Sex advice is being replaced by sex aids! Now 12-years-olds are being made available DIY (do it yourself) abortion kits and vaccinations against HPV, a sexually transmitted infection.

If the new bill proposed by doctors, that is yet to be passed in parliament goes through, British schoolgirls as young as 12, could be given permission for DIY abortions. This has given way to a huge controversy. This would mean that very young kids will be able to undergo termination without supervision, behind their parents’ backs, even as late as 19 weeks.

In the words of Tory Nadine Dorris, a leading anti-abortion MP, “We are talking about very young girls who will go home and abort on their own.” This has scared many a parent and is a cause of great concern for them. Parents feel that this is like giving permission to go ahead and indulge in sex because there is a secret “remedy” and it also creates a risk factor for the child herself, which is what a girl is at 12.

Critics have said this decision by the Government sends out a wrong message to young girls. Even the Christian Institute has expressed disapproval of this plan. The director of the Roman Catholic Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics, said, “A massive public health programme which targets girls as young as 10 or 12 may well create more problems than it solves .. sending the message that promiscuity is normal and expected.”

Then there are the vaccinations against HPV. HPV is the human papilloma virus, which is a major cause of cervical cancer. Opponents find the idea of vaccinating young girls against sexually transmitted infection objectionable.

It is feared that abortion kits and immunization programmes would actually lull girls into a false sense of security, which could increase the risk-taking behavior. A young impressionable mind, still learning to make the right decisions, could easily fall into the trap of thinking that a vaccination can shield her against every problem related to sex and boost the appetite for an early sexual life.

Experts take the example of the promotion of condoms some time back. Research showed that the promotion resulted in increased sexual activity because of the false hope of consequence-free sex. Studies over the years show all “harm reduction” approaches to reduce under-age sex have failed. This is seen in the soaring of pre-teenage and teenage abortions in Britain, after the widespread availability of condoms and morning-after pills. In total contrast, abstinence approaches that empower teenagers to remain sexually inactive till they get married have been seen to be far more successful in decreasing teenage pregnancy.

Critics feel that the Government should embrace the same hard-hitting abstinence approach to sex as it has to smoking. Rather than supplying cigarette filters in schools, it tells the children to “say no to smoking.” Similarly, they feel that instead of supplying tools to get rid of pregnancy, it should instead concentrate its efforts on discouraging kids from having sex so young.

Those who are supportive to introducing jabs and abortion kits for young girls wonder how far it is possible to control today’s generation from doing what they want to do.

“Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don’t criticize what you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand.”

This song of Bob Dylan reflects the sentiments of the supporters. They stress that we as a community cannot afford to bury our heads like an ostrich about all the things happening in our children’s lives. Every step has to be taken by the parents and the Government to ensure our kids’ safety, because children being children, will anyway go ahead and do what they want to.

Opinions vary and this is a hugely controversial topic – one to ponder with all seriousness. There is no right or wrong answer to this and society will always be divided in its thinking. However, the one thing that both the opponents and proponents agree upon and are concerned about is the safety of every child.

Although Abortion is practiced throughout most of the world and has been practiced long before the recorded history, it still invokes passion and controversy. Abortion raises fundamental questions such as when life begins and what it is that makes us human. In America, abortion is a highly charged issue that involves ethical, religious and political debate. It continues to be a very contentious issue with few signs of abatement.

It is understandable that most women feel abortion is a moral decision for them and a totally personal decision, given their situation. This includes their religious beliefs, health, marital status, genetic makeup, age and other factors.

If a woman decides to undergo abortion, after consulting with her physician and her spiritual advisor, should the government veto her decision?

The answer to this is a whole lot of debate in the U.S., many times even bordering on violence.

Those who are against abortion say that the government should be able to override the decision of a woman and require her to continue with her pregnancy and childbirth. These people base their stance on the strong belief that human life begins at the ovum and spermatozoon stage. This makes a pre-embryo, embryo and fetus all humans that are entitled to the basic human right to live, along with all other human rights.

One of the most insidious examples of anti-abortion advocates is their argument for “post-abortion stress syndrome” in spite of the fact that there is no evidence to prove this. A proposed law in South Dakota would ban most abortions on the grounds that “an abortion subjects the pregnant woman to significant psychological and physical health risks.”

The Roman Catholic Church and many other religious bodies also strongly oppose abortion.

People who argue in favor of abortion say that it is totally the woman’s decision and the government has no right to interfere, or should limit its interference to only very rare circumstances. She should be able to have an abortion if she wants to. They base their stance on the belief that a human life begins after conception when the embryo’s heart starts beating, or when the fetus begins to take a human shape, or when it is born, or it half emerges from the mother, or is completely disconnected from the mother and becomes an independent human life.

In the United States, abortion has been made legal. Supporters of legal abortion say that this legalization resulted in a huge decrease in women dying from abortion and that’s because abortion is not a dangerous procedure any longer, since women do not have to go through self-induced abortions and they are done by experienced physicians.

If we go back to our ancestors, Aristotle taught “delayed ensoulment,” which meant that a fetus in the initial stages was nothing but a vegetable soul and evolves into a human soul later in gestation. This was even called ensoulment and was believed to occur at 90 days after conception for a female fetus and 40 days after conception for a male fetus. In those days, since gender could not be determined, abortion and contraception were not condemned. It was only in the later stages of pregnancy that a human soul is destroyed. On the other hand, Jewish faith generally opposed abortion, unless it posed a risk to the life of the mother. Over the centuries, different stances were taken at different times.

Supporters of abortion argue that the bible is also completely silent on the issue of abortion. The word “abortion” does not appear in any of the biblical translations. They go on to relate that according to the bible, life begins at birth – when a baby draws in its first breath and the embryo or fetus is not a human being. The bible gives the definition of life as “breath” several times.

However, anti-abortionists show basis in the bible for their beliefs, by citing passages or quotes that actually do not use the word abortion or pro-life. They say there are several scriptures in the Bible where God indirectly shows that he is pro-life.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

As far as the United States Political parties are concerned, they have taken different sides, with the majority of the Republicans being pro-life and a majority of the Democrats supporting a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion.

Belief that a human being exists at conception is purely a matter of faith, not fact. Several Christian denominations and religious groups now agree that the bible does not condemn abortion anywhere and that abortion should continue to be legal.

The general feeling is that it is important to find common ground – not by going completely against abortion or “favoring” abortion as the taking of an innocent life can never be acceptable. This has to be dealt with in such a way that it reduces the number of abortions. Abortions can be legalized as far health risks for the baby or mother are concerned and not in other situations.

The debates and discussions will continue as long as there is conscience and as long as life matters.