Is abortion controversial in other countries?

[TheFarseer]

I know the U.S. is the only country where stem cells are controversial. Of course this wouldn't prove anything to Freepers. It would only re-enforce the idea that we're better than everyone else.

[HereSince1628]

1. I think it's still illegal in Ireland.

[liberal N proud]

2. Good Question

[Maddy McCall]

3. It's illegal in Poland.

[non sociopath skin]

4. The Tories tried to make it an issue in this year's UK election...

... with some Churchmen fanning the flames. Got them nowhere.

The Skin

[justinsb]

5. Not really here

in Canada, there are anti-abortion groups (some of whom are funded from the states) but no political party - in their platform, opposes abortion. The Conservative's leader Stephen Harper opposes it, but he says that that fight has been fought and lost and it is not realistic to expect to reverse it.

[Kagemusha]

6. It's controversial in part due to the Catholic Church.

My stepmother is from a third world, heavily Catholic country and has very strong pro-life views. (Of course, I think stem cell research is in itself pro-life and that is why I support research in general.) The Church's policies and propaganda is a very large part of the politics of this in every country in which it is powerful. This applies to abortion, perhaps even moreso.

[seriousstan]

12. I don't think the Muslim religion embraces it either, unless you count

stoning women that have been raped.

[bicentennial_baby]

7. Very difficult to obtain in Israel

if I remember correctly.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. It's essentially on demand in Japan, and

perhaps because of that, the Buddhists have developed a set of practices for women who would have liked to carry their pregnancies to term but were unable to.

If you go to a major temple complex, you may see a corner of small statues wearing caps and baby bibs, or an altar covered with toys. These are devoted to Jizo Bosatsu, the bodhisattva whose job it is to guide dead children to paradise. Some of those who make offerings have had children die from illnesses or accidents, but others are women who have had abortions or miscarriages.

Abortion was legalized after World War II when people were literally starving in the rubble, and an extra child could imperil the family's survival. Until recently, the Pill was illegal, so abortion was commonly used for back-up if birth control failed.

Essentially the society says, "You may have an abortion with no stigma attached, and if you find this difficult emotionally, we have rituals by which you may process your feelings."

I've been following events in Japan for nearly thirty years, and I've never heard of an organized anti-choice movement. While women's rights in general are moving forward too slowly for my taste, access to abortion is firmly entrenched in the society.

[brainshrub]

13. The Buddhists have the best way to deal with the pain of abortion.

I've heard how Buddhists deal with abortion before. Buddhists have a lot to teach fundamentalists about love, compassion and the real definition of being pro-life.

[acmejack]

9. Illegal in Portugal, too

They just had a trial of some folks associated with the Dutch floating abortion clinic founded by

edit for bad link

[TheFarseer]

10. picture it:

abortion clinics floating in the Rio Grande and St. Lawrence River!

[jim3775]

11. Not in Canada

For the most part it's an accepted thing with no major opposition. It's not even an issue in the official Conservative party platform.

Here’s a poll I googled up:

“In a poll conducted by the National Post in November 2002, 78 per cent of respondents answered "yes" to the question: "Should women have complete freedom on their decision to have an abortion?"”