The BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation) is pro-abortion from A to Z. So it definitely caught my attention when Jane Dreaper, a BBC Health Correspondent, wrote a story under the arresting headline of “I had four abortions—but termination isn’t right.”
The hook for the story was the rising incidence of repeat abortions and a survey taken by Marie Stopes, UK, the Planned Parenthood of Great Britain, in which 430 women responded. The BBC included a box that summarized some of the key findings.
In brief the percent of women having an abortion who are having (at least) a second abortion had increased from 31% in 2002 to 37% in 2012. “A quarter of [such] women aged under 25 were having at least their second abortion. In Scotland 31% of women had had a previous abortion.”
Reading the Stopes survey, you learn that of those women who said they had already had an abortion, “74% said they have had one previous abortion, 25% said two, and 1% reported three previous abortions.”
But by far the most startling passages—because they do not fit the BBC’s usual script for its abortion stories—came from a 23-year-old woman they gave the name of “Lisa.” Here’s how Lisa explained her four abortions:
She said she does not think terminations are right – but she did not wish to have three or four children with different fathers.
She said: “With the first one, you don’t know what’s going to happen. You’re scared and anxious.
“But once you see all the other women there, it doesn’t make you feel that bad.
“And it does get easier with the more you have. I know that sounds really bad, but that is just how it is.”
But at the same time Lisa said she wanted other women to learn from her “careless actions,” she also said she had no regrets.
“I don’t think abortion is all right at all,” Lisa said. “But I did what was best for me and my daughter at the time.”
Chelsea Garcia is a political writer with a special interest in international relations and social issues. Events surrounding the war in Ukraine and the war in Israel are a major focus for political journalists. But as a former local reporter, she is also interested in national politics.
Chelsea Garcia studied media, communication and political science in Texas, USA, and learned the journalistic trade during an internship at a daily newspaper. In addition to her political writing, she is pursuing a master's degree in multimedia and writing at Texas.
