Marie Stopes abortion clinic opens in Belfast

[lawnseed]

its a money racket plain and simple. this office is a base from which to carry out abortions under 9wks and or to direct women to other stopes clinics in the uk. the only reason stopes dont want a counter demo is because the prolifers are giving them all the free publicity they need. if however the present demo begins to decline then they'll organise a counter demo.

[Maguire01]

How can it be a money racket for a not-for-profit organisation?

[Tony Baloney]

How can it be a money racket for a not-for-profit organisation?

Why bother then when it is offering services available a few minutes walk away in the City Hospital?

[lawnseed]

How can it be a money racket for a not-for-profit organisation?

your pro abortion maguire aren't you. you dont have a problem with killing an unborn child. read your posts on this thread why dont you just say it

[Ulick]

How can it be a money racket for a not-for-profit organisation?

Not-for-profit organisations wouldn't exist if they didn't make money and if they don't exist they can't promote their agenda and pay the salaries of those that work for them.

On an aside, I was on a residential course last year along with the NI & Irish directors of 5 of the biggest international NGO "charities" in this part of the world and they were all freely admitting (in confidence) that they operate corporate structures geared towards one thing - pulling in money. Their jobs were all performance related and benchmarked against the amount of cash they raked in (including bonuses).

[Maguire01]

How can it be a money racket for a not-for-profit organisation?

your pro abortion maguire aren't you. you dont have a problem with killing an unborn child. read your posts on this thread why dont you just say it

I've said it before - I thought it would have been obvious. I'm pro-choice - I wouldn't necessarily make such decisions myself, but I support a woman's right to choose.

[Onion Bag]

Seen a tv show one night where a young 15 year old girl was violently raped in America and became pregnant as a result. With the consent of her parents she had an abortion. I wouldn't call myself pro-abortion but if this was my daughter I think I would have to agree with the parents here,
Any opinions on a situation like this?

[Armaghtothebone]

its well worth noting that the handful of women travelling to the uk for abortions from the six counties wouldnt pay the rent of that building in belfast if they were to avail of the stopes' services. in truth stopes are here to service the whole island and will infact make a fortune from private patients from south of the border probably setting their rates slighty below the cost of a plane ticket and acommodation in the uk.

Handful of women from each GP practice in each small town/ village each and every year more like.

[Armaghtothebone]

Seen a tv show one night where a young 15 year old girl was violently raped in America and became pregnant as a result. With the consent of her parents she had an abortion. I wouldn't call myself pro-abortion but if this was my daughter I think I would have to agree with the parents here,
Any opinions on a situation like this?

Never mind that situation. I have a fourteen yr old daughter. In a couple of years time she makes a mistake and ends up pregnant. She does not want the baby, her decision, some of you say tough, she has to have the baby, others say she has to go to England to have the termination. I say why does she not have the same rights a Londoner, or a Scouser.

[The Iceman]

I don't think anyone here would respond "tough". I think if you are worried about it now then do something about it. 2 years from now she is 16. If you think she will be sexually active at 16 and you're ok with that then you should also be prepared to deal with the consequences. If you think it would be a mistake for her to have sex, then what are you doing to prevent that? How are you educating her and helping her to understand?

I have a daughter and I understand your worries but I would do something about it now.
I firmly believe the "mistakes" children make are the fault of the parents....

[stew]

I don't think anyone here would respond "tough". I think if you are worried about it now then do something about it. 2 years from now she is 16. If you think she will be sexually active at 16 and you're ok with that then you should also be prepared to deal with the consequences. If you think it would be a mistake for her to have sex, then what are you doing to prevent that? How are you educating her and helping her to understand?

I have a daughter and I understand your worries but I would do something about it now.
I firmly believe the "mistakes" children make are the fault of the parents....

So the children are blameless then?? I think thats bullshit, kids make mistakes and neither me nor my wife had anything to do with the mistakes my girls made, they made decisions that were immature and it bit them, just like I made when I was young, I never once even thought of blaming my parents, nor did they blame me.

[The Iceman]

Is it really bullshit Stew or are you just picking a fight because I disagree with you on other things?
If you didn't educate and teach your child or guide them then how would they make decisions? Based on what they see on TV? Or what they read in the papers?
It is your responsibility as a parent to educate and guide your child. If they are goodun's or bad'uns, surely you have to take some responsibility?

[Maguire01]

I don't think anyone here would respond "tough". I think if you are worried about it now then do something about it. 2 years from now she is 16. If you think she will be sexually active at 16 and you're ok with that then you should also be prepared to deal with the consequences. If you think it would be a mistake for her to have sex, then what are you doing to prevent that? How are you educating her and helping her to understand?

I have a daughter and I understand your worries but I would do something about it now.
I firmly believe the "mistakes" children make are the fault of the parents....

Everything really is so black and white in your world.
That is a ridiculous statement.

[Puckoon]

I have to be honest here Iceman and suggest that I thought your initial post was a little bit askew.

The world is littered with people whose parents taught them well, and taught them the right and the wrong choices to make. To suggest that once thats done if a young girl or boy makes a mistake that it is the parents fault is far from my take on it.

There are plenty of girls out there who know how to not get pregnant, and there are plenty of girls out there who know they shouldnt maybe be doing what they are doing - but it doesnt stop them.

I hope that you wouldnt be this hard on yourself if one of your children ended up in a situation like this down the line. A parent can only do so much. You can't literally put chastity devices on teenagers any more.

[The Iceman]

I don't think anyone here would respond "tough". I think if you are worried about it now then do something about it. 2 years from now she is 16. If you think she will be sexually active at 16 and you're ok with that then you should also be prepared to deal with the consequences. If you think it would be a mistake for her to have sex, then what are you doing to prevent that? How are you educating her and helping her to understand?

I have a daughter and I understand your worries but I would do something about it now.
I firmly believe the "mistakes" children make are the fault of the parents....

Everything really is so black and white in your world.
That is a ridiculous statement.

Maybe I need to re-read my posts. I oftentimes write like I would normally speak in a conversation and my delivery isn't always perfect -I don't intend to be so black and white. I do believe all parents have to take some responsibility for these "mistakes". Yes there will be exceptions - you will have kids who are just bad'uns in some cases and yes we all do make mistakes but for the most part we are molded mostly by our home environment and the environments our parents expose us to outside of the home. The choices and decisions we make are heavily influenced by who we are and the examples given by our parents.
If you think your 16 year old daughter is having sex and you are ok with that and want to only address the consequences rather than the actions then I think better parenting skills are required. They're going to do it anyway isn't the best response in my opinion. I'm not saying you have to agree with that either. I think it is very possible to have a young daughter or son in today's world who isn't sexually active and I'm prepared to work harder than the next man to help with that.
Maybe you think my hopes are naive or unrealistic but I am willing to put the work in. If things go wrong or mistakes are made I will take responsibility as a parent for not doing better.