Question about Abortion..................?

Question

Is it unusual to be Pro Life, but not think that making Abortion illegal is the solution...................?

I find that whenever I speak on this issue, I get criticism from both sides and in turn end up criticizing people on both sides as well. On the Pro Choice side, I end up criticizing those who think an unborn child is not a life worthy of human dignity, and speak it as being a "tumor" or "parasite" or other language that I find rather disturbing and really repugnant as well(which is why many of my Pro Choice friends see me as being a huge social conservative).

On the Pro Life side, I criticize first of all the hypocrisy of many pro lifers who are pro life until birth, but after the child is born are not pro life(on things like war, capital punishment, etc). I also criticize the view that making abortion illegal will solve the problem because i think that is patently false. In countries where Abortion is illegal, the abortion rate is actually higher, and in many cases women choose dangerous methods that endanger their lives. I am also critical of the sometimes blatant sexist rhetoric of many pro lifers, and the fact that often times it is men who end up speaking and legislating for women on these issues(which is why many of my pro life friends think I am so liberal on the issue).

If I had to sum up my view, I would say I am pro life and morally against Abortion(like how I am morally against Capital Punishment and War), but I think the best way to address the issue is not making it illegal, but through common sense solutions like Birth control/contraception, sex education, and addressing the socio-economic status of women(particular women of color).

Would my view be considered idiosyncratic?

Answer 1

I know quite a few people who share your views-

I am against the death penalty and Abortion I believe it is very consistent to be opposed to both.

I believe reducing the number of abortions should be a common goal.

I believe abortion is murder, but while the politicians are battling over the issue

we should do what we can to reduce the number of abortions.

Answer 2

There are others. But I think it is atypical. I wish more pro-lifers were similar to you. Although your position is a little hypocritical. If you think that a fetus or an embryo (or zygote) is a human being, then you'd think that abortion is murder. And legalizing murder just because it is common wouldn't be a moral position for someone who thinks that.



I suspect that you're wrestling with the idea that a fetus isn't quite a human being. Which they aren't, until late in pregnancy. The cerebral cortex and thalamo-cortical circuits don't develop until around the 30th week of gestation. Before that, there fetus doesn't have a mind, and can't think or feel, so not a human being. It's offensive that you are saying I am existentially identical to, and having the same moral value, as a mindless mass of tissue.



If a person does not want that fetus growing in them, living off their bodies, then the fetus (or embryo before that) *is* a parasite, even if you don't like the word. That's the definition of parasite, an organism living off of the body of another providing no benefit to the host. If the fetus is desired, then it's a symbiote, since there is benefit to the woman.



edit:

"i am pro choice and i agree that abortion should never be illegal

because if someone is raped they should not have to have that child"

But it's ok to force someone to have a child if their primary birth control fails? That sounds like you are against abortion because you want to punish women for having sex by making them go through pregnancy and give birth.

Answer 3

I think you have some sense that I notice most, "Pro-Life" people lack. That prevention of needing an abortion is good, but you need to take the steps of education to get there. I notice many folks who are Pro-Life also don't want any sexual education in schools(prefer abstinence only policies), or teenagers too freely able to get condoms for some reason.



The best step is education, and statistics show that when young people have a better education about sex and its consequences the rates of teenage parents drop, while teens who are often taught "abstinence only" have higher rates of teen pregnancy.

Answer 4

There are a few situations in which abortion is the only logical choice...mainly, when the pregnancy endangers the mother's life, or when the infant has serious defects. Possibly in the case of incest or rape, especially if the mother is very young. Such situations ought to be left between the people involved and their doctor.

However, abortion because somebody got pregnant by "accident", should be illegal. Dammit, if you're going to have sex, fine...but grow up and accept the responsibility for your actions. Having a baby should not be seen as "punishment", but as something wonderful.

This notion that calling it a "fetus" somehow makes it not human, and therefore alright to murder it, is just retarded. Here's a newsflash...human beings produce baby human beings...they are not "parasites", they are people. And murdering a person is a crime, no matter what you call it.

Yes, even if you got pregnant by accident, it's still a real human baby...and it is still murder.

DOH...

Answer 5

Aside from the religious arguments- which are not people thinking for themselves anyway- one should consider the basic concept of liberty and responsibility.



NOTHING is more personal than yourself, and your body.



NOBODY is more responsible for those things than yourself, both the decisions and the consequences.



NOBODY has to live by your personal values- except you. For me to dictate that you must live by mine because I think I am right, is tyranny- even if I am right.



People tell themselves that someone considering an abortion hasn't thought it out. This is very rarely true- abortion is probably one of the most thoroughly considered of all choices. It's not just a choice to carry to term, either. It's a question of the readiness to be a parent, to be able to do justice to the child, to be able to love the child and help them become all they can be. It's often a decision to terminate this pregnancy so that the person can become better prepared to do that job well with a future child, rather than have a chain of kids at the wrong time and while uneducated and poor. That consideration is left out by the anti-abortion advocate that walks away as soon as they have won, while the mother will be dealing with the choice for a lifetime.



You can be pro-life or pro-choice, or absolutely adamant about it, but ONLY for your own decisions. When you think you have the power to force others to comply with your personal values, you become worse than any that you condemn.

Answer 6

I have heard testimony from ex-abortionists about the pain that those late-term abortions cause. So I can't think that you really know what you are talking about.



“Stop Painful Abortions on Unborn Babies” says Ex-Abortion Doctor

http://elizabethsutcliffe.com/2013/05/26/stop-painful-abortions-on-unborn-babies-says-ex-abortion-doctor/



And this comment on the excruciating pain of abortion

Finland’s Interior Minister sparked uproar in Finland in July by sharply criticizing the country’s liberal abortion laws. In a speech to a Lutheran missions gathering in Kankaanpää in southwestern Finland, Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen lamented that animals have more protection in Finland than unborn human babies.



In her speech she highlighted the fact that Finland and Sweden are the only two western European countries that do not allow health care workers the right to refuse to participate in an abortion. Dr. Rasanen also noted that Finnish law provides that animals must be slaughtered painlessly, but unborn human beings have no protections from the excruciating pain of an abortion.

Answer 7

Abortion is a real issue but the way we talk about is totally phoney. It's a political issue dressed up as a moral issue. As with most controversial issues, politicians, the new media, and spiritual leaders want to paint it as a fence, with everyone solidly on one side or the other. But in fact it's a continuum, with some people at one or the other end, but most of us somewhere in the middle.



For instance, I am mostly pro-choice, but I have trouble with a 13 year old girl getting an abortion without her parents even knowing she was pregnant. I wouldn't like to think that women use abortion as a primary method of birth control (and, despite what I hear from Pro Lifers, I don't think many do).



But because of the way this issue is cast and discussed, people can't talk to you about it without first knowing which side you're on. If you're not a crusader for one side or the other, they have no respect for you or your views. You can't say 'Well this is a complicated issue and I can't just tell you in 10 words or less.' Nobody wants to hear that.



It's interesting to note that the number of abortions in the US went up sharply during the administrations of Reagan and the Bushes and came back down under Clinton and Obama. Democrats believe in govt. funding and supporting birth control, and that makes fewer abortions necessary. Since Roe v. Wade, Republicans have consistently promised to ban abortions, but really have never tried. They just want to use it as a lever, as a wedge issue. They KNOW how unpopular a total ban on abortion would be, plus it would deprive them of an issue!



IOW they only want to use it as a political issue, just like prayer in schools, the 10 Commandments in courthouses, the 'War on Christmas', etc. etc.



Christians are mostly well-meaning, but the things I hear from them are just crazy. I want to ask 'Don't you have ANY critiical thinking skills? Do you just believe everything you're told without even considering it?' Their whole logic on the matter is faith-based. It never occurs to them that other people may have other reasons and other values, values just as good but different! They're taught that anyone who doesn't cling to their particular obligatory doctrines is a SATANIST!



(Well, I sure can rant, can't I? 8^P ) The bottom line is that you have to do your own thinking, and that you can disagree without being disagreeable. There is not just one way to think about things, and no matter how sure you are of something you should listen with an open mind and consider the alternatives. If people can't discuss it with me, then I don't discuss it.

Answer 8

About abortion… my standard short answer…



Taking away the rights of a woman is essentially forcing them what to do with their bodies… that’s not much different than a rapist.



EVERYONE is PRO-life... excepting maybe psychopaths.



I am PRO choice and you are ANTI choice... let's call it what it is...

Not some emotive term denigrating people who believe in freedom of choice.



ANTI choicers are despicable…

They pick on the weak and vulnerable using FEAR, GUILT, lies and hypocrisy.



I'm pro-choice, not pro-abortion…



The whole ANTI choice position is one of subjugating women...

Trying to deny women the choice of what happens with their uterus.

Trying to MAKE women gestate against their will.



If men could bear children there would be NO debate about abortion.



Religion needs to stay out of a woman's vagina; it has no business there.



Only the terminally gullible believe that making abortion illegal makes it stop...

Making it illegal would just drive it underground and kill more women.



Taking away the rights of a woman is essentially forcing them what to do with their bodies… that’s not much different than a rapist… it was worth repeating...



AND… The whole abortion issue is only raised on 2 pillars, namely male dominance of women and religious need for expanding through reproducing.



And to bring some ‘humour’ to the situation…

http://www.jesusandmo.net/2011/09/07/women2/



And a bit of Logic…

http://s1281.photobucket.com/user/Bast14/media/NotAPerson.jpg.html



And an interesting article which shows the hypocrisy of the ANTI Choicer……

"The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion"

http://mypage.direct.ca/w/writer/anti-tales.html

~

Answer 9

Yes though there's a lot you and I agree on. I would say that my view is common sense solutions first to eliminate as much of the need as possible, then legal action



I find that people such as your self who claim pro-life but don't actually want to take any legal action to end it aren't really interested in fighting abortion as they are in claiming the moral high ground

Answer 10

I consider myself pro choice.



It doesn't mean I like abortions. I just think a person should be able to choose. It's not my life, and my personal opinion on the matter only matters to me.

Answer 11

These days we can no more make abortion illegal than we could re-enact Prohibition. The thing to do is to educate people and appeal to their better natures, if they have any.

Answer 12

Just one of many views, perspectives.





Pro Life: Death Penalty

http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/search?q=pro+life

Answer 13

Making abortion illegal is a step.....defunding public abortion is a step





but the solution is for people to do what God said and keep their darn pants zipped



60 Million babies sacrificed on the altar of self seeking pleasure



the blood of innocents are on all our hands

Answer 14

Anyone that cares either way on such a feeble subject as abortion does not have any level of intellect.

Answer 15

i am pro choice and i agree that abortion should never be illegal

because if someone is raped they should not have to have that child

Answer 16

No, I think your views are very common.