Friday, October 26, 2007

All Growed Up

Wowser. It looks like, despite the loading of the advisory panel with anti-choicers, the British proposed reforms on abortions are, shockingly, smart. Protective of women's rights. Practical.

Living in a place where we have battened down the hatches, and are desperately clinging onto and fighting for everything we can, I obviously assumed that the inquiry would be about reducing our rights. And, instead, I get to be pleasantly surprised by the proposals, which include:
  • Eliminating the need for two doctors' signatures for a woman to have abortion, and reducing it to one - albeit only for under 13 weeks lmp.*
  • Allowing nurses to perform abortions up to twelve week, and allowing such abortions outside licensed clinics.
Also, they will probably recommend maintaining the 24 week limit, which had been threatened by various anti-choicers.

It's a nice start to the morning. Surprising. If only the debate were thus here.

* lmp is "last menstrual period," which is how they calculate pregnancy's process.

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