Abortion

[AtheistPerson]

I have seen some people starve their adopted children to death on the news...

 

[chipmunk]

I thought this is what you were doing....Are children a gift in or out of the womb? You just said that when they are in the womb, they aren't human.

No, she didn't deny they were alive or genetically human. She denied they have personhood. These things are all very different.

 

[livingproofGM]

A child sucks it's nutrients from it's mother. No, the child doesn't have a choice, but it's not a full person yet either--it's a potential person. *points to loriersea post*

The fact that the human being is not completely formed doesn't mean anything. What are you trying to prove? That because it's small and unformed it's not murder? Because it can't say it's ABC's, it's somehow OK to play the role of God?

Yes, adoption is a great option. However, there is no way for a mother to ensure that child is really loved. Not all people who adopt are great parents. Some lie on the applications, or believe completely differently than the birth mother.

Yes, there are many crazy people in the world. But the point is not whether the kid grows up in a mansion or a shack. The point is, it's silly to murder someone because you feel you cannot provide for them, when in reality, you are giving them the best gift ever, and that is life.

You seem to suggest there is an overwhelming number of women having abortions for selfish reasons. Just because it isn't the option YOU would choose, doesn't mean they do things selfishly. I have yet to meet a woman who had an abortion for selfish reasons. Life decisions are not always black and white. A few people here have posted why they had abortions. There are a ton of places you can go to hear stories or even pick them up from people you meet. You shouldn't assume they are selfish--even if their reason initially seems so. There is often more to consider than you'd think.

Like I said before, some abortions are performed to save the life of the mother, and that's fine, if there's nothing else that can be done. But I think I can only understand that decision under those circumstances. If you have other examples of "un-selfish" abortions, I would love to hear them. So far, I only know of that one.

 

[chipmunk]

Of the women I know, many do indeed regret their decision, but not many feel that they were being necessarily selfish for it. You sort of have to have an open mind about things, stop judging them. Until you walk in their exact shoes, you can't really know their heart.

I find most pro-lifers to seem very callous and heartless. However, I also see them as clueless and ignorant of things. I know, because I was. Everything was black and white. Then I stopped and listened, and then I knew I could never keep with the pro-life crowd-it was cold. It all started with a friend in highschool. She came to me about her problem at a time when I still talked about things much like you do. She had gotten pregnant, not just that it would be a biracial baby. Her father was an extreme bigot. She was torn up about what to do about things, the father had just joined the military and was leaving, and if she kept it --she would have to run from home and quickly. Her father would have tried to track her down and I have no idea what he would have done, but I don't think it would have been pretty. She regreted her decision, but what she did though hard to do wasn't about being selfish. It was her whole family that birth would destroy. Somehow he did get wind of her seeing a black man and he freaked---he destroyed the car she was driving and almost disowned her. To this day he has no idea she had an abortion. There are soooo many things that a woman might be thinking and not all of them are how their life will be affected.

Here is a site with tons of stories:
http://womensissues.about.com/cs/abortionissues/a/blunaborshare.htm

 

[livingproofGM]

Of the women I know, many do indeed regret their decision, but not many feel that they were being necessarily selfish for it. You sort of have to have an open mind about things, stop judging them. Until you walk in their exact shoes, you can't really know their heart.

I think you've mistaken me for someone who is cold and heartless, or maybe that's how I've portrayed myself. I can never put myself in the shoes of one of those girls. I can't imagine their pain, but I can read it in their words. I am not here to judge, but I'm also not here to make excuses. Those girls regret their decisions because, looking back, they knew it was wrong. They knew they should have handled it differently. It's their responsibility to spread the word about the heartache abortion brings about. Why continue to practice it when so many girls can make a difference by sharing their stories? What we don't have the right to do is take on the role of God. He alone has the right to take away a life, because He is it's source.

 

[flicka]

I find most pro-lifers to seem very callous and heartless. However, I also see them as clueless and ignorant of things. I know, because I was. Everything was black and white.

You have touched upon something I've been thinking about lately. With many issues, especially controversial ones, some people want to simplify things to the point where it comes black/white, good/bad, etc. Let's call that simple thinking.

Now while it's sometimes good to do that it doesn't always work. By taking out the human factors and reducing things down to the lowest common denominator it's easier to say things like: "life=good, death=bad" and just stop the thought process there. It's not exactly "clueless and ignorant" although it comes across that way. I think it's actually the inability to apply critical thinking skills. Just like being able to think several steps ahead and play out different scenarios depending on different variables. That's the kind of thing that makes some people good at chess, while other people perfer the relitive simplicity of checkers. (ok, wacky example but it's the best I can come up with on the fly..lol) It is a skill that needs to be developed.

Unfortunately I don't think we do a very good job at teaching people these skills and if it doesn't come naturally it never develops at all and simple thinking is all people are capable of. I'm not implying that everyone would agree about everything if they thought critically but I'm confident that at least a few people would find themselves on the other side of certain issues.

Yes this is a rant and yes its semi OT but I don't care

 

[Praying4Peace]

Very simply I believe in choice for those mothers who are in danger of losing their lives, especially if she has other children to raise, and in cases where very young girls have been raped. If the mother is not in a life or death situation and is unable or does not want to raise the child then adoption is the obvious option.

I'm one of those pro-lifers who is also anti-death penalty and is for programs to help children who are less fortunate. Therefore, I vote for politicians who protect and support welfare programs even if they hold a pro-choice view. How I see it, I believe it would be too hard, and potentially dangerous for women, if legislators try to come up with a series of laws that try to determine when an abortion is legal and when it is not.

Oh, and comprehensive sex-ed courses...those are good. It's been proven that those teens who have been taught abstinence only are less likely to use protection and are more likely to have an unwanted pregnancy. I happen to know of two "devoutly Catholic, pro-life" women who have had abortions to uphold the "pure" image they so deperately want to portray. Some pro-lifers can be so strict that they scare their daughters into having abortions without knowing it. We really need to take a moderate view on this if we truely want to see the number of abortions decrease.

We really need to be more moderate on this issue if we truly want to see the number of abortions decline. You can be pro-life AND pro-welfare AND pro-sex ed. Why is it that so many choose to pick one side when all sides make good points? Don't think just because the one political party says they are pro-life means that they will work to outlaw it or that they give a **** when the baby is born. It's just a ploy to get pro-lifers to vote for them. Come on, you know if they really wanted to outlaw it they would have.

 

[jamesMarion]

I am a simple thinker. I believe that we recieve our life when we draw our first breath. Before that first breath we are not alive and therefore abortion is not murder. Abortion should not be illegal. In the same vein; humans cannot create human life.

 

[chipmunk]

I think you've mistaken me for someone who is cold and heartless, or maybe that's how I've portrayed myself. I can never put myself in the shoes of one of those girls. I can't imagine their pain, but I can read it in their words. I am not here to judge, but I'm also not here to make excuses. Those girls regret their decisions because, looking back, they knew it was wrong. They knew they should have handled it differently. It's their responsibility to spread the word about the heartache abortion brings about. Why continue to practice it when so many girls can make a difference by sharing their stories? What we don't have the right to do is take on the role of God. He alone has the right to take away a life, because He is it's source.

Yes, some regret it because looking back they feel they made a wrong decision. However, some regret only the circumstances that led to the decision and not the decision itself. They don't have a responsibility to tell others anything in regards to their abortion. Though if they talk about I hope they respond truthfully to what they felt. And that if they are active in talking that they each follow what they feel is the reasonable course whether that is the "pro-life" camp or the "pro-choice" camp. Not all of them feel such heart rending pain on the matter and if they don't they shouldn't pretend they did because you'd like it to be so.

And not everyone believes that God exists. You have to find a better reason to tell them they can't than "because God would want it that way." Heck, I believe in God too, but I don't think he is opposed to women having abortions in certain situations. If he really wants a child to live nothing we could do could stop it's survival.

 

[Followers4christ]

I'd rather pick cotton for 9 months than carry an unwanted child to term... and that's not even mentioning 18 years of financial enslavement to come afterwards.

A child is a blessing not a financial burden on you.When your mother and father decided to have you were they saying,"are you sure you want to have this kid who is just going to enslave us for 18 years and is nothing but a bloodsucking leech? " or do you think they looked at you as a blessing rather than an unwanted burden?
A woman has no right to murder her unborn child she put this on herself when she decided to have sex.If she's mature enough to have sex she's mature enough to have the baby.Killing the unborn child is not the answer its the easy/selfish way out.
I do not agree with abortion period no matter if its from mutual consent sex or rape.We must approach rape victims with great compassion. The woman has been subjected to an ugly trauma, and she needs love, support and help. But she has been the victim of one violent act. Should we now ask her to be a party to a second violent act -that of abortion? Unquestionably, many would return the violence of killing an innocent baby for the violence of rape.You shouldnt take revenge out on the baby,because the unborn baby did nt do anything wrong.If you dont want the baby put it out for adoption,its free and it does not involve you killing your unborn child.God Bless

MATTHEW 7:13"Enter through the narrow gate.For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction,and many enter through it.But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only few find it"

 

[Diane_Windsor]

I have no doubt that it is wrong but should it be banned?

Nope.

Diane

 

[DieHappy]

You aren't aware that a woman's body is severely stressed and can be permanently harmed from pregnancy?

Actually, a woman's body is benefitted from pregnancy. A woman who delivers a baby is half as likely to get breast cancer, while a woman who aborts is 4 times as likely as one who never gets pregnant. A woman who delivers is less likely to get cervical cancer, skin cancer, and Alzheimer's. If she is in good health before, and takes care of herself during, the full term pregnancy is a very good thing. Abortion is more dangerous than smoking to the mother, and more dangerous than anything to the baby.

 

[loriersea]

Actually, a woman's body is benefitted from pregnancy. A woman who delivers a baby is half as likely to get breast cancer, while a woman who aborts is 4 times as likely as one who never gets pregnant. A woman who delivers is less likely to get cervical cancer, skin cancer, and Alzheimer's. If she is in good health before, and takes care of herself during, the full term pregnancy is a very good thing. Abortion is more dangerous than smoking to the mother, and more dangerous than anything to the baby.

I'm sure you are aware, though, that the morality rate from legal abortion is much lower than the mortality rate from a full-term pregnancy.

 

[katautumn]

The same risk of cancer comes from using certain types of birth control as well. Should we outlaw hormonal contraceptives? It isn't the abortion, itself, that increases the risks. It is the drastic fluctuation in hormones. The same can be caused by repeat spontaneous abortions, or, miscarriages. Why don't we outlaw women who've had more than three miscarriages from trying to conceive again because she is upping her risk of cervical and breast cancers?

*edited to add*
Also, the procedure in and of itself is substantially less risky than carrying a pregnancy to full-term and giving birth. An early-term abortion has a much lower fatality rate than a vaginal birth.

 

[Marek]

I'm sure you are aware, though, that the morality rate from legal abortion is much lower than the mortality rate from a full-term pregnancy.

What is the mortality rate from a full-term pregnancy?

 

[katautumn]

Seventeen out of one-hundred, thousand women in America will die from carrying a pregnancy to full-term and giving birth every year.

According to the CDC, of the 864,000 abortions that occured in 1999 in America there were on four deaths as the result.