Do you believe in abortion? 35th Year Anniversary Today.

Today is the 35th anniversary of January 22, 1973, Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade when abortion was made legal. You can read an article about this on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/21/scotus.roevwade/index.html

My questions to everyone is this.....

1. Should abortion be legal in the USA?
- If Yes.... Why should it be legal and under what circumstances
- If No.... Why shouldn't it be legal?

2. Should abortion be illegal because of religous beliefs?
- Remember, as religous as some of us are or aren't the USA goverment, laws and what not are seperate from church and state.

3. If abortion is made completely illegal what should be done under these circumstances?
- A sexually assaulted woman gets pregnant.
- A child in the womb is found to have severe brain damage or other very serious health issues.
- Financially cannot support a child.

I'm interested in making this thread a discussion and not an arguement thread, my evolution thread went nuts and I hope we can prevent this one from doing that.

 

Abortion should be legal but it should be tightened up, there are too many abortions of convenience, people ought to really think about their actions.

Abortion should not be illegal because of religious beliefs because catering to religion any religion is dangerous.

 

This is a good point, my main fear is when any law is changed, added etc on the basis of religion, we need to becareful to make sure the USA keeps church and state seperate at all costs.

 

I don't think that being pro-life is necessarily a religious position.

I was actually pro-choice until recently. When the argument was made to me that at some point, you are dealing with a life, and until we define when life starts, there is the distinct possibility that Abortion could be equal to murder, I had to re-think my position.

Not to mention that while I am ok with people doing things I do not approve of, they have to be responsible for the consequences of those decisions. If you're going to risk getting pregnant, you better be ready to deal with having children.

 

The problem of "when life starts" is that it truly can't be answered, I totally agree on the fact that people should not be using abortion as birth control, but sadly many women do. We need to not make it illegal but some how come to terms on when life starts.

Now comes the question, what do you consider life starting? When the cells first combine? When the fetus can actually feel pain? When the fetus can live on it's own outside the womb?

These are the troubling questions that won't be answered in the near future to end this debate once and for all.

 

Oooh, a nice controversial thread.
I believe in a woman's right to decide. I do not, however, believe in abortion as a form of contraception.

 

To decide what?

Whether or not she gives birth? Whether or not she has sex? Whether or not she can kill her children?

What is the "right to decide"?

 

You know fine well what I mean, but just to humour you:To decide whether or not to keep her unborn child.
The law is such, certainly in my jurisdiction, that at the early stage of pregnancy at which abortion is allowed the child is non-viable in its own right. That is to say it could not survive outside the mother and the developing foetus is effectively just another bit of her.

 

I second that, that should be considered murder.

 

Effectively this is the problem with this discussion, people bring it to the "murder" mode and everyone gets mad. Pro Choice should be....

A woman can decided to have or not have her child within the provided laws of her jurisdiction, she will be the one who most live with her decision.

 

I am Pro Choice, but I think it should be tightened up a bit so people don't just use it as a form of birth control.

Yes, some people see it as murder, but not all circumstances are the same or under your control. I also believe that if abortion is illegal, we will end up hurting more women than saving. There are some places in this world where abortion is illegal or against moral laws, so women will do anything to abort an unwanted child. Going to substandard doctors, trying to do it themselves, bleeding to death, getting infections and dying....

And it really makes me angry that when I hear men say "if you didn't want a baby, you should have kept your legs closed". Total double standard. Men have to take the blame too. It's just as much a mans responsibility to learn birth control.....Telling people that if they don't want kids, they shouldn't have sex just doesn't work. We are human, it's in our NATURE to be gluttonous and want to have sex before it's necessary. People freak out when they teach birth control in schools, but until we change our "sex sells" or "it pays to be a hot whore" (PARIS HILTON?) society I think it's a necessary evil....

 

In an ideal world that would be the case. But ultimately the woman is the one who gets pregnant the woman is the one who gives birth.

I know that if i were ever to take part in something with someone else where if it doesn't go according to plan i will be the one left holding the shitty end of the stick i would want to be solely in charge of any precautions. It's called taking responsibility for yourself.

you say the man should take "as much" responsibility as the woman. But how much "responsibility" was the woman taking anyway if she got pregnant? Equalling that amount of responsibility shouldn't be too hard.

 

Well i don't know about USA but abortion is killing of your own kid,whatever nice name you give to it or whatever "right to choose" it has to represent,it is what it is.Anyway I would,if it was up to me,made it legal only if woman was raped or/and fetus is deformed

 

Abortion should not be legal. Why would anyone need an abortion? Rather than fixing the result of a mistake, we need to fix the mistake, otherwise we are just enabling the mistakes to happen. Abortion is murder.

Q. if your a teenager and you recently find out your pregnant, should you get an abortion?
A. No, you and your parents should learn some responsibility, stop having unprotected sex, better yet, stop having sex.

Q. If you are not financially ready for children, and you become pregnant, should you have an abortion?
A. No, first answer applies here too.

Q. If your own medical condition, is a risk to you or your child. Should you get an abortion?
A. No. You are not God. You have had your chance in this world, why not give the innocent child his/her chance.

Doctors are medical experts, not social experts, they should stop trying to solve social issues and stick to the medical

 

I am so sick of all of these ignorant views from men out there. You know it is usually the men who have nothing better to say than "your killing an innocent child, etc, etc, etc" I am definately PRO-CHOICE, and believe that there is nothing better in this world than a woman's right to choose.

I have a 2 year old son, and so by no means am I biased to this subject at all. Certain circumstances prevent a woman from being able to either fully support a child who is not planned, or other circumstances include being a victim of rape, or not being able to cope with the emotional issues that surround having a child. (The father isn't in the picture, etc, etc)

There are so many emotional issues that goes through a woman's head when they find out they are pregnant. And until you are a woman in this position you really have no right to judge (unless you plan on raising that child because it is yours).
I do agree that there are many girls in the world that view abortion as a form of contraception, and that is DEFINATELY WRONG. But to take the right to choose away from a woman would be catastrophic.

I am a Canadian Citizen, and here in Ontario our Province wide / funded health care (OHIP) funds Abortions (which I think might make it a little too easy to make the decision to have an abortion) BUT/ I think that if abortion was made illegal could you imagine how many UNFIT parents there would be out there? The number of orphans and children waiting for adoption would skyrocket.

Contrary to what most men believe, Children are mostly the responsibility of the mother to raise, and if the mother doesn't want to have a child than that is HER choice.

My son Nathan is the love of my life, and I would have forever regretted the choice if I hadn't had him... but that would have been MY choice to make and I would have had to live with it for the rest of my life. But I still would have had a choice.

When I see these stupid Republicans on T.V saying that Abortion is Murder, and all the rest of that garbage they are just saying to try and get elected. Some flip flop on this issue like it's their job. Its sad, and nobody should be playing games with a moral issue like this one.

 

It's not quite as simple as that though, is it simplyg123?
What about a child that is conceived out of rape? Or when seriously debilitating defects are detected in the foetus? Should it be compulsory that that foetus be carried to term and born into a life of pain and total dependance? I think most reasonable people would say no.
I am not for one moment avocating doctors playing God and terminating all but the most viable of pregnancies, but in some circumstances it is right to save the unborn child from future agony.

 

You have your opinions and i have mine. If a woman was raped, it does seem to make a good argument. But we are talking about a child.

I know its not true in every case, but if a little common since is applied Rapes can be prevented. Stay away from dark alleys, carry Mace or a gun. Dont put your self in those positions. No one is going to rape you in public view.

And as for a child being born with medical conditions, i say give it a chance.

I am a 29 year old man and up until two years ago i raised my 12 year old son by myself, i was father and mother. I was only 17, his mother was 15. We know the stress that an unwarranted pregnancy can cause. That doesn't mean i should take the easy way out. There is an old saying, you do the crime, you do the time. Its about responsibility. If you are willing to lay down in bed with someone, you should be willing to handle the possible outcome. If you are not willing to handle that outcome, dont get in the bed. Again Responsibility.

Abortion enables bad decisions. It enables irresponsibility. It says i can do adult things, but dont have to be an adult.

When you abort a child, you deny it the chance to be loved, and you deny others the chance to love it. Your not just killing a fetus, your killing a child, a brother, a mother, a grandson, a cousin, and maybe even a friend.

 

I get where you are coming from, but the last part of your statement I quoted ticks me off.

If the mother doesn't want to have a child, it is her choice. It's not her choice to decide if the child lives or dies. She's got a lot of other free choices leading up to that choice that influence whether or not she has a child.

I'm sorry, but once the baby has started to develop, and they can save 2 lb. babies now, it's a life, and no one has a right to change their mind about whether it should exist or not.

It goes to the core of what and who we are, if we condone killing the young and the helpless.

For the most part, the West has a negative birthrate. Part of this is prosperity, and the other part I believe is the sort of narcissism that allows people to make decisions like abortion, by justifying their own self interest over their responsibilities.

 

I agree with guerilla. The woman had plenty of choices, All occurred before she had to make the "choice" between going full term with her pregnancy or not.

What you need to do, AngelaR, Is encourage women to make "Better and Smarter choices" in the first place, Not celebrate their ability to make ANY choices at any time.

 

If you think you are grown up enough to have sex, then you should understand the consequences and be ready for them. I also agree that it is touchy when it comes to defining when the fetus becomes a living being. They grow at different rates, some born late, others early. So for me a time is out of the question, like after 8 weeks its alive, or whatever. If you know you can't handle a child at the moment, don't have unprotected sex, or sex at all.