The art of argument.

[sunovermountain]

I was reading another community when it occured to me I haven't had to really think about a response to pro-life arguments in a long time. The arguments about abortion I see always follow down one of a very few paths, and are easy to predict. If you've had one argument about abortion, you've had them all, it seems. I'm willing to bet pro-life

Comments

[snackbreak]

I'm pro-life and yes, I feel the same exact way.
I'm so sick of the same tired arguments I could vomit. I mean that in a real-life-friends kind of way, not an online way, because generally people on places like this one have heard/said the most common stuff already and are mostly talking about "this article says xyz" or "hey, new development here," which is actually interesting.

It doesn't matter if a woman calls an embryo a baby or what sanctity she places on developing human life. Women will have abortions anyway, because other aspects of their life are more important to them.

I believe it, but I also believe people are hypocrites. I mean, I think most people would also say they'd never steal or shoot someone in the face, but all it takes is a few changes in circumstances and they'd sell out grandma if it suited them. Doesn't necessarily mean it needs to be legal though (or illegal, for that matter) - I really think that these kinds of things just prove that a lot of (if not all) people will revert to baser instincts when it suits them.

I know I am wildly, gleefully selfish in many aspects of my life, and I am generally not too apologetic about it - I think it's pretty logical to be selfish to a certain degree really. Most people don't want to think of themselves as selfish though, which is probably why so many are hypocrites.

[sunovermountain]

I think that among the openly religious patients there is a pervasive attitude of, "I'll do this and ask forgiveness from God afterward." They see abortion and it's ending of a developing life as important, but not so important that they can't be forgiven based on their circumstances. In effect, they have already forgiven themselves by the time they come to my office because they see themselves as deserving forgivness (this is just my conjecture).

But I think most of these religious patients feel the need for forgivness just as much as they feel entitelment to it. I think that's because, really, it's all about desire. The more common situations that my patients describe as putting them in the "I have to have an abortion because..." mindset are things that a person could overcome if they had the strong desire to. If you don't have that desire, though, the sacrifices you'd make in carrying to term just aren't worth it... other things are more important to you.

Now, I may not have a problem saying this and still arguing for abortion rights, but I think lots of people are afraid of being open about what they want or don't want for themselves and prefer to take a passive sort of role in which circumstance "forces" you to have an abortion... it isn't really seen as a decision amongst my blatantly religious, sometimes anti-abortion patients.

These things may apply to my non-openly-religious patients, but it's not something I'd say is a trend with them the way it is with religious abortion patients (and my religious friends who have had abortions and talked to me about it). Juanita Catholic may feel she has no choice because she wants to go to college, but Jane Doe in the same situation feels in control of her decision.