Coat-hangers at dawn

[footpad]

These days, if you set foot in the abortion debate, you are immediately required to identify yourself as being in one of two opposed camps, the "pro-choice" or "pro-life" side. The "pro-life" side are, by obvious implication, "anti choice", representing the totalitarian aspirations of the the Second-Coming movement and their burning-eyed fixation

Comments

[prickvixen]

On some level it would be fair to call me 'anti-life.' Not just human life, but living things generally, because it leads to all this. *gestures around* What a fucking mess.

[footpad]

Yes. Trouble is, how do you extirpate life altogether? Given that there's, I dunno, sulphur bacteria living in cracks in the earth's crust, and cockroaches and shit. Cobalt bombs ain't gonna cut it; only way out is to cook the planet's surface down to a depth of five kilometres, get it hot enough to grill DNA. We're probably stuck with this stuff until the sun blows, know what I mean?

[balinares]

Someday I'll have to make up a new word to express just how much I love you. :)

[footpad]

Already done, sweetheart. The word is "jerky".

[heavens_steed]

The heavy-handed sardonic tone and hyperbole makes it difficult to formulate a serious response :)

I am fervently pro-life and I can defend my position with a detailed ethical argument based on coherent philosophical premises. I also believe that abortion is an issue that must be debated and addressed but I sympathize with your disdain of the polarizing and unfruitful nature of the 'debate' as it manifests in society.

[footpad]

Serious responses not required. *nose* It was more an attempt to get some of the bile out of my system, than any serious examination of the issues.

I think I shall make a ground rule that, when engaging in any debate on abortion, the terms "pro life" and "pro choice" are banned from the discussion. As I may just have implied in my post, that's one of the things I really hate: having to start from the premise that I'm "pro death" and the other side is "pro moral straitjacket".

I suppose better terms might be the "weak anti-abortion" and "strong anti-abortion" sides. I mean, holy crap, no sane person thinks that abortion's a good thing. The question is, when abortion becomes the least of a set of inevitable evils.

But, no, people always have to start these arguments by dividing them into camps that are logically irreconcilable right from the get-go.

[gerald_duck]

I suspect there are a lot of people in the world with entirely sensible, nuanced views on abortion.

People with sensible, nuanced views tend also to be too sensible to get involved in the shitstorm.

Abortion is legal in the UK. Though not as easy to get as it might be, most people are aware it's available, so will find the service if they look. Impartial, compassionate support for people unsure of whether or not they want an abortion is still very lacking. The survival rate for babies born before 24 weeks appears to be static at 20%, That is, for me, uncomfortably viable, so I'd favour reducing the limit by a couple of weeks except in cases of direst necessity (cf separating conjoined twins even after live birth, knowing one will consequently die). I also suspect foetuses achieve some degree of sentience much sooner than 24 weeks, so object to second-trimester abortions at least as much as I object to carnivorism. But I'd rather fix that by supporting people so that they can come to a decision sooner rather than criminalising them

[kaberett]

Abortion is legal in the UK.

Well, no it's not, actually, not in any useful sense. "Abortion is legal in Great Britain" would be a better phrasing of that.

What I am not going to do is engage with the rest of this comment, because I suspect foodpad would growl at me...

[footpad]

I can't really imagine growling at you for that, and I expect to find your views both challenging and edifying, but this is probably not the post for it. :)

[kaberett]

Precisely. *nose*

[toob]

My official moral position on the whole issue is that none of it's my goddamn business.

I haven't got kids OR women. I'm pretty sure that disqualifies me from having an opinion.

[footpad]

That is such a preposterous position that I have no option but to pile on top of you until you are muffled into silence.

[toob]

I ought to have this opinion more often!