Just think.
Making abortion illegal in the states will only make matters worse because that won't stop women from getting abortions in general. Many might end up in some shady doctor's office in some other country because that doctor WILL perform an abortion.
I personally would NOT get an abortion but I'd like to have the right to. Women should be given the chance to undergo a safe and clean abortion as opposed to a coat hanger treatment.

/this came out too garbled

I'm pro-choice.
A woman should have the full right to her body, to get an abortion or not, whatever she chooses. It should be no one elses decision or business except her.

What if the girl is only young? Like. Thirteen-ish? Do you think it would be better for her to go throug all of that, Or would an abortion be best?

Originally Posted by Kah Hilzin-Ec

Oh and by the way, I've yet to find nature giving priviledges out of pity. What makes rape-produced fetuses less important than accidental ones?

Neither fetus is less important than the other.
But the fact that a young woman was forced into sex versus a young woman who accidently forgot protection or birth control are totally different.

Rape is force. This victim had NO say in the matter. This was an unplanned pregnancy which will create more stress in their life. Like, will they be able to support the child? Would they even be emotionally fit to support a child that was consummated out of rape? Granted I know it's not the child's fault, and the victim should consider adoption, but think of other physical complications this victim may endure. 9 months of pregnancy, a possible C-section. Or worse, what if it giving birth could KILL her?

As for the young woman who had a choice - they still knew the consequences. I don't care if she used birth control and protection, or that she was not ready to have a child, when you have sex, understand that there IS a risk. Understand that you had a choice and knew the possible consequences.
(Sorry for sounding like a zealot, but I just see abortions as a cop-out for something you wanted, UNLESS health complications or rape was involved. A child is still forming inside you for goodness sakes. And if you can't afford to take care of the child, there is adoption.)

I'm not quite clear on my views yet--I'm neutral.

But I think there are other options besides abortion that is overlooked; Such as putting the child up for adoption. There are millions of people in the country who would like children, but can't have them for certain reasons. Why not do them a favor?

Originally Posted by Fabby

@Hughesmunculus- Who's going to take care of these babies? Are you going to do it? Is anyone going to do it? Very few people ever want to adopt; I believe I read that only about 1% of couples ever actually adopts a child. You can bet that most of them will only want a newborn, too. About 10% of children put into foster care never get adopted as is... and that's no life to lead. Consider that if abortion were illegal these numbers would be significantly higher and there wouldn't be enough food or clothes or space for all of them, and there's no way all of them would be adopted. What kind of life is that for the child? Why should we contribute to overpopulation with more babies that are unwanted?

@BUNNYLOVE826- For the hundred thousandth time, you can be on every type of birth control known to man and STILL get pregnant. Around 50% of the women getting abortions report that they were on birth control, and ~15% say they used it correctly.
It's about perspective... I would feel much guiltier dropping my child on a doorstep and crossing my fingers that it gets a good life than I would not having the child at all.

Whoa. Right after I read this.. I feel as if my views have shifted a little..

Originally Posted by pinkii

1)Neither fetus is less important than the other.
But the fact that a young woman was forced into sex versus a young woman who accidently forgot protection or birth control are totally different.

2)Rape is force. This victim had NO say in the matter. This was an unplanned pregnancy which will create more stress in their life. 3)Like, will they be able to support the child? 4)Would they even be emotionally fit to support a child that was consummated out of rape? 5)Granted I know it's not the child's fault, and the victim should consider adoption, but think of other physical complications this victim may endure. 9 months of pregnancy, a possible C-section. Or worse, what if it giving birth could KILL her?

6)As for the young woman who had a choice - they still knew the consequences. 7)I don't care if she used birth control and protection, or <that she was not ready to have a child>, when you have sex, understand that there IS a risk. Understand that you had a choice and knew the possible consequences.
8)(Sorry for sounding like a zealot, but I just see abortions as a cop-out for something you wanted, UNLESS health complications or rape was involved. A child is still forming inside you for goodness sakes. And if you can't afford to take care of the child, there is adoption.)

1) Different? Both women don't want the child, which is the point with abortion.

2) An unplanned pregnancy will create more stress in anyone's life.
3) I don't see you mentioning financial struggles as a factible reason to have an abortion.
4) There are people who aren't emotionally fit to even be pregnant. And I don't mean just tokophobics.
5) Same problems with those whose pills failed and condoms broke. And even if these don't happen there's still the risk, you know?

6) I think you need to talk with my maids. The sexual education system here is so unexistent, they believe they can't get pregnant if they're on top while having sex! And they had the guts to call my mom and I crazy after we told them the truth.
7) You also know there's a risk everytime you go out of your home. You know there's a risk everytime a relative looks at you in a wrong manner. You know there's a risk if your boyfriend is pressuring you. The point here is, there's always a risk, in everything you do. And both situations were unwanted. Accidents of what should be a perfect world.
<> Are you being serious?! You want a superficial, I-don't-care-what-you-say-mom girl taking care of a baby? I bet she wouldn't even look at his/her way!
8) I see adoption is cop-out, even more than abortion. I'm sorry - not worrying to take total responsability of the life of that kid you gave the 50%, letting it grow in you for 9 months, and then dumping it to an adoption system, knowing they could but will most likely NOT be adopted? I find that cruel.

From what I've heard, it's the older children that have trouble getting adopted. Apparently babies are in higher demand or something but I'm not entirely sure myself. It certainly wouldn't surprise me.

I'm entirely pro-choice, no matter what the reason.

I honestly don't like kids all that much, but I cannot stand to see children having to grow up in bad situations where they're neglected or not being cared or looked for properly. It's just going to lead to a poor future (children are our future, are they not?), in my opinion.

Albeit, I'm not for abortion in all three trimesters. Mainly only the first trimester. The other two - only in emergencies, such as mother will die from maintaining the pregnancy or the fetus is overall dead or something. If I was pregnant, I honestly would not want to have to birth something that is already dead...having to have the funeral in the same week? I don't think I could even handle going to the funeral if I was just invited.

If abortion was outlawed - it's probably been said several times, but then abortions will be performed in unsafe manners just hurting more women in the process.

And - some people actually don't know how to have sex safely. In the US - I've met more than enough people who didn't receive the same sexual education as I did. Some schools have it junior or senior year. Some just scream "ABSTINENCE" at you and don't tell you anything about STDs, contraceptives, and sex myths. :/
...My gawd, I love my school's health class.

Originally Posted by Arousal

So there's a lot of different opinions concerning abortion, some people think it should be illegal, others think it's fine as long as you have a good reason.
I'd like to hear your views on abortion.

I personally think it shouldn't be that big of a deal as long as you have a good reason.
Examples:

A woman who got raped should have the possibility to get rid of child if she really doesn't want it.

A twelve year old girl can't take care of herself let alone a child.

A woman whose life it at risk if she carries through with the pregnancy.

Now if someone was too lazy to use a condom or birth control pills it's their own fault and they shouldn't have the choice to remove it.

I agree with most of the things you said, but I have to disagree on the fact that they didn't use condoms or birth control. I agree, they shouldn't be able to get off that easily if they aren't resonsible, but would you really want to put a child in the hands of someone who isn't even responsible enough to use a condom? I don't think so.

And for those who think adoption is an option I would rather someone have an abortion then put the baby up for adoption because I know for a fact that the majority of children never get adopted and have to live their life in a foster home. I don't know if any of you guys know much about foster care, but a lot of the people aren't good people. My parent's used to foster, and I've seen homes that only do care for the money and don't treat the children with the love and care they diserve.

Originally Posted by Masamune

From what I've heard, it's the older children that have trouble getting adopted. Apparently babies are in higher demand or something but I'm not entirely sure myself. It certainly wouldn't surprise me.

Not really. I mean yeah, babies are in higher demand then teenagers, but most parent's wait until the child is school age to adopt, and by then the child could have gone through quite a bit of trauma.

Okay, my views on abortion are this: If your screwing around without protection, then you broght it upon yourself. People need to think about what they are getting into before start a sexual relationship.
Now, if the woman, or girl, were raped, it should be up to the WOMAN if she wanted to keep the kid. If she did, then more power to you. If you didn't then that's is the only time, I believe, the WOMAN has the right to say nay to having the kid. If it was a GIRL, I say no way. Depending on how old the GIRL was will decide if they should have the right to say whether they can get rid of it. If the GIRL is under 17, it should be up to the parents, or guradians, to decide if she can keep the child or not. NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!! 18 and over, like I said, if your screwing around, then you need to grow up and give birth to the kid. It doesn't mean you can't put the kid up for adoption or selective adoption, it just means that you shouldn't take the kids life away cause you were a botard and didn't protect yourself.
Another point: if the kid (and i say kid cause after the first month it has brain activity, after a month and a half it has a heart beat) is dead inside the womb, I say the correct thing to do is abort the child and give it a proper funeral. It would be devestating for the mother and father if they were looking forward to this new life, but I feel they should be obligated to take the necessary precautions and go ahead and have the funeral for thier son or daughter.
Point 3: if the child has the possibility of killing the mother again, here the mother has a few choices. She can go ahead and have the child and gamble with her life or have a c-section and remove the child. I say, the mother should have enough love to at least to give the kid a chance and sacrifice herself for her child. To me, that would be the most noble of things a mother could do. To die bringing her kid into this world would be the best thing to do. Sacrificing her life for another life, nothing could be greater.

I don't know, Shaw...I'd be horrified if my mother died giving birth to me. It's kind of sad to know that a child born like that will never know his or her mother.

Not really. I mean yeah, babies are in higher demand then teenagers, but most parent's wait until the child is school age to adopt, and by then the child could have gone through quite a bit of trauma.

Where did you hear that? o.0 My aunt must have been the odd one out to adopt a baby that was maybe 2 years old.

I disagree with you completely, Shaw.

First of all, people can get pregnant even if they're using protection. I'm tired of saying this, and I'm tired of people who had a genuine pill failure or a condom break getting lumped in with everyone who just couldn't be bothered. Just because they had an accidental pregnancy on their hands doesn't mean they're stupid.

And I think that if you're old enough to be out having sex, then you are old enough to handle the consequences. (Or at least, you'd best be.) The parents in this case have absolutely no right to be deciding whether or not the girl should have the baby. It's NOT THEIR BABY, and it's not their decision to make.

"Grow up and give birth to the kid"... Do you really think that someone who can't remember a simple pill every day is going to remember to change a baby, or is going to be willing to get up every two hours to feed the kid? You're practically sentencing these kids to miserable lives, because I can tell you right now that an unwilling parent does NOT make a good parent.

i am all for abortion

i think that it is a good way to keep the population under control

and besides that
i hate children they are a bother and annoying and i hope to never have any of my own and if i did get a girl pregant i would tell her to abort it

Well uh, since abortion is legal and the U.S. constitution states that people who are granted one right, must be granted to everyone...so you can't limit abortion to people that are over the age of 18. I think abortion is a good thing. Sure there's the whole killing living things, but sometimes an abortion is actually necessary to save the woman herself...especially if it's an Ectopic Pregnancy where the baby grows in the fallopian tubes.

I've been in the whole pregnancy scare a couple of times, especially when using a condom. But if you look at it in scientific terms, he lessens population size and for people who cannot afford taking care of a baby, or if they are too young...

Plus Government should not limit the right to what a woman has over her own body. It's her right to privacy that's in issue.

I am all for abortion. If a woman wants to have it then its her right. Its her body she can do whatever she wants with it. Knowing what I know now, I wished I had it instead of having my children. They all have problems. Problems that will affect them for the rest of their lives and make it hard to survive in this world. They won't be able to make friends and they will be constantly teased for the rest of their lives for being different. No one deserves to live like that. I have who knows what problems and I plan on seeing someone about it, but I don't want that life for my kids. I have struggled my whole life with my problems and it was really hard to do anything. Now they are pratically crippling my life. With what I know now, I would of aborted all my children and got fixed after my first pregnancy. No child no person deserves to struggle with mental diseases they can not control or do anything about.
Plus in cases of rape, YES no matter what people say. There are alot of cases where it is completely acceptable to have an abortion. Now with messing around without protection and getting pregnant, not sure what I think about that. I don't think a person should suffer with a pregnancy if they really don't want the child. What's the point in carrying a child to full term to give it up for adoption? The mother might do something during the pregnancy to mess the child up. I have an aunt who is borderline retarded because her birth mom did drugs her entire pregnancy and my grandparents who are very loving adopted a child no one wanted to love. Some people just don't deserve the right to carry a child and some shoudn't if their child might suffer long term damage with being labeled a problem kid because of some mental issues they had no control over.
Ok time for me to stop rambling .

I personally do not agree with abortion. I find it be wrong. Though it is the mothers choice.

Normally I don't disagree with the statements of others, but I thought it relevant to point out (and if someone already has, I apologize) that as of January 20, 2004, the unborn are now protected. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act, also known as Laci and Conner's Law, states

(C) If the person engaging in the conduct thereby intentionally kills or attempts to kill the unborn child, that person shall instead of being punished under subparagraph (A), be punished as provided under sections 1111, 1112, and 1113 of this title for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being.

My opinion on abortion is this: It is the woman, and only the woman's, choice. Thirteen years ago, I was staunchly anti-abortion. My life changed forever that year, and so did my opinion on abortion.

When it comes to pregnancy, you´re dealing with a womans privacy.
One has to respect that.
If she doesnt desire the baby, she wont give birth to it.
If she wants it to live, let it live.

If Abortion were prohibited, women would find other methods to abort. Those methods usually harm the mother as well. We would be putting the baby, and the mother at risk of loosing their lifes in this case.

Shouldnt happen. Thats my opinion. Murder is murder, no matter what the age is of the person in question. If you get pregnate then you should see it through. if you dont want the child after its born then put him or her up for adoption.

It's not that easy Oukan. What if BC failed, you were raped, you have some medical condition that won't let you live through pregnancy, that the child has a severe defect that won't let him/her live more than a few hours after being born, etc?

And really, abortion and adoption aren't that different. In both cases the mother is getting rid of the kid. Only difference in abortion you know when and how the kid rot and died. With adoption you never know whether it was for good or bad.

Originally Posted by Kah Hilzin-Ec

It's not that easy Oukan. What if BC failed, you were raped, you have some medical condition that won't let you live through pregnancy, that the child has a severe defect that won't let him/her live more than a few hours after being born, etc?

And really, abortion and adoption aren't that different. In both cases the mother is getting rid of the kid. Only difference in abortion you know when and how the kid rot and died. With adoption you never know whether it was for good or bad.

In the cases that you listed I could give you my opinion on each.
1. Birth control failed - You shouldnt be having sex if you dont want to get pregnate. Simple as that.
2. If you where raped. Would you love your child any less? If so then your a cold hearted bitch. Its no more your fault that you got raped then it was the child's, why should the child be killed cause of that?
3. If you have a medical condition - Like what? Ive never heard of a medical conditon that would keep you from having children. Usually if your unable to have kids then your simply unable to have them. Meaning you wont get preggers to begin with. Name me one and I will consider that option. But keep in mind that usually when people have a medical condition that threatens the health when pregnant then your usually "fixed" as soon as possible.
4. If the child is determined unable to live outside of you then that will not be noticed at the early stages of pregnantcy. But later on close to the end, in that case its no longer considered abortion in the way we are discussing in this thread. It is considered the right thing to do in that case cause your child will die anyways.

Lastly I cant believe that you said abortion and adoption is the same. They are NOTHING alike.
Abortion - Your killing the child inside you. You must do this very early in the pregnantcy. Within the first 2 months I think. (dont quote me Im not positive on the time but I know its suppose to be VERY early on) or your not able to do it at all.
Adoption - The child is born, finds a family and lives out their life.
Death - Life. You tell me how those are the same?

So a couple who decided to be child-free should decide to not have sex at all, despite several studies showing that sex brings benefits in bonding and health to couples? Or follow methods of sterilization, ignoring the fact that as humans they could change their minds later on life?

The child isn't the responsible for your rape, indeed, but it's a consequence. Some women are just not mentally prepaired to be pregnant, much worse deal with both trauma from rape and being pregnant with a child that will most likely be born with characteristics of the father, plus the stigma of being a single mother, and thoughts flooding everytime someone asks for the father. In any case, the cold-hearted bitch would be people with that ideology you pointed, for not being able to understand that some people just aren't strong enough to support such an emotional baggage. I don't have a problem with those who feel like they can go on in life, but I'm not going to support throwing weights on someone who can't hold it. Why is it the mother's fault anyway? Why does she have to give life to a being she didn't invest love into their creation?

Pregnancy Complications. Pregnancy isn't all pink. It has its risks whether you want it or not.

Still, the early removing of a fetus from the womb resulting in death is abortion. A woman in Brazil was put in jail and excomulgated from the church because she aborted a fetus with anencephalia, even though had she had a natural birth the kid would have died few hours later from this genetic defect. Is this right? I don't think so.

Don't twist my words. I never said they're the same. I said they weren't that different. Find a family and lives out their lives? Not all children are adopted in the US, and we're talking of a very generous country were there are a lot of couples who pass the requisites and are able to afford an adopted kid. But what about the rest of the world? I know here in Ecuador, nobody I've ever met, including those infertile, want an adopted child. In fact, they'd rather waste thousands in artificial inseminations who end up failing than try to adopt a kid. Adopting isn't easy either. Not all couples who want to adopt end up reaching their goal, so now there are a big load of kids in orphanages and foster homes because they can't find someone to adopt them.

In both cases, the mother is getting off the responsability of their child. Kind of a "Not my problem anymore" thing.


And, I hope you do understand abortion isn't a "Oh dang again I screwed up, I'll get rid of it tomorrow" thing. I believe abortion is a decision as hard to take as adoption itself. Who would want to go through an expensive surgery to do something people still think of a morally wrong act and risk being shunned from their community just because? That would be like saying gays choose to like the same gender. Just clarifying, I'm not accusing you of this, just making it clear.

Originally Posted by Oukan

Shouldnt happen. Thats my opinion. Murder is murder, no matter what the age is of the person in question. If you get pregnate then you should see it through. if you dont want the child after its born then put him or her up for adoption.

Could you be any more shallow sighted?
Should sex only, exclusively used by those who want to have children right then and there? What about the child-free? What about married couples who simply don't want to have children? Should they remain celibate to appease your morals?

There are many medical conditions which can lead to the need for the mother's life. Many of them are special cases. Heart conditions and even mental illnesses are a few of the many things that can make it extremely dangerous for women to have pregnancies.

Let me propose a few situations to you:
You are a poor young woman in college. You live in a tiny, tiny apartment which is basically utter crap, and barely have enough money for food and your rent. You have a boyfriend of a couple years, who is no better off than you. In other words, you are both deep into the levels of poverty, but because you are young and healthy for the most part, you do not receive benefits from the government. You get free birth control from your university clinic, and every time your boyfriend and you have sex, you make sure your birth control was taken correctly that day and he wears a condom properly.
However, you still become pregnant. You are terrified, and use Emergency Contraption (otherwise known as the "morning after pill").

It, too, fails.
You used three forms of birth control and you are still pregnant. You know that your boyfriend and you can scrape together enough money for an abortion with the aid of Planned Parenthood's financial aide, or you can end up homeless, without food, and pregnant. And even then, your probably won't be able to cover the cost of doctor's visits and birth.

In other words, you can be in an extremely dangerous situation where your only meals might come from food banks and you might be spending your nights in homeless shelters with a pregnancy that you can't afford to be watched after properly, or you can have an abortion and continue living your life in your relative poverty.

Or, how about this?
You are a schitzophrenic. It was a hard time in your life, but now you are properly medicated and have it under control. You are married. Because of your medication for your schizophrenia, you cannot become pregnant. If you do, you'll have to stop taking your medication, for the health of the fetus. However, if you do, then you will suffer from extreme paranoia, depression, and hallucinations, as well as suicidal tendencies.

Your husband and you are very safe. Because you can never have children without putting yourself in very real danger, you get a tubal ligation. Because you know that even these have a failure rate, you make your husband wear a condom.

You still get pregnant. You can put yourself in extreme danger, or you can have an abortion.

Now for a short one:
You have tried to get pregnant for a long time now. You finally do! However, you are not suffering from extreme pains in your lower stomach. You go to the doctor.
Topical Prenancy.
You can die, or you can get an abortion.

Would any of the these women be immoral if they got an abortion?

Originally Posted by Kah Hilzin-Ec

Still, the early removing of a fetus from the womb resulting in death is abortion. A woman in Brazil was put in jail and excomulgated from the church because she aborted a fetus with anencephalia, even though had she had a natural birth the kid would have died few hours later from this genetic defect. Is this right? I don't think so.

I thought I'd make this clear: that was a nine year old who was raped by her step-father, not a woman.
The rest is correct.

Had she been a full-grown woman it would still be wrong to deny her the abortion, though. Thanks for clarifying Kris.