Pro Choice vs Pro Life in Scotland

Anderson, C. 2016. Where will Scotland stand on abortion?,  Al Jazeera [online] 5, May. Available at:  https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2016/5/5/where-will-scotland-stand-on-abortion Kliff, S. 2015. How the pro-life movement is winning - even with Obama in office, Vox [online] 8, September. Available at:  https://www.vox.com/2015/9/8/9273685/abortion-rights-obama-pro-life The Canadian Press. 2015. Health Canada finally approves abortion pill RU-486, The Toronto Star [online] 30, July. Available at:  https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/07/30/health-canada-finally-approves-abortion-pill-ru-486health-canada-approves-ru-486-abortion-pill.html Bindal, S. YourDOST. 2016. Abortion: Whose Decision Is it Anyway? [online]. Available at:  https://yourdost.com/blog/2016/06/decision-on-abortion.html?q=/blog/2016/06/decision-on-abortion.html& Dewar, C. 2022. Glasgow doctors demand abortion clinic protest action from SNP minister, The Herald [online] 14, Apri...

Before beginning this project, I have to admit I entered with conflicting views. While I identified as pro-choice and have always firmly believed that women of all ages should have access to a safe and legal abortion, and although I never agreed with the actions many pro-life activists have taken to intimidate women, I was unsure of whether this would be something I would do myself if I was ever in that position. But after doing more research, I believe the debate itself is much more nuanced than many people present it to be. It’s often not a black and white decision for many women; you can be pro-life but still may need an abortion (whether its for medical or personal reasons), and you can be pro-choice but have pro-life views for yourself, if ever put in the position where you need to make that decision. I was initially nervous to speak to my mum about her experience with abortion. She told me about her abortion when I was 13 after I had learned about it in school and was unsure ho...

I have included the following video to describe clearly my thoughts on the stance the Scottish media has taken on abortion and whether that fits into pro-life or pro-choice ideals. I have included example articles from multiple Scottish news sites that illustrate the representation of abortion, and I have added my criticisms and thoughts on this. 

This is my finished podcast interview. For my podcast I interviewed my mum who had an abortion herself when she was 17. Unfortunately as we live far away from each other she wasn't physically present for the podcast but I conducted the interview over the phone and I have transcribed everything she told me.  The running order of my podcast is as follows: introduction, interview with my mum, and it concludes with my thoughts on the stance Scottish media has taken on abortion.  The software I used for my podcast is the voice memos feature on my iPhone as it is most accessible for me and I edited it with iMovie.  The duration of my podcast is 3 minutes and 58 seconds.  The main points I covered in my podcast are my mum's stance on her abortion nearly two decades later, how she felt the media represented abortion at the time and currently, and her opinion on the pro-life vs pro-choice debate. 

The following images help describe and explain my project visually. Photo 1 shows an older man protesting against abortion. This is to help show the pro-choice argument that it should be the younger female generation who have a say in if abortion should be legal or not. Photo 2 shows women protesting for abortion. This is to illustrate pro-choice arguments for abortion - that they should be safe and we should not go back to the unsafe/illegal abortions of the past. Photo 3 is an image of the abortion pill which is often used to terminate pregnancies before 10 weeks. Some pro-lifers have suggested that the pill can be more difficult than the surgery as they believe it is essentially inducing early labour. Photo 4 shows the pro-life argument that abortion is murder and is killing a life.  Photo 5 shows anti-abortion protesters outside a Glasgow hospital. These protests have prompted pro-choice campaigners to call for action from the Scottish Parliament. Photo 6 shows MSP John Mason w...

For my research topic, I chose the subject of abortion and the pro-choice vs pro-life debate in Scotland and how this is reflected in the Scottish media. I decided upon this topic as I believe there is a lot to research, learn and present and I find that the subject is interesting to learn about. I went into this topic with an unbiased view, aiming to research both sides and see if the Scottish media fits into a specific view. The purpose of my research was to look at both sides of the debate and their arguments for and against abortion, and how these points are expressed in Scottish media – is abortion presented in Scotland in a pro-choice, pro-life or unbiased view? I researched articles on multiple Scottish media sites (The Herald, The Daily Express and The Scottish Sun) to see how the topic of abortion is presented to the public and I go into detail on my research findings in my podcast and video. For my podcast I interviewed my mum who had an abortion when she was 17 years old, ...