Discussions On Abortion [Editorial #1]

The Question:
Abortion: Are You Pro-Choice or Pro-Life?

Thus far, there have been five replies to this question. You can view them individually from the links below:

[Reply #1 by E.M.]
[Reply #2 by L.V.]
[Reply #3 by J.H.]
[Reply #4 by N.P.]
[Reply #5 by M.B.]

Alternatively, you can view all the posts on the subject here.

Surprisingly, all of the aforementioned replies have been siding withPro-Choice or leaning towards it. If you compare with the related poll, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

The poll has had 26 people casting their votes. The votes have been pretty evenly split, with 11 people siding with Pro-Life and 15 people with Pro-Choice.

Results like these demonstrate how heated of a debate abortion really is all over the world. But, as with any results, there are always many different underlying factors which affect the results.

Abortion being a global issue on many levels, it would help both sides of the argument to realize these affecting factors.

Religion:
This is probably the most influential factor determining a person’s stance on the abortion issue. The rule of thumb here is that the more religious one is, the more likely they are to being Pro-Life, in turn measured by their varying activism on the issue. Naturally, there are many exceptions between single religions, and more so between different religions.

Politics
Abortion is only really an issue in politics in regard to,
a) the religious beliefs of political leaders,
b) the religious beliefs of constituents, and
c) the religiousness of the state, regardless of the separation of church and state.
Take the United States for example. Even though there’s supposed to be a separation of church and state, the religious beliefs of the leaders, even presidential candidates, is very important for voters. Remember that the president has said that God has told him to do some of the political actions that he’s done…

Family & Friends
One’s parents’ beliefs are what provide the basis for a person’s own beliefs on pretty much enter issue. Whether or not a person’s beliefs in later life match or contradict their parents’ beliefs depends on their relationship with their parents as well as their own moral character.
Friends come to play on this issue from around one’s teenage years onwards. On such a heated issue as abortion, many people might hide or alter their beliefs to fit in or not be discriminated against.

Media
One of the least important influences on the abortion issue, albeit still a crucial one, media, as always shares peoples beliefs. The bottom line is that the particular viewpoint of the medium reenforces a particular audience’s views on the matter. If you’re for abortion, I wouldn’t suggest watching a Christian news show or reading a Christian article to get a better understanding of the issue, because you’d only acquire a biased view.

Personal Beliefs
Religion aside, abortion is an issue that is just as equally important for individuals. Generally, religious beliefs (to an extent) deem a person’s beliefs on abortion. Realistically, when choosing sides on the abortion issue goes outside religious and political views. An atheist may be pro-life, while a Catholic may pro-choice. On the personal level, views may also change due to experiences in life and life situations.

In the second editorial on abortion, I’ll cover the differences between Pro-Life and Pro-Choice.

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Discussions On Abortion [Reply #5]

The Question:
Abortion: Are You Pro-Choice or Pro-Life?

M.B. wrote on July 29, 2007:

I must admit that I don’t have much more to say here since everyone beat me to the punch, especially [J.H.]’s reply that even had the devil’s advocate angle I was thinking of writing on. Alas, it is now only vanity that drives me to write anything at all.

Just to start off, I believe that as a guy I haven’t the slightest idea of what it would be like to have a parasite sucking the life out of me for 9 months just to have it erupt from me screaming and bloody. So, promoting any very strong opinion on this subject as a man seems somewhat hypocritical. As [J.H.] said, it is the woman’s choice and her’s alone. Or is it?

My love for hypothetical scenarios drives me to think of one of those tricky situations: what if a woman who is pregnant wants to flush the embryo but the father wants to keep it? What rights does a father have in determining the fate of a developing child? Although the woman needs to “invest” more of her time, not to mention her body, into producing this kid, it does take two people to make the magic happen. Just for the sake of arguement, let’s think of the inverse: what if a woman wants to keep a kid but the man doesn’t? Does the man have any say in what should be done? Is the guy liable to pay support to the mother and his unfortunate bastard child? Although these types of situations may be rare to the point of being only interesting mind games, it does pose awkward questions when thinking of legislation regarding abortion rights.

Despite all of these unusual situations, my opinion on the subject remains unchanged. Women get to choose what happens in their insides the same way a man can. I believe the concept of abortion is similar to any type of body modification. Some people don’t get tattoos or sex-changes for religious or aesthetic reasons, however it doesn’t mean that they must be outlawed. Control of what happens to your body is essential to ones freedom. Government is suppossed to make us more free, not less. Don’t get me wrong, I hate the idea of irresponsible women having waterfalls of aborted fetuses coming out of them and flooding the world simply because they have the “right”. Just don’t ban something because someone will do stupid things. If that was the guiding principle in determining liberty, we would have not freedoms at all.

Besides, I always thought it was peculiar that it is the religious Right that supports banning abortion when they also belieive that most people are going to burn in hell anyway. Why bring a child into the world when its mother can very well be an atheist crack whore and has a very good chance of becoming one of the lost? Religious dogma dictates that children that die in the womb go to heaven automatically. So in this sense abortion is a favour to children around the world.

Well, this is my somewhat original contribution to this discussion, as chauvinistic as it may be. However, someone has to look after the rights of the common man. We do make up 50% of the population anyway.

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Discussions On Abortion [Reply #4]

The Question:
Abortion: Are You Pro-Choice or Pro-Life?

N.P. wrote on July 29, 2007:

Abortion, the termination of pregnancy in the first six months, could not be called immoral by anyone who has thought the matter through. It is not murder to prevent a foetus or embryo from turning into a baby any more than it is to use a condom, because in my opinion a human only begins his life when he is able to sustain it independently outside of the womb. In the first stages of pregnancy the foetus is not yet sufficiently developed to breathe or eat by itself, not to mention that it is utterly incapable of even the most elementary thought.

If a woman becomes pregnant and does not wish to have a child, she must make a choice between giving birth and abortion. If she does choose to give birth, she must again choose between keeping the child and giving it up for adoption, and in either case, an unplanned and unwanted child is brought into existence. The mother and the child would suffer unnecessarily from their experiences. After giving birth, the mother is often emotionally very attached to the baby but can not provide for it, and an adopted child will be more prone to a crisis of identity later in life at best, and placed in a completely unsuitable family at worst. With this in mind it might very well be the best option of all to stop the process of creating this particular life. Especially in circumstances where the life of the mother is at risk, she has been raped, or the child would have severe disabilities, abortion is not only acceptable but perhaps even recommended.
Abortion is incorrectly thought of as the end of a newly begun life when it is in fact simply a method of preventing life. Murder is an act which requires that the object is alive to begin with, and a foetus is not truly alive by my definition, as stated in the first paragraph. If something is not truly alive, it should of course not have any legal rights either. A foetus is not yet a human or a child but instead a mass of tissue, the blueprint and mere possibility of a baby.
So if a foetus is not an individual living creature, what is it? In my opinion, the foetus is still in fact completely a part of the mother. Connected by an umbilical cord, the foetus is physically attached and completely dependent on the mother for survival. Thus it should be so that the mother also has total control over the fate of that foetus or embryo.

If and since humans are quite rapidly overpopulating the planet and humans have the ability to safely terminate unwanted or unplanned pregnancies, I believe that abortion is a perfectly acceptable option. Every child brought into this world should, in my opinion, be wanted and cared for by a loving guardian or guardians. Making abortions illegal would not stop them from happening, but instead would simply make those who have them criminals. It would be in the best interests of everyone to campaign for further acceptance of abortion and to rid it of its controversial status in society.

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Discussions On Abortion [Reply #3]

The Question:
Abortion: Are You Pro-Choice or Pro-Life?

J.H. wrote on July 25, 2007:

To each and their own, whichever side of the abortion debate you side with, you have (presumably) a well-grounded argument to back your point.

The problem arises when you apply the question to an international audience. Abortion is viewed very differently in parts of the world. Merely the fact that it’s illegal in many parts of even the western world already swings the general perception of it one way or another.

There are really only two reasons why people may be pro-life.

One, it’s for personal reasons, possibly relating to one’s own life and life situation. It could be very difficult to convince a woman who desperately wants a baby that abortion is a good thing, when they themselves could never personally fathom terminating the pregnancy they are really striving to have.

Then there’s religion. The Catholic church, to name one example, is one of the main reasons why abortion is illegal in many western countries. When one is raised to “respect” all life, hence being pro-life, they are strapped to their point of view by their beliefs.

In an ideal world, abortion would be a non-issue, available everywhere, for whoever wants it or needs it.

The reason this is a heated debate is because people are trying to impose their beliefs on others. Not just the religious, but the other side too.

Personally, I believe abortion is a entirely a woman’s right, making me pro-choice. In the end, what matters more than a feud between pro-life and pro-choice is the woman’s physical, mental and social wellbeing.

The ironic thing in this debate is that while pro-life believers support only their point of view, saying that abortion is murder, etc, etc, pro-choice believers tend to allow for both sides, really making them pro-choice in if truest meaning of the term.

If you want to keep the baby, go ahead and keep it. It’s your right.
If, for whatever reason, you wish not to have a baby, you should have the right and opportunity terminate the pregnancy, without other people telling you it’s wrong or calling you a murderer.

Being pro(-woman’s)-choice, I believe no man should ever tell a woman whether or not to have an abortion. In addition, being pro-choice means allowing pro-life believers the right to oppose abortion.

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Discussions On Abortion [Reply #2]

The Question:
Abortion: Are You Pro-Choice or Pro-Life?

L.V. wrote on July 24, 2007:

Choice. If you don’t want the child, can’t support the child or are otherwise unable to raise it properly and with love, don’t fucking have it. It’s not fair for some innocent kid to be born and then spend his childhood hated, resented, or suffering because they don’t have food, housing, healthcare. They’ll grow up to be well-adjusted, happy people, I’m sure.

If you’re a junkie living on the streets, you’re pretty much fucking your kid over, and no pro-life person can argue that that’s less cruel than aborting an embryo. There are MILLIONS of kids in the world who are living on the streets because they weren’t wanted or couldn’t be cared for. And rich people like us are bitching about “life beginning at conception.” It’s all bullshit that we, the lucky few, can bitch about to make ourself feel better.

There, now I’m disgusted by myself and people in general.

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Discussions On Abortion [Reply #1]

The Question:
Abortion: Are You Pro-Choice or Pro-Life?

E.M. wrote on July 12, 2007:

Im definitely pro-choice! First of all what if it’s a rape??? Second of all if you are young, still in school and have your whole life ahead of you but happen to get pregnant when you’re e.g. 15 years old, then I think you should get a chance to wait untill you are ready, old enough, have steady income and have the right person with you to support you with the pregnancy. It’s different if you ARE old enought and let’s say married but just don’t feel like having a child, then I think it’s wrong:/

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[New Poll] Abortion: Are You Pro-Choice or Pro-Life?

Abortion Poll: Poll: Abortion: Are You Pro-Choice or Pro-Life?

Abortion: Are You Pro-Choice or Pro-Life? 1) Pro-Life 2) Pro-Choice 3) Don’t Care View Results Make your own poll