I agree on the counseling too. With the proviso that the counseling should treat abortion itself as impartially as possible and the emphasis should be on the woman, not the fetus. Abortion is such a moral grey area that anyone looking at that as an option should be given all the support that can be mustered when considering it.
My stance on having children boils down to society (this includes the government) should do all it can to support mothers who want their children and women who don't want children.
Last week I saw a bumper sticker on a car parked near my house (across a pedestrian crossing, no less, when there were parking spaces ten feet away) that read "It's easy to be pro-abortion when you're not the one getting killed". I wanted to tear the damned thing off, because I think abortion is very much a grey area, but it's easy to be against it when you're not the one having to deal with the consequences of an unplanned pregnancy. People will always have abortions somehow. If they can't have legal abortions, they will have illegal ones. The way to reduce numbers of abortions is not to legislate against them, but to provide education, alternatives, and if nothing else will do, safety and medical care to deal with the process itself and its aftermath. There are too many people on the planet, and it's gotten to the point where bringing the population down through means that would be viewed as amoral by some people - permitting homosexuality rather than enforcing heterosexuality, encouraging the use of contraceptives, and if all else
( ... )
I totally agree on the bumper sticker and the next person who says 'But what if you're aborting the next Einstein/Mozart/etc.' to me does so at their own risk.
And the point about legal abortions is well-made and something I forgot to mention. Abortions happen. This is a fact and the best way to deal with it is the one you describe.
Men, in my sincere and honest opinion, should have no vote in the matter of abortion Does the same logic extend to infertile and post-menopause women?
any form of birth control I agree with dictionary.com on this one, birth control is about preventing conception, not birth. Abortion is not birth control.
I'm not trying to preach here. I still disagree with you though :)
Ok, it does make more sense when looked at like that, I guess I didn't read it closely enough the first time. I thought she was saying 'only women get to make decisions / policies / etc. regarding abortion'. I see now that what she was actually saying was closer to 'only pregnant women thinking about having abortions get to...'
I still disagree though. I still think that any and all people that love the woman and/or would love the child have a right to input. After all, the unborn, (potential) child is very much directly affected and doesn't get to speak. It does make sense to let someone speak for it.
If I were to find myself pregnant tomorrow, lacking the mental stability and resources to care for that child, I would abort. Why would that prevent you carrying to term and giving it up for adoption?
I don't think that's the option I'd want to take but this is my current feeling on the matter. I may change my mind if confronted with the choice but this is how my thinking is going at the moment.
(And let's face it, in my case the question is largely academic. =) )
Theoretically? Nothing. See, that, to me, would disqualify your approach. Hrm.
I can't help but feel like this shows a lack of compassion on your side that I don't believe is there. Belief in the soul aside, when do you believe that 'personhood' begins? At what point does the unalienable human right to life kick in? I just can't understand the mentality that says 'I don't want to suffer for nine months (or in reality, once you realise, seven or eight) so I'm going to kill someone else / prevent this thing from becoming a person to prevent it'.
And let's face it, in my case the question is largely academic. True. But still.
^^ I'm afraid I'm going to use up all that good will in this reply.
I see birth-control as being something both(or however many participants there) sides should be equally responsible for. If a man genuinely does not want to risk fathering a child, he can use a condom/spermcide gels/etc.
If he doesn't take adequate precautions, his partner gets pregnant and elects to keep the child, then I have no sympathy for him when it comes to child support for the next 18 years.
But I feel abortion is something that should be discussed with all parties involved
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I agree on the counseling too. With the proviso that the counseling should treat abortion itself as impartially as possible and the emphasis should be on the woman, not the fetus. Abortion is such a moral grey area that anyone looking at that as an option should be given all the support that can be mustered when considering it.
My stance on having children boils down to society (this includes the government) should do all it can to support mothers who want their children and women who don't want children.
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And the point about legal abortions is well-made and something I forgot to mention. Abortions happen. This is a fact and the best way to deal with it is the one you describe.
(And your icon slays me. ^^)
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Does the same logic extend to infertile and post-menopause women?
any form of birth control
I agree with dictionary.com on this one, birth control is about preventing conception, not birth. Abortion is not birth control.
I'm not trying to preach here. I still disagree with you though :)
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I still disagree though. I still think that any and all people that love the woman and/or would love the child have a right to input. After all, the unborn, (potential) child is very much directly affected and doesn't get to speak. It does make sense to let someone speak for it.
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Why would that prevent you carrying to term and giving it up for adoption?
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I don't think that's the option I'd want to take but this is my current feeling on the matter. I may change my mind if confronted with the choice but this is how my thinking is going at the moment.
(And let's face it, in my case the question is largely academic. =) )
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See, that, to me, would disqualify your approach. Hrm.
I can't help but feel like this shows a lack of compassion on your side that I don't believe is there. Belief in the soul aside, when do you believe that 'personhood' begins? At what point does the unalienable human right to life kick in? I just can't understand the mentality that says 'I don't want to suffer for nine months (or in reality, once you realise, seven or eight) so I'm going to kill someone else / prevent this thing from becoming a person to prevent it'.
And let's face it, in my case the question is largely academic.
True. But still.
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I see birth-control as being something both(or however many participants there) sides should be equally responsible for. If a man genuinely does not want to risk fathering a child, he can use a condom/spermcide gels/etc.
If he doesn't take adequate precautions, his partner gets pregnant and elects to keep the child, then I have no sympathy for him when it comes to child support for the next 18 years.
But I feel abortion is something that should be discussed with all parties involved
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