Abortions decreasing

a Jesus thought...
He who believes and is baptised will be saved. (Mark 16:16)

a Godly thought...
Wesley calls for preaching of Christ in all his offices - that is, as Prophet, Priest and King. (p156 Webb)

a leading thought...
You've got to love your people more than your position. (p133 Maxwell)

a Dave thought...
From today's Age newspaper...
FEWER teenagers are seeking abortions, and the Federal Government's baby bonus may well be playing a part in encouraging some young women to keep their children.
Figures obtained by The Sunday Age under freedom of information show that in 2005-06, 850 terminations were performed on women aged under 20 in public hospitals, down from 924 the previous year and 1010 in 2003-04.
A similar trend is evident in private hospitals. Victoria recorded 1724 teenage abortions in 2005-06, down from 1835 the year before and 1845 reported in 2003-04.
Over that period, Department of Human Services figures show that teenage births increased in Victoria from 1816 in 2003 to 1931 last year. However, the overall proportion of teenagers giving birth stayed the same, despite the drop in abortions.
Doctors cite better use of contraception and improved sex education, but there is growing speculation that the Government's $4000 bonus could be a factor in encouraging teenagers to continue with pregnancies.
The figures have been released as the Victorian Law Reform Commission investigates how to remove abortion from the Crimes Act, a move backed by Premier John Brumby and Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu.
The director of obstetrics at Monash Medical Centre, Euan Wallace, told The Sunday Age that "financial incentives" may be influencing some women's decisions about termination.
"There may well be some women in the past who would have chosen to terminate their pregnancy who might now continue the pregnancy because of financial incentives," he said.
But Professor Wallace said Australia's overall abortion rate remained "woeful".
"If you look at some European countries, Holland for example, they have an abortion rate much lower than ours, which goes to their sex education."
More user-friendly contraception, such as the implanted version of the pill, Implanon, and the morning-after pill, had reduced the rate of teenage abortions, said Mark Jones, the medical director of the Women's Clinic on Richmond Hill. "Maybe Mr Howard's X amount of dollars with the baby bonus has helped, too," he said.
The baby bonus is a one-off payment of $4187 for each child. It will rise to $5000 next year.
The new Victorian figures show that women in their early 20s were most likely to have an abortion, with 5030 terminations in public and private hospitals in 2005-06. But while the focus has long been on young women seeking abortions, Dr Jones said many of his patients were older women who felt their families were already complete.
The figures show Victoria's overall abortion rate has remained steady.
In 2005-06, there were 18,269 terminations in public and private hospitals compared to 18,514 in 2002-03.
Professor Julie Quinlivan, dean of medicine at Notre Dame University Australia and an expert on teenage pregnancy, said teen abortions had steadily decreased over the past 30 years.
"I do think there is some progress in teenagers being aware about taking precautions."

Just a thought.