Am I Pro life or Pro Choice

[pstripling]

I'm really wondering where I come down on this side of the issue. Would really like to hear the views of the religious folks on this issue.

I think I am pro life. I do not believe in abortion, I think it is murder. I think many people have the view that it is another form of birth control.

I think that if 2 consenting people have sex, and a pregnancy occurs than they should be responsible for bringing that life into the world. There are many families that would happily adopt the child. Yes, I know the adoption process needs to be streamlined as well...but thats a whole different thread.

The issue gets muddy when rape/incest is involved. Now one party was not consenting and this has been forced upon them.

The issue is very black and white when I think in terms of myself and my family. Even under the horrible circumstance of rape, we would have the child and put it up for adoption. But could I force someone else to do the same? I would certainly pray for the person, and encourage them to choose as I would. I also believe that they would be commiting murder if they did choose to have an abortion.

Having said that, I cannot bring myself to judge that person nor take away their right to choose to undo something that was forced on them in the first place. Does this make me Pro Life or Choice? Thanks

[tripdad]

you are pro-choice, just not pro-abortion. same as GWB, Reagan, et. al.

cheers!

[Cooker]

I feel basically the same way you do, and I consider myself pro-life. I think abortion should only be legal in the cases of rape, incest, or if the mothers life is endangered by the pregnancy. I believe pro-choice people believe that there should be no restrictions on when an abortion is legal and pro-life people would prefer certain restrictions. I think only very radical pro-life people believe that abortions should be illegal under all conditions for all people.

[ddollevoet]

[ QUOTE ]
you are pro-choice, just not pro-abortion. same as GWB, Reagan, et. al.

cheers!

[/ QUOTE ]

As am I.

[elwoodblues]

I think you need to reexamine whether you really believe it is murder. If you really do, then exceptions for rape/incest don't make any sense at all. If you believe it is a balance of competing interests -- the health/well-being/freedom of the mother on one hand and the potential for life on the other, you probably are in the same boat as the vast majority of Americans.

[Men the Master]

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Does this make me Pro Life or Choice? Thanks

[/ QUOTE ]

You are pro-confused.

[pokerjo22]

Contrary to what the politicians would have us belive, there are very few black and white issues in the world.

[Shaun]

I'm pro-choice even though I'd feel guilty about aborting a child conceived consentually. The government cannot force victims of rape or incest to have children, nor should it force women to endure a pregnancy that they cannot afford, as long as the abortion takes place within the first trimester. There are too many unwanted children as it is.

[tolbiny]

Sadly there are far to many black and white issues out there

"There are many families that would happily adopt the child."

This simply isn't the case for minorities in America, there are thoasands of black children who go unadopted every year, and a nearly equal number of white parents on waiting lists to adopt white children.

[BusterStacks]

I feel fine about aborting babies. the world is over populated as it is.

[slickpoppa]

Yes, sadly this is true. My aunt and uncle attempted to adopt a white child but waited for years without any success. They were able to adopt a multiracial child in just a couple of months. There is also a huge surplus of unwanted children from Asia, primarily girls.

[BusterStacks]

I don't understand why this is "sad". Is it sad if your favorite color is red and someone else's is blue? Of course not, it's personal preference. There would be a lot less pain in the world if abortions were more common.

[ACPlayer]

You have basically made the pro-choice argument. In the case of rape/incest you would chose to have the baby and put it up for adoption. That is your choice, backed no doubt by a strong family unit.

The choice of a 17 year old girl who's boy friend will not support her and her family would disown her is not that clear. Her choices are limited. Without legal abortion, a large percentage may chose to have illegal unsafe abortions.

The choice of a 19 year old to continually get pregrnant and use abortion on demand as birth control, is like your choice clear. This choice in my view is wrong.

So, yes abortion is something that if I was involved in the decision making would choose to not go down that path and do whatever to have the child and take care of it.

The societal viewpoint should be that abortions are "safe, legal but rare"

The prolife/antichoice people really lose me when the start talking against condom distributions and preaching abstinence as the only path.

[slickpoppa]

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I don't understand why this is "sad". Is it sad if your favorite color is red and someone else's is blue? Of course not, it's personal preference. There would be a lot less pain in the world if abortions were more common.

[/ QUOTE ]
I think it is pretty obvious what is sad: There are a lot of unwanted children in the world.

[BusterStacks]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I don't understand why this is "sad". Is it sad if your favorite color is red and someone else's is blue? Of course not, it's personal preference. There would be a lot less pain in the world if abortions were more common.

[/ QUOTE ]
I think it is pretty obvious what is sad: There are a lot of unwanted children in the world.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, hence my stance for abortion.

[slickpoppa]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I don't understand why this is "sad". Is it sad if your favorite color is red and someone else's is blue? Of course not, it's personal preference. There would be a lot less pain in the world if abortions were more common.

[/ QUOTE ]
I think it is pretty obvious what is sad: There are a lot of unwanted children in the world.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, hence my stance for abortion.

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I never said anything against abortion.

[Abednego]

This is a lot like saying, "There is way to much of you but just the right amount of me."

Actually the WORLD is not over-populated. There is enough food produced to feed everybody but there are distribution problems.

[BusterStacks]

[ QUOTE ]
This is a lot like saying, "There is way to much of you but just the right amount of me."

Actually the WORLD is not over-populated. There is enough food produced to feed everybody but there are distribution problems.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually the world IS overpopulated based on consumption of natural resources per capita. I'm not talking about food here, I'm talking about sustaining a certain population that is not detrimental to the environment, etc.

And your other comment of "There is way to much of you but just the right amount of me." Yes, because I'm already alive.

[tolbiny]

define "detrimental" to the environment.

[jesusarenque]

Clinton said it best: "Abortion should be legal, safe, and rare."

[nothumb]

If you think the government should stay out of the issue as much as possible, you are pro-choice.

I am in a similar boat to you. I could never ask a woman to have an abortion and knowing that a child I sired was aborted would distress me greatly, even though I do not want to be a father. My girlfriend will not have an abortion, so if I get her pregnant I will be a dad. That's how it is.

However, I think abortion should be legal and rare, and I'm surprised that more people on the anti-abortion side don't work more towards reducing unwanted pregnancies. Instead they try to pretend that condoms don't work and teach abstinence-only (in some cases, of course, and the most vocal almost always are also the no-sex-before-marriage types), a surefire way to get a bunch of lapsed Christian girls knocked up. If you are really against abortion you need to adapt to the cultural norms of our times and make real partnerships to stop it from happening.

People have had abortions whether they are legal or not for a long time. People could have fewer if they were better informed.

NT

[Nate Finch]

Definitely Pro-Choice. Late term? Hell no. But early? Yeah, ok.

People say "oh, just give it up for adoption". You act like having a baby is no more difficult than making a TV dinner.

The medical bills are extremely expensive, and it's almost impossible to pay for it if you're uninsured. You have to leave work -unpaid- for a significant period of time before and after the birth. And that's totally ignoring the fact that having a child is simply exceedingly traumatic to the woman's body. Health complications in the mother are not uncommon, especially if she hasn't received proper care, and the same goes for the baby.

If you have ever been in the situation or known someone who has been in the situation, you know it is not something a prospective mother does lightly. I recently learned my mother had an abortion when she and my father were getting divorced (I was 6). We had almost no money at the time, and having a child, whether it was adopted later on or not, would have been disastrous for both our family and the baby.

My father had tears in his eyes when he talked about it, even 21 years later. Do you think it was an easy decision for them to make, even with so many things indicating that it was the right course of action? No. It was damn, damn hard. But sometimes it just is the right choice, for everyone.

It was my brother or sister who isn't here because of their choice, but I cannot fault them for it. Our life was hard enough back then without having to add a pregnancy to it.

That's why I'm pro-choice.

-Nate

[jdl22]

Why do you think person A getting raped makes it acceptable to murder that person's child? Put another way, you think it is acceptable for a rape victim to order the execution of the rapists child? I suspect you are for the death penalty as well but it seems a little ridiculous to give the victim of a crime the authority to kill a family member of the guilty party.

That makes no sense to me. I'm personally pro-choice and this is the one thing I really don't understand about the other side. Apparently a couple of newly elected republican senators say that it should be outlawed in 100% of the cases. To me this is the only view someone who views all abortions as murder can have. I suspected that Bush et al felt the same way and just couldn't say it for political reasons (just as I suspect Kerry and many liberals in public office feel that gay couples should be allowed to marry) but apparently that may not be the case.

[Bigdaddydvo]

Safe, Rare, and Legal? Would be great rhetoric if it were true. One in three pregnancies end in abortion in this country, and close to 40% of women will have an abortion throughout their lifetimes. Think about that. If you graduated high school in the last 13 years then one out of every three classmates you would have had is dead.

Proponents of Roe viewed it as a panacea to many social ills like poverty and overpopulation. 31 years later do you think it's had an appreciable impact?

A primary reason abortion will never be "rare" is because it's such a profitable procedure. It's one case where the Left doesn't mind the concept of capitalism.

A child's heart begins to 26 days after conception. You, me, and everyone on this forum were at that point in our natural life cycle. If you belive this beating heart living human being, there is no way you can support abortion in any instance.

Lastly, I'd be willing to fork over my entire poker bankroll to anyone who can produce even one instance where partial birth abortion is justified (including a real "life of the mother" clause. It's laughable to think that an abortion 10 minutes before a mother gives birth will somehow save her life.)

[ACPlayer]

You must be learning from Bush -- willing to move all-in with little study of the situation.

[Trainwreck]

I am for staying out of other people's sex lives and bodily functions.

Unless, they are good looking celebrities and it's a 'missing' sex tape, then it's OK.

We need more people on this planet like Wacko Jacko needs more legal troubles.

LOL!

>TW<