The number of abortions was at a record level in Belgium at 17 314, up 4% from the preceding year according to one article. That's one out of every eight pregnancies. In Brussels, the rate of aborted pregnancies is 1 out of every 5.
They say that there has to be more focus on sex ed. in schools, but the demographic that uses abortion the most is the 20-24 year old crowd.
At that age, they've already had plenty of sex. ed, it seems to me.
This made me curious as to what the abortions laws are in Beligium. Here's an excerpt of a UN document
The 1990 law permits abortion to be performed in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy when a woman who is “in a state of distress as a result of her situation” requests a physician to terminate her pregnancy. The woman is the sole judge of whether she is in distress. Aside from informing the woman as to the risks of undergoing the procedure and the various possibilities for taking care of the child, if born, the physician needs only to be convinced of the pregnant woman’s determination to terminate her pregnancy.
After 12 weeks of pregnancy, an abortion may be performed only if two physicians agree that continuance of the pregnancy would gravely endanger the woman's health or when it is certain that the child, if born, would be affected by a particularly serious pathological condition, recognized as incurable at the time of diagnosis.
Regardless of length of gestation, all abortions must be performed by a physician under good medical conditions, in a health-care establishment that has an information department that provides the woman seeking the abortion with detailed information regarding the rights, assistance and benefits guaranteed by the law to families, unmarried and married mothers and their children, as well as regarding the possibilities offered by the adoption of the child, if born, and that grants her, at the physician’s or her own request, assistance and advice on available resources to resolve the psychological and social problems posed by her situation. In addition, the physician or any qualified member of the health-care establishment must ensure that she is provided with information on contraception. An abortion may be performed six days following the woman’s counselling, at the earliest. She must certify in writing, on the date of the intervention, that she is determined to terminate her pregnancy.
Now, if Canada had this conservative an abortion law, would women be oppressed? Would women be toiling under intolerable burdens?
I don't hear too many complaints from Belgian women.
See, in Canada, we're told if we restrict abortion laws, it would be "intolerable", women would be oppressed, and so forth.
Most European countries have WAY more restrictive laws than we do. In fact, many of them are shocked to hear that Canada has no abortion law whatsoever. It's inhumane.
Meanwhile, Canadian babies continue to die due to our apathy.
H/T: Blog pour la Vie.
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