Pro-Life

Abortion Forum

Are you "Pro-Life" Discuss your reasons/feelings/beliefs here.

This is how I feel about it:

It's the woman's body, not anyone else's. No one can make her choices for her. Everyone knows that when a sperm cell comes into contact with an egg, it gets fertilized, and the result is pregnancy.

There is a way to avoid this. If you choose to have sex anyway despite the risk, that's your choice. But you cannot justify the killing of an embryo (i will refrain from calling it human for the sake of argument, but it IS killing) simply because you do not feel like leading a hard life.

Your kid may lead a hard life too. The way I see it if you are not ready to have a kid you are not ready to have sex.

I'm pro-choice.

I believe a woman has the right to choose.

She has the right to choose her friends, clothing, career, food, whether to be sexually active or not and many other simple choices.

Pregnancy is a pretty magical thing. I just always assumed the choice had already been made by a power higher than woman.


Pro-life!

I am definitely Pro-Choice.
BUT...what does this mean?

This, I'd like to clarify...

I do not encourage or promote abortions.
I do believe that a woman should have the right to a medically safe abortion should she, in consultation with her conscience, family, and doctor; make the decision to have an abortion.

BEING PRO-CHOICE IS ABOUT MORE THAN JUST ABORTIONS

Being Pro-Choice is about MANY issues regarding reproductive choices/freedom.

The decision to have a baby, how many, and when...is probably THE most personal decision a woman will ever make in her life. The decision should never be taken lightly as parenting involves much responsibility.

To me, being Pro-Choice is about keeping these decisions personal and private; about protecting freedoms of choice regarding all reproductive related issues.

CONTRACEPTION IS KEY

The use of contraception helps to prevent unplanned pregnancies. Abortions are most likely the result of unplanned pregnancies. Unplanned parenting may very well be responsible for some child abuse and neglect cases. People that do not want, or, are not ready to be parents, should have a right to access contraception. Furthermore, I believe that ALL people should have the right to be educated on issues of family planning and ALL available options.

WHY CAN'T I HAVE A TUBAL LIGATION?

The answer: Because I'm 27 years old and I haven't born any children.
If I want to have myself sterilized, how is this anyone's decision but mine? The rational is because of the permanency of the procedure...what if I change my mind? Well, I won't. And honestly, if I did, I would have to live with that decision...MY decision. It infuriates me that in order for me to have a tubal legation, I would have to fight for it, and likely do a lot of searching for a doctor that would be willing. And actually, I would prefer just to have a hysterectomy because to me, these "parts" are useless...just sitting there waiting to possibly develop cancer. I'm not using them!...why do I have to take that chance?

DOES YOUR INSURANCE PLAN COVER THIS?

How does one discreetly ask during an employment interview, "Can you tell me if your health insurance plan covers contraception and/or sterilization procedures?" You see, this is extremely important to me...a must have. But, employers can opt out of coverage for contraception, abortions, and sterilization procedures.

SO, LET'S REVIEW...WHO IS MAKING MY DECISIONS FOR ME.?

Politicians, folks with religious beliefs other than my own, my employer, the invisible man, my neighbor's dog, and a partridge in a pear tree!

THIS HAS TO STOP!
...and this is what makes me, Pro-Choice.

Anomaly, awesome post! I could not agree more! I'm pro-choice as well.
I think it's wrong that your medical decision to have a tubal ligation is being hindered by doctors. I understand their concern, but you're an adult and capable of making decisions that effect your life.

Yes, anomaly - you took the feelings that I couldn't get from my brain to my finger-tips, and stuck them on screen thanks.

Actually, the lawyers have a lot to do with the doctor not wanting to tie your tubes. OB/GYN's are sued if there is anything wrong with a baby, and are sued by many women who change their minds. I know it sucks that they are giving you a hard time, but there are some people out there who are not sure and sue.

and those, of course, are the people who really really SHOULD have their tubes tied

I am pro-life...surprise!

For a very personal reason. I was born in the 1960's when abortion was illegal.
My birth mother became preganant with me as a teenager and out of wedlock.
They shipped her up north to avoid the embarassment, and she gave me up for adoption.

If abortion had been legal, I may very well have been dead before I had a chance.

I am grateful I had a choice to live, and that my birth mother didn't have a choice to kill.

My 82 year old mother has Parkinson's and is in the advanced stage of Alzheimers Disease. She sits in a wheel chair from 8AM until 9pm seldom going anywhere because it is just too hard to
accomplish. She knows little, has zero enjoyment of life, can't taste food, and knows only pain. Using the Pro-Choice logic,
why can't we just do away with her life? After all, she's causing lots of work for everybody around her, her care is extremely expensive for a family who is anything but wealthy or even comfortable. People don't want to take care of her anymore. She's a real inconvenience......just like an unwanted child.

I know I sound like I mean what I am saying....but nothing could be further from the truth. We all love her and hate trying to let go emotionally. But why is my mother's situation that much different from an unwanted fetus? Somebody screwed up and got pregnant. My mom got old and diseased. Abortion is the killing of a human being. And don't try to tell me that fetus is anything but a human being. There's nothing you can do to turn that baby into a rosebud or a puppy dog. It' s a human being from the moment of conception. And it's never going to be anything else but. Unborn children and the elderly who are invalids are citizens.........the most vulnerable citizens there are.
They are entitled to be protected from murder.

Hi Schmiggens!

I just wanted to add that your friend's doctor may have been trying to ease your friend's mind and emotions by telling her that she didn't miscarry babies, but rather just fetuses.

Scientific people are just as torn on the abortion debate as are non-scientific people.

I'm sure your friend who miscarried three times didn't think of her loss as the loss of an inconsequential pile of cells and DNA at the time of her loss.

No matter what pro-lifers or pro-choicers say about the issue, a miscarriage will always be a miscarried baby to the woman who miscarried.

Chelktty - can I still congratulate you on your having a baby if you call it a fetus?

Seriously, I hope you are feeling fine in your pregnancy. I was so happy to finally be pregnant that I didn't mind the morning sickness...at first. Then it got real old, real fast. But my daughter and son are so worth it!

Dear Chelktty,

You are correct in assuming that my Mother's dibilitating condition is not due to any of the things you mentioned in your interesting post. Are you therefore saying that most abortions are for the reasons you named? Because I believe (and I don't have any proof of this) that nearly all abortions are the result of simple irresponsibility in not using any birth control. I've heard lots of young girls who I used to work with say that if they accidentally got pregnant they would beat a path to the nearest abortion clinic. When I got into a discussion with a couple of them on this subject, they reiterated that they would not feel guilty about taking a life because they didn't believe they were taking a life. They felt fully justified in having an abortion because they were too young and too insecure in life to have a baby. What they were really saying is that they didn't want to b be bothered with taking care of a baby or even of going through a pregnancy and then giving the baby up for adoption. That would change their lives too much. When I pointed out that ending a life was considerably more drastic than temporarily changing a life, they still maintained that they wouldn't "really"
be ending a life in their estimation. The bottom line is that abortion kills babies.

I have to comment...

Again...I have to bring up the issue of these girls having children they dont want...

Okay..lets put out of our minds that contraceptives didnt work (because they dont always do)..lets take out the abstinence factor (because I find that on the average unrealistic)...

Okay..there are girls who cant afford the procedure and have a child..they dont want to give it up for adoption.....NOW..with as many criminals that we have that are from poor single family homes...are we just adding to that statistic? (Im not saying all would end up that way...but too many would)...

Now we have the problem of these girls putting the kids up for adoption....okay..many people might be willing to take them....but how many kids do we have in the world now that are in foster care or orphanges because no one would take them. How many dont have families just in this country alone? Too many!

Someone tell me what we as a nation are supposed to do with all the unwanted children?

Im not saying this is a reason to have an abortion....but its something that needs to be addressed. IMO

Hi Mystic! Great post!

I believe you have covered all the bases and raised questions that should most definitely be considered.

I know this will sound extreme to most people, but given the number of babies being born who aren't wanted, Sean and I have mentioned population control in a thread in the Science and technology forum -- I'm sure he's discussed it in many other threads as well.

A law to limit the number of children a woman should have, may help with all of the problems mentioned in your post. There are ways to reduce the number of unwanted children being born without the need for abortion.

I also believe that there would be significantly less children in foster care if social and children's services reduced the number of years they consider a child a foster child before allowing them to be permanently adopted by the many families who are willing to adopt. Most families who do want to adopt children, aren't receptive to the idea of only fostering a child. Because more children are in need of foster families rather than adoptive families, the children end up going through the "unwanted child" system until they become adults -- by the time they become adults, there is a whole new generation of unwanted children ready to go through the foster family cycle again.

Mystic, some Americans don't even like the Patriot Act, because they think that the government is infringing too much on their private lives, and you think they'll be okey dokey with telling them how many kids they can have?!?

I'm all for educating kids on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies, and I am encouraged that the numbers over the years of teenagers getting pregnant is dropping. But I am not into justifying the killing of unwanted children for population control, or for convenience.

Sorry, Mystic, it was the _way_it_is who suggested a law to limit the polulation, and you only thought it was not a bad idea. But it also seemed like you thought there were enough unwanted children already and that justified killing preborn ones.

As for the foreign adoption comments, my brother and sister-in-law went international for the reasons that domestic adoptions take longer and because of the problem of borth mothers changing their minds.

That's why I am all for laws that help promote adoptions in this country, but we need to do something to make the adoptions permanent so that the kids aren't tossed around like ping pong balls.

I also personally feel a moral obligation to donate to organizations who promote the welfare of mothers who do decide to keep their child, who might otherwise be unwanted. But I also, as I said, would prefer to educate young people to prevent unwanted pregnancies so that the decision to keep it or not does not even need to be made.

I did address that issue, you just don't agree with my answer. I do apologize for the mix-up with the birth control thing, but I might add that birth control has always been available, it's called saying NO.

I think offering moral support to any woman who chooses to have and keep her baby is a very honorable thing Beth. But I would be inclined to offer the same kind of support to any female I know who would face the incredibly difficult decision of having an abortion.

I think you both totally overlooked the fact that I first would prefer that unwanted pregnanies don't even happen in the first place. Some young women do use abortion as a form on birth control, and I find that method an unacceptable method. So, Mystics notion that I want all these unwanted children in the streets in just a bunch of baloney in an attempt to make me look like an uncaring person.

What I do instead of adopting children myself is what I feel I can do for women who decide to choose life. I have supported a pregnancy crisis center in our area since it opened a few years ago. They provide education, basic baby essentials, and counciling for women who seek it. One day, when my own kids are in school all day, I want to volunteer my time there as well.

There are a few bills in the House that offer tax breaks for people who adopt. I have written to my Congressmen to express my support for these measures.

I have a feeling that you both will chastise me and say I am not doing enough since I have not adopted myself. I guess that is your perogative. But I do feel that my heart is in the right place, and that in my own little way I am fighting for the most defensless sector of our society, the unborn.

Actually, I do not realistically think Roe v Wade will ever be overturned, which is why I have redirected my pro-life efforts into giving the support that I can to women who do choose life, rather than trying to change the fact that abortion is illegal. Do I wish it was illegal? Yes. Do I think it ever will be illegal again? I really doubt it. But, I think saying things would be out of control if it were illegal is a bit dramatic, IMO.