I avoid Jezebel because it usually sets off my alarm bells in other ways. They seem to be more about controversy for controversy's sake, in other words
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The article they are talking about is talking about 29+weeks which is certainly viable. (20 weeks? I suppose there is a small chance to have a viable, if severely handicapped physically and mentally infant, but it's pretty small - I remember researching stuff when pregnant and the odds are not good.
I grew up in the USSR where abortion was often used as back-up contraception (as well for other reasons, of course) - a lot of people I know had them and nobody made a big deal about it (one relative had six). I never realized this could even be a contested issue until I moved to the US. But even there, nobody would do one on a viable fetus.
You are kidding, right? Would you be OK with aborting it the day before due date? It's fully a human being by that point! I had my daughter 3 weeks early and she was completely fine and didn't need even any machines. Just because it's inside you doesn't mean it's not a person when it could be independently alive the second it was taken out - that way you may want to induce early delivery to not carry it to term but if instead of that you abort it, sorry, that's murder.
That's great for you, but not every woman is going to have or even want your experience. "Pro-choice" doesn't mean "pro-choice for circumstances I agree with and within the time frame I find acceptable." As long as a fetus is still in my womb, we're talking about my body and other people trying to dictate what I can and can't do with it.
No woman should be pressured to carry to term because "it's so close anyway." No woman should be forced into a medical procedure she don't want - c-section or otherwise - just because a doctor decides the fetus is viable.
We are going to have to disagree. Simply because once I believe it's viable, it means it's a living person with all of that person's rights.
I may be pro-choice, but only when another life is not involved. I am OK with abortion when what's being aborted is not a human being. Otherwise, sorry, you are killing a baby, and that's no different than killing a one-week old because it's inconvenient to have him around.
It seems like such an idiotic and pointless discussion. I don't get what the point would be. If the fetus is viable just have it and give it up for adoption. If you agree to have an operation anyway (for the abortion) why not have a ceasarian instead?
It just smacks of arguing for arguing's sake on Jezebel's part when everybody knows that in a situation like that having the baby and giving it up for adoption is the human decency choice. Why would anybody act differently? To say "Neener, neener, I don't want it, so nobody can have it either"? "I'll kill it just for the heck of it and because I can"?
The problem you have is that with modern technology a foetus can be viable at a much earlier stage (and the weeks will continue to decrease as technology improves). There have been a number of babies born around the cut off point for late term abortions a while back over here, so that reignited the whole debate. Nothing changed though.
When a fetus is independently viable, it's a person and you don't get to kill a person merely because it's convenient. Actually you do if it's legal. I doubt most women having abortions at that late stage are doing it on a whim, if it is as you say a form of back up contraception the abortion would have been carried out at a much earlier stage. The women must have serious reasons for doing that which can't just be dismissed as convenience.
But if it's viable, why don't they just take it out, stick it into incubator and put it in the foster system?
Late-term abortions usually done for life/health of mother or major defects in fetus - so it doesn't really buck against viability because either fetus is inviable or it's a 'pick one, mom or kid' situation in which a woman is entitled to save herself.
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I grew up in the USSR where abortion was often used as back-up contraception (as well for other reasons, of course) - a lot of people I know had them and nobody made a big deal about it (one relative had six). I never realized this could even be a contested issue until I moved to the US. But even there, nobody would do one on a viable fetus.
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No. If it's part of my body, I have the right to do whatever the hell I want with it -- at any time, for any reason.
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No woman should be pressured to carry to term because "it's so close anyway." No woman should be forced into a medical procedure she don't want - c-section or otherwise - just because a doctor decides the fetus is viable.
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I may be pro-choice, but only when another life is not involved. I am OK with abortion when what's being aborted is not a human being. Otherwise, sorry, you are killing a baby, and that's no different than killing a one-week old because it's inconvenient to have him around.
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It just smacks of arguing for arguing's sake on Jezebel's part when everybody knows that in a situation like that having the baby and giving it up for adoption is the human decency choice. Why would anybody act differently? To say "Neener, neener, I don't want it, so nobody can have it either"? "I'll kill it just for the heck of it and because I can"?
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The problem you have is that with modern technology a foetus can be viable
at a much earlier stage (and the weeks will continue to decrease as technology improves). There have been a number of babies born around the cut off point for late term abortions a while back over here, so that reignited the whole debate. Nothing changed though.
When a fetus is independently viable, it's a person and you don't get to kill a person merely because it's convenient.
Actually you do if it's legal. I doubt most women having abortions at that late stage are doing it on a whim, if it is as you say a form of back up contraception the abortion would have been carried out at a much earlier stage. The women must have serious reasons for doing that which can't just be dismissed as convenience.
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But if it's viable, why don't they just take it out, stick it into incubator and put it in the foster system?
Late-term abortions usually done for life/health of mother or major defects in fetus - so it doesn't really buck against viability because either fetus is inviable or it's a 'pick one, mom or kid' situation in which a woman is entitled to save herself.
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