This is probably going to read horribly but here goes....
When I was 18 I was given some medication that, as a side effect, terminated my pregnancy and I willingly took it. After, I feel that I murdered a child and I admit that I mourn the loss at that time of year, even now.
However, I'm also watching my grandfather suffer with Alzheimer's and, as he has heart problems, I live in hope that he has a heart attack which takes him quickly - it is the best I can hope for.
I don't see these things as separate events - I see them as being linked. I lived in denial of the abortion/miscarriage (I'm still unsure which way to view it) for a long time, but when life is not worth living due to illness or extreme circumstances, then my view is the same. I don't say that lightly - I saw my paternal Grandmother suffer - very gracefully and without complaint - but suffer nonetheless, with arthritis for all the years I knew her and she died of a heart attack as a result of trialling new drugs. My maternal Grandmother died just weeks before having suffered a severe stroke and it took weeks for her to 'reach the end'. If euthanasia had been legal, I'm sure we would have all given consent.
Humans have a choice to kill themselves if their lives are too detrimental to live any longer, even if their families disagree. I don't condone suicide at all, having lost my brother-in-law 3 years back. I do however acknowledge it is their choice to die, just as a caregiver, would, if their loved one was unable to do it themselves and a living will had been written, possibly seek out euthanasia in a country where it was legal.
I understand my brother-in-law's decision to end his life, just as I understand my decision to cause the end of my pregnancy.
I have no concept of pro-choice or pro-life - you just have to live what is going on and deal with that as it happens. Ethics of others are for when you are dead and gone - they don't really matter as it is ultimately their world. Personal ethics however matter a great deal and as long as you can justify how you feel and why you made the decision, then go ahead.
The trouble is that the 'legal perspective' tends to lend itself to the idealists, rather than I guess, the realists.
From my point of view, and as I understand it in British law, you need to be able to justify the abortion and understand how you feel about it to be entitled to the abortion. As a result we tend not to have such an active pro-life vs pro-choice movement.
When I was 18 I was given some medication that, as a side effect, terminated my pregnancy and I willingly took it. After, I feel that I murdered a child and I admit that I mourn the loss at that time of year, even now.
However, I'm also watching my grandfather suffer with Alzheimer's and, as he has heart problems, I live in hope that he has a heart attack which takes him quickly - it is the best I can hope for.
I don't see these things as separate events - I see them as being linked. I lived in denial of the abortion/miscarriage (I'm still unsure which way to view it) for a long time, but when life is not worth living due to illness or extreme circumstances, then my view is the same. I don't say that lightly - I saw my paternal Grandmother suffer - very gracefully and without complaint - but suffer nonetheless, with arthritis for all the years I knew her and she died of a heart attack as a result of trialling new drugs. My maternal Grandmother died just weeks before having suffered a severe stroke and it took weeks for her to 'reach the end'. If euthanasia had been legal, I'm sure we would have all given consent.
Humans have a choice to kill themselves if their lives are too detrimental to live any longer, even if their families disagree. I don't condone suicide at all, having lost my brother-in-law 3 years back. I do however acknowledge it is their choice to die, just as a caregiver, would, if their loved one was unable to do it themselves and a living will had been written, possibly seek out euthanasia in a country where it was legal.
I understand my brother-in-law's decision to end his life, just as I understand my decision to cause the end of my pregnancy.
I have no concept of pro-choice or pro-life - you just have to live what is going on and deal with that as it happens. Ethics of others are for when you are dead and gone - they don't really matter as it is ultimately their world. Personal ethics however matter a great deal and as long as you can justify how you feel and why you made the decision, then go ahead.
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Oh, certainly. I'm discussing abortion strictly from a legal perspective, rather than a personal one.
Thank you for sharing your story :)
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From my point of view, and as I understand it in British law, you need to be able to justify the abortion and understand how you feel about it to be entitled to the abortion. As a result we tend not to have such an active pro-life vs pro-choice movement.
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