Indeed, Rick, I sincerely hope that if there are to be adverts of this nature, then they are to be of the informative sort, rather than cheer-led razzamatazz. Yes, I also agree that if abortion did not exist in the way it does, there is the spectre of the back street, for example. It's also a possibility that any clinic that may wish to advertise abortion should be made also to offer alternative messages as part of that advert, on, for example, adoption, abstinence, the "family", for example (rather like cigarette packets legally are obliged to carry health messages).
One of the guidelines currently being discussed is that those "pregnancy advisory services who do not offer abortion will have to state this in their adverts - this is deemed to be on medical grounds, for the fear of complications in later-term abortions. This would be a case where the same rules or guidelines should apply to both sides, if, indeed, there are sides in this debate.
I have great sympathy with your views on the advertising, and think you have well-made points. But there are things I would question - for example, for example, abortion isn't an inevitable trade-off to modern living, and if it is seen as such, then it needs to be questioned why, and "modern living" also then maybe needs to be questioned (as it is, incidentally, on so many fronts anyway, now). I'd also question your point that those who are concerned over advertising of abortion are necessarily coming from a Roman Catholic point of view, or fear-mongering, or being emotive, and would ask whether those who speak for this idea of advertising have any the less a belief-system (in this instance, a primacy of the reproductively mature person, the idea of the individual, the concept of autonomous choice, the primacy of science as a response to a natural and social issue).
For advertising on drink-driving and smoking, the aim is to stop one doing these things, or at least inform of what could happen in one persists, and in an impactive way - so if we're to have informercials on abortion, how exactly would they be pitched? I'm not convinced that images of women struggling to have babies would be a good one, nor sweet music played over images of a warm welcoming hospital, and smiling women - on the other hand, are we to get shock pictures, like Marek's, at the head of this thread, to underline costs of abortion?
I think the point I'm making is that, whatever is put across, it will have an underlying stance and philosophy - one such that does need to be seriously questioned is potential advocacy of abortion as though it were merely another lifestyle choice.
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For Brian, as a partial aside, to respond to your post -
Quote: some times it becomes a nessaty,as in a medical sense for instance a female lets say 30 years old pregnant by choice carrys the baby say two thirds of the term then through no falt of the young lady complications set in,owhat does one do.does one let the female suffer and die along with the baby or do they terminate the baby,over to you.
Heh! Over to me, then. The situation you describe is exactly what happened to me. We (meaning I and the unborn baby) were told specifically that it was a choice between one or the other of us, or maybe we'd both die. I had long discussions about what to do. I was even asked officially person about a funeral and what I would want, for me, the unborn baby, or both.
We carried on. It was touch and go - but somehow we both survived. The baby grew up to be your friend, Susannah.
(We've done it again, Bern!
)