Seeing the broken up tiny feet and rib cage of a 22 week aborted fetus, truly was disturbing, and I'm sure any one would have a hard time condoning abortion after having seen those images. The gory footage didn't stop there either, seeing the younger fetus literally sucked out of the womb with a vacuum type instrument and hearing the doctor describe the process it suddenly occurred to me that this must be an awful job to have.
The programme certainly lived up to the cultural myth that abortion is inherently traumatising for the woman, which it may well be for many, but which I believe is mostly another cultural tool to restrain women and keep them within the private sphere of the home.
The whole reason women campaigned so hard for abortion rights and for contraceptives was to allow all women to take control of their bodies, to give them a choice to enter the public sphere of the work place and not be constrained to the home. I felt the woman's voice was not heard enough in the film.
What the programme also didn't cover was any discussion of what abortions were like before they were legalised, and although they touched on the subject, the more important issue of the programme I felt was the NHS abortion waiting lists. If they weren't so long then people who really needed them would be able to have abortions earlier and avoid the more disturbing invasive abortion procedure of later pregnancies.
Much was made of the fact that legally babies are aborted at 22-24 weeks when technology now allows doctors to 'save' premature babies also born at this age. Not enough was made however, of the moral and medical debates surrounding keeping babies alive this young. '50% of babies born prematurely at this age survive' we are told, and how many of those have serious health problems? how many live a 'normal' life?
Although I'm sure the programme makers are aware of these debates, and I understand that documentaries can't cover all angles of a story, I think that the woman's voice needs to be heard. This is above all else an issue for and about women and women's bodies, hearing male doctors opinions, well informed as they may be, doesn't represent the issue justly. I think the audience want to hear what women have to say, they want to hear women tell their own stories and voice their own opinions about abortion.
Did the programme change my opinion? After a couple of days reflecting on the disturbing images, I realised that no, horrible as it might be, the images were what they were designed to be, shock tactics. I still believe that abortion is every woman's right and I don't like being made to feel guilty about believing in abortion. No doubt many women watching the programme who had had abortions themselves were made to feel this way and not made to feel that they had taken control of their bodies, exercised their legal rights and made the decision that they felt was right for them.
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