Heh heh... I have nothing to say at this point about the truth behind you-know-what.
This post is on The Truth about Abortion, a leaflet produced by the Health Promotion Board. I'm a fairly regular visitor of hospitals and on a recent trip, I picked this leaflet up because I'd never seen it before and I wanted to see what the HPB had to say about the truth about abortion. Also, with all the hoo-ha earlier this year about the sexuality education programmes students were getting in JCs, I was curious to see what the 'official', secular stand would be with regard to this emotional, emotive, etc... topic.
I remember one student complained that an abortion video screened at his school had hard-to-stomach visual images. And I remember thinking, sorry, dude, that's the truth about abortion.
So what does the HPB say?
The leaflet does indeed list basic info about abortion - what it is, methods of abortion (featuring, though, only 2 main methods), risks related to having an abortion as well as repeated abortions, and, I'm happy to say, a reminder that:
'An abortion is not a method of contraception. The decision to have an abortion is not to be taken lightly as it can damage the woman's mental and physical health.'
There was even graphic representation of the 'suction aspiration' method.
Maybe schools can give this to the students who are queasy about seeing images of the real thing?
I am also reminded of what an ex-colleague told me many years back. She said that most people going for abortions were women above the age of 40 (fear that the child may not be 'normal' due to the mother's age; not wanting more children, etc). I'm not sure where she quoted that from, or what the real figures are but I was also told that there are more married than unmarried women who go for abortions (can't remember where I read/heard this but it should be true; makes sense because there should be many more married than unmarried women getting pregnant in the first place) and that there are definitely more adults than teenagers going for abortions.
That makes me wonder why more is made of teenage abortion than abortion in itself. Any medical, psychological, mental, social, etc risks or problems for teenagers seeking abortions apply also, although sometimes differently, to adults. Therefore, if people think teenage abortion is a problem, or wrong, it should be so for adults too. Perhaps even more so. One can understand a teenager being unprepared for motherhood, not realising the full consequences of sex, etc (I'm not condoning teenage abortion; I'm just saying 'one can understand' what a pregnant teenager is going through), but one would expect an adult to have reasoning powers beyond that of a teenager's. And yet, both groups end up seeking the same solution to their 'unwanted' situation.
So... The Truth about Abortion should be given out to everyone?
On a different note, I think I'm getting the hang of writing misleading titles. Maybe I can get a job doing titles for tabloids or something. Could do with the extra cash.
And on another but related (to the part about extra cash) note, my Progress Package payout is less than what my husband and parents got. :-(
Finally, on a very serious note on the eve of the big day, vote wisely, those of you who are among the 1.2 million who are getting to exercise their right and responsiblity as a citizen.
This post is on The Truth about Abortion, a leaflet produced by the Health Promotion Board. I'm a fairly regular visitor of hospitals and on a recent trip, I picked this leaflet up because I'd never seen it before and I wanted to see what the HPB had to say about the truth about abortion. Also, with all the hoo-ha earlier this year about the sexuality education programmes students were getting in JCs, I was curious to see what the 'official', secular stand would be with regard to this emotional, emotive, etc... topic.
I remember one student complained that an abortion video screened at his school had hard-to-stomach visual images. And I remember thinking, sorry, dude, that's the truth about abortion.
So what does the HPB say?
The leaflet does indeed list basic info about abortion - what it is, methods of abortion (featuring, though, only 2 main methods), risks related to having an abortion as well as repeated abortions, and, I'm happy to say, a reminder that:
'An abortion is not a method of contraception. The decision to have an abortion is not to be taken lightly as it can damage the woman's mental and physical health.'
There was even graphic representation of the 'suction aspiration' method.
Maybe schools can give this to the students who are queasy about seeing images of the real thing?
I am also reminded of what an ex-colleague told me many years back. She said that most people going for abortions were women above the age of 40 (fear that the child may not be 'normal' due to the mother's age; not wanting more children, etc). I'm not sure where she quoted that from, or what the real figures are but I was also told that there are more married than unmarried women who go for abortions (can't remember where I read/heard this but it should be true; makes sense because there should be many more married than unmarried women getting pregnant in the first place) and that there are definitely more adults than teenagers going for abortions.
That makes me wonder why more is made of teenage abortion than abortion in itself. Any medical, psychological, mental, social, etc risks or problems for teenagers seeking abortions apply also, although sometimes differently, to adults. Therefore, if people think teenage abortion is a problem, or wrong, it should be so for adults too. Perhaps even more so. One can understand a teenager being unprepared for motherhood, not realising the full consequences of sex, etc (I'm not condoning teenage abortion; I'm just saying 'one can understand' what a pregnant teenager is going through), but one would expect an adult to have reasoning powers beyond that of a teenager's. And yet, both groups end up seeking the same solution to their 'unwanted' situation.
So... The Truth about Abortion should be given out to everyone?
On a different note, I think I'm getting the hang of writing misleading titles. Maybe I can get a job doing titles for tabloids or something. Could do with the extra cash.
And on another but related (to the part about extra cash) note, my Progress Package payout is less than what my husband and parents got. :-(
Finally, on a very serious note on the eve of the big day, vote wisely, those of you who are among the 1.2 million who are getting to exercise their right and responsiblity as a citizen.
Comments
Bad News on the Doorstep: The Great Singapore Massacre
A Fellow Traveler: Mommy......
THANKS SO MUCH for those links. I confess that I've never really thought about how many people believe that life doesn't begin at conception. The leaflet talks about removing the 'foetus or embryo or other pregnancy tissue' without going into the issue of 'life'.
The poem is excellent.
If I'm not mistaken, when they passed the Abortion Act in Singapore, it was one of the rare occasions when the Party Whip was lifted so that MPs could vote 'according to their conscience'. Of course, those who voted 'according to their conscience' lost to the majority. If I remembered this 'fact' wrongly and offended anyone, SORRY!
Fuzzoo,
Yeah, once every 4-5 years. Cannot afford to do otherwise, right?