Cultural in addition to legislative change is required if record breaking abortion numbers are ever to be reduced, Conservative peer Baroness Philippa Stroud has said.
Writing for First Things, Baroness Stroud noted that 2023, the newest 12 months for which figures can be found, saw a record 299,000 abortions within the UK. To put that in perspective, it might be the equivalent of the population of Nottingham being terminated in a 12 months. It also signifies that a 3rd of pregnancies in Britain end in an abortion.
Such staggering figures, she argues, usually are not only driven by the incontrovertible fact that there aren’t any de facto restrictions on abortion as much as 24 weeks in a pregnancy.
Citing evidence by Kara Kennedy in an article for the Free Press, Stroud noted that many ladies opt to have an abortion due to feelings of inadequacy or lack of readiness, somewhat than financial concerns or social pressure. In short, they often feel they usually are not able to being a great mother.
“The alarming truth is that we now have created a culture where women feel they don’t want to have, or wouldn’t address having, children … ,” she said.
“What was once widely considered probably the most fulfilling—and natural—role a girl could enjoy has turn into, at best, an optional extra for individuals who want it and, at worst, an impediment to self-fulfilment.”
Stroud also criticised schemes comparable to the “pills-by-post” scheme, which allows women to acquire abortion pills and terminate their pregnancies at home without ever meeting a medical skilled. Critics argue that the scheme effectively minimises the gravity of an abortion, presenting it as a straightforward health issue that requires taking a tablet or two to resolve, while also putting women prone to medical emergencies.
“When we make having an abortion sound easy, but having children sound inconvenient or ruinous, something has gone very flawed with our society that needs addressing,” said Stroud.
“Responding to this may occasionally just be the best challenge facing lawmakers in the remainder of the twenty-first century. The stakes are, quite literally, existential.”
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