Most kids I know are happy with a simple answer. I highly doubt the commercial will be like, "Abort your baby here!" but more like, "Pregnant and scared? You have options..." etc. If a kid asks, you say, "It's a doctor's office for pregnant ladies where they can get advice about the baby." Because that's true. They're not a slaughterhouse. You will be counseled before getting the abortion and asked if you'd rather explore other options. There, you're not lying and most kids will be satisfied. Maybe it's me, but when I take care of kids, they're not allowed to watch much TV, and when it is, it's like nickelodeon, disney or pbs. Highly doubt there would be abortion commercials on those channels. :)

In an ideal world, kids won't watch much else other than Nickelodeon or other such channels. In that same world, kids will fully understand the things they are told.

Let's say you have the talk with your kids. You tell them where babies come from and then you tell them the purpose of an abortion clinic. Use any kind of euphamisms you want (that won't get into the lying area), and it'll be stuck in their minds that: men and women make children and there are places all over the place that get rid of this child if the mother and father don't want them. That would be a pretty scary thing for a child to fathom, until they're a bit older and really understand more about the world.

i agree with your thoughts.

Not necessarily. Kids know that babies start off by living in tummies. Like I knew that way before I knew what sex was. When I was two, and again when I was four, my mother had a big fat tummy and told me that a baby was in there. If you know that babies live in tummies, you are able to grasp the concept of an abortion without knowing about sex. I'm sure I learnt what an abortion was before I learnt what sex was. And I don't remember being traumatised by this knowledge. Learning what periods were was far more traumatic for me, yo - I was all 'OMGWTF!!!!11 You mean my wee will turn to blood once a month for the rest of my life until I'm an old lady?? How utterly terrible!'

"Abortion clinics are still a business and all businesses should be allowed to advertise on TV."

That strikes a strange note with me. I really don't want to think about advertisements trying to actually promote abortion, as companies try to promote products.

There aren't on british tvs at the moment... Condom adverts are only shown at night, and I'm not sure if we have erctile dysfunction adverts on at all!

Also am not sure whether abortion clinics can be seen as a business in the UK, since they are government-funded.

You bring an interesting thought there.... about TV programs which bring up the issue, and sometimes even in a lot more concerning ways. At the end of the day, these clinics aren't about killing, that's not why they're there because that's not what THEY believe in (regardless of what anyone else can believe), they're there to HELP people, and do to the procedure correctly.

In England I have never seen ads about erectile dysfunction or plan B! I think our ads are perhaps a little more tame than America's.

And a lot of people read 'chick lit' which is hardly educating them ;D

You wouldn't get an ad about erectile dysfunction in the UK, because the treatment is only available on prescription, and there are rules in the UK on not advertising prescription only medications. This is partly because pharmaceuticals are much bigger business in the US as patients (or their insurance) pay for them themselves (which also means they get a degree of choice), unlike in the UK where the government pays via the NHS. In the UK the doctor is supposed to prescribe the drug they consider best (and in the case of two equally effective drugs, the cheaper one!), so that the choice of drug is not influenced by patients who may have seen some pretty pictures in an advert that have convinced them that the drug they want is amazing. Therefore adverts are not allowed.

You are missing out! Here in Aus we have these massive billboards that have in big red writing "WANT LONGER LASTING SEX?" (Although recently they put a "censored" sticker over the word sex... but people aren't stupid, they can still see half of 'sex' and well... it's kinda obvious what its for!)

Abortion is NOT birth control, and a LOT of people responding to this topic seems to think it is.

People seeking abortion have as much right as any other consumer to advice regarding the service they are seeking.

Come on people...life isnt rainbows and fairy floss.

I actually am not sure what the problem is. I personally don't support abortion, but I live in a country where abortion is legal, so my personal beliefs are irrelevant to what is advertised. There are many services and products that I don't personally support, but they are advertised. And it is quite customary for an advert to concentrate on positive aspects and not negative ones. I imagine this would be a 'Raise awareness of services available' rather than 'Ooh - buy a nice shiny abortion from us! They are such fun!' type advert. People may be aware of that it is possible to have an abortion, but a little afraid/confused about the procedure, whom to contact, etc., and not know where to begin. Rather like people are aware that childline exists and that they can phone it if they are being abused, but seeing it advertised on TV might make a child more confident about calling it and more aware of their rights not to be abused.

As for kids asking what an abortion is - well, abortions are frequently mentioned on TV, and kids ask it when they see it on the news, so I'm not sure quite how this is different. They might equally ask what a tampon is when they see it advertised. They might be disturbed by the rather graphic stroke awareness adverts (gosh, I find them quite disturbing myself!) or child/animal abuse awareness adverts. I'm not sure how this is so different other than the fact that it is simply something that hasn't been advertised before.

it's all a bit ooh and ahh...
i think if they're going to "advertise" this it should be "do you need advice on an unplanned pregnancy... blah blah blah" and hopefully not "come down to Harley street, we now do free abortions with every boob job so if you know someone who's pregnant bring them along!"
i don't know. Theres alot of "all talk and no trousers" in England so whether this actually happens is another story.

I agree with you that that is probably where they should (and would) go with the advertisements. "Selling abortion" clearly sounds wrong and anyone in advertising knows that you've got to be careful with some issues, so they'd probably want to "sell" advice, help and information instead.

My personal understanding is that the adverts won't be for abortions specifically, but rather for family planning services. And I don't disagree with that (as long as it doesn't specifically push the abortion option in the advert). Some girls don't know where to turn when they find out they're pregnant, and I think it's important that they know where they can go to discuss their options and get some help.

I think they should advertise those women's help lines on TV... you know the ones you can call and get information. That'd probably be a better idea

I agree with lady blackbird. I don't think it's exactly wrong to advertise abortion, but in my personal life if I had children I would not want them exposed to abortion in a casual setting such as seeing it while Mommy is watching her favorite adult cartoons or something. I do hope it's more of a "family planning" advertisement like Fraggle said, rather than directly saying abortion.