Abortion debate – Archbishop of Canterbury speaks out

I must say that I share the concerns recently expressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader to approximately 70 million Anglicans. In this News article seen HERE, the Archbishop warns the public that it is:

“ in danger of losing its "moral focus" on abortion and treating the procedure as normal rather than an action of last resort"

More so than ever before we have many methods of contraception that can prevent unwanted pregnancy, though not all sexual contact is invited and thus planned for as is the case for rape, but in other cases, the responsibility should fall to ourselves to NOT get pregnant if that is not desired at that time.

My concern is that abortion is now such a widely accepted term that it is almost expected when a young single woman falls pregnant rather than as the archbishop says “an action of last resort". Abortion, should not be treated as some sort of ‘after the fact’ contraceptive. It is my fear that this is exactly what it has become.

If women are anticipating sexual contact then they should use protection and if they are not anticipating it, then they should decline (if they have a choice to do so) until they do have protection. Men should also take responsibility for their actions, but it is unrealistic to expect men to do so. Historically this always comes down to the woman and I do not think that will ever change.

The Archbishop makes some interesting points with regards to the proposal for women to take ‘abortion pills’ in the comfort of their own home, he says this:

"The pregnant woman who smokes or drinks heavily is widely regarded as guilty of infringing the rights of her unborn child. Yet at the same time, with no apparent sense of incongruity, there is discussion of the possibility of the liberty of the pregnant woman herself to perform the actions that will terminate a pregnancy," he said."

He also suggested that the present 24-week limit for abortions should be reviewed, saying: