are motivated by their desire to support women whatever their decision. About a fifth of women attending abortion clinics choose not to have an abortion and are completely supported in this.