How would you keep your daughter from aborting?

[Seeking...]

In the thread about pregnant teenage daughters - a few posters stated that their daughter would not be allowed to have an abortion. This makes me wonder, assuming that your teenage daughter was legally able to obtain an abortion without your consent - how would you prevent her from having one?

Do you think your word would be enough to stop her? Would you threaten her with the withdrawal of love, affection and family ties? Would you cut her off financially? Would you actually be willing to physically restrain her and prevent her from having an abortion?

Like the other thread - we will assume the girl in question is 15.

 

[Clem is Me]

Gun her down in the street, that she might be a warning to any other girls who think they can claim selfhood before motherhood.

 

[John 15:13]

Train up a child in the way they should go and when they are older they will not depart from it.

This is about love. God loves us, with our sin. He chastens us but in the end, he loves us. I could not and would not hold my love from my child. Hopefully, they would respect my decision enough that they would trust my advice to not abort. In the end, if she did, what can I do about it? Should I set an example of unforgiveness? God forbid.

 

[Seeking...]

Train up a child in the way they should go and when they are older they will not depart from it.

I appreciate the sentiment, but I have found it to simply not neccesarily be true. Children are not just newer versions of their parents. My views differ from my parents and their views differ from their parents. I think how much your child departs from the lessons you teach has more to do with their personality and worldview than your message.

 

[David Gould]

I have thought about things like this, although not with regard to abortion. I do not think that there is any way you could prevent your child having an abortion without resorting to violence or imprisonment. I suspect that if it got this far you have lost your child in all things. Maybe talking about your views well prior to the possibility of pregnancy would be best. However, if those views include the notion of locking her up then if she does become pregnant and seeks an abortion it would be unlikely in the extreme that she would tell you about it, making it impossible for you to take any steps to prevent it. But if you do not impart your values, how can you expect her to make decisions matching your values? Tough decisions for those who oppose abortion. They have my sympathy.

 

[Monica02]

In the thread about pregnant teenage daughters - a few posters stated that their daughter would not be allowed to have an abortion. This makes me wonder, assuming that your teenage daughter was legally able to obtain an abortion without your consent - how would you prevent her from having one?

Do you think your word would be enough to stop her? Would you threaten her with the withdrawal of love, affection and family ties? Would you cut her off financially? Would you actually be willing to physically restrain her and prevent her from having an abortion?

Like the other thread - we will assume the girl in question is 15.

I would of course explain to her that it was wrong and if that did not work and she still wanted to kill her child then I would have to do something else.
I would keep a very close eye on her at all times if possible. It is legal for her to have one without parental permission so if she were really determined this task might prove difficult.

 

[Beoga]

hopefully i will prevent her from getting an abortion by the way i raised her (though she apparently went out and had sex even with the way i raised her, dang i can't raise children).

I might cut her off financially

 

[feral]

I would hope that as a parent, I would have effectively communicated my views and values with my child and instilled in her a belief that abortion is wrong unless required for medical emergency or pregnancy resulting from rape. If the laws did not require parental consent, there would not be a whole lot I could do. I would certainly make sure she was informed about better options like adoption, and I would encourage her to discuss it with people on both sides of the fence so she knows what she's getting into. I've had friends who have aborted, and who regret it now, and I would encourage her to speak to them about the consequences and aftermath. Of course, if she still chose to have an abortion, I would go with her so she didn't go it alone, and I would arrange post-abortion counseling to help her deal with guilt, remorse, nightmares, etc that often come about after an abortion. I would never pretend not to love her unconditionally - she's human, and has the right to make her own choices, even if I don't agree. Having an abortion would not change how I felt about her, though I would be sad for her and disagree with her choice.

 

[Electric Sceptic]

hopefully i will prevent her from getting an abortion by the way i raised her (though she apparently went out and had sex even with the way i raised her, dang i can't raise children).

I don't like the sentence "though she apparently went out and had sex even with the way i raised her, dang i can't raise children." The fact that she went out and had sex when you have raised her not to do so (or the fact that she did anything you raised her not to do) is no comment on your parenting skills or how well you raise children.

Children grow into people, who make their own decisions, based on what they think is right. Obviously, parents have a lot of input to that, but children don't turn into carbon copies of their parents, nor should they. Having a child who comes to different moral conclusions than you is no comment on your parenting skills.

 

[Seeking...]

Children grow into people, who make their own decisions, based on what they think is right. Obviously, parents have a lot of input to that, but children don't turn into carbon copies of their parents, nor should they. Having a child who comes to different moral conclusions than you is no comment on your parenting skills.

Not too many people around here seem to understand that sometimes...

 

[Aimee30]

If she ran away and did it anyway--there would be nothing I could do. She would have to deal with her actions on her own. I guess it would be up to God what her punishment or salvation would be.

If she would try to do it, it would be without my permission and I would make that clear. If she came back home after doing it, well I guess I would have to love her anyway, but I would consider not having her live there if she became too in opposition to me.