We at Life Network Australia, believe that the unspoken ‘rules’ about childbirth and motherhood pressure many women to have an abortion. Our society’s attitude towards pregnancies that breach these ‘rules’ can make keeping the baby difficult. Consider the reaction to the following pregnancies:
- The mother is under 21 or over 40 years old.
- The mother is in financial difficulty.
- The mother is a student.
- The mother already has 3 or more children.
- The youngest sibling is under 2 years old.
- The youngest sibling is teenaged or older.
- The father is not the mother’s current partner.
- The unborn child has a suspected disability.
According to research 7, the following factors may underlie an abortion decision:
- A lack of emotional, social and material support.
- The pregnancy is not necessarily unintended or unwanted.
- Women may be ambivalent about their pregnancy
- A substantial number of women undergo abortion while being morally opposed to the practice.
- Financial concerns are a major motivator.
- Many women believe that continuing the pregnancy will jeopardise their plans for work and study.
- Concern about becoming single mothers.
- Abortion is strongly associated with domestic violence and abuse of women.
- Relatively few abortions occur for reasons of foetal disability.
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7 ‘Women and Abortion – An evidenced based review’, 2005. S Ewing, published by Women’s Forum Australia.
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