are these abortion stances represented?

BobTheCoward

Banned
B
Joined
Nov 12, 2010
Messages
22,789
I was thinking of my opinions on abortion and wondering how much my views are in the minority. I also wondered if my counterparts also feel poorly represented.

So, do you know anyone that has these stances on abortion.

-Believe that abortion is murder (comparable to an adult shooting another adult) but feel that it should be legal.

-Believe abortion is nothing more than a medical act, but should be illegal.
 
There are plenty of opinion polls, like this:

http://www.pollingreport.com/abortion.htm

A majority are pro-choice, but there is a significant minority opinion. Which is why the subject is so heated.

ETA I find the two positions you cite as too ridiculous to be taken seriously.
 
Last edited:
I believe that an abortion is an ommelette. (Depending upon species ... )

(RIP, George Carlin, but that one is pure genius!)
 
Personally, I don't consider abortion murder, simply because the fetus is not a self sustaining entity. It is a person in potential. Additionally, I feel strongly that the resources of this world are limited, and bringing in masses of children, completely regardless of whether or not they will have the resources to sustain them, is exceedingly reckless.

I think, as we consider this a civilized world, now, that we need to take the more mature route as far as child rearing goes. Gone are the days where you needed to have ten children to ensure one or two survive. It just isn't necessary any more. Abortion is just one more proactive measure on population control.
 
I think it is sexist that men can not get a "legal abortion". Not an actual, but a document or filing that states that he is not now making an baby, that any fetus anywhere is NOT going to be his progeny.
 
The problem with the first one is that murder requires that the act is already illegal.

The second is a choice to interfere in someone's life in a way that even you know is uncalled for.

They make no sense.
 
ehcks said:
The problem with the first one is that murder requires that the act is already illegal.

The second is a choice to interfere in someone's life in a way that even you know is uncalled for.

They make no sense.
Click to expand...

Exactly. This thread looks like some sort of "gotcha" exercise.
 
I do agree with Mister Earl's "person in potential" phrase, though. That's how I think of a fetus--it's not a person, but it is a potential person. Sorry if this is derailing; it's just the first time, I think, I've heard anyone else put it the way I think of it.
 
ehcks said:
The problem with the first one is that murder requires that the act is already illegal.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Murder is, by definition, an illegal killing. If you believe that something should be legal, you are necessarily defining it as not-murder.
 
BobTheCoward said:
I was thinking of my opinions on abortion and wondering how much my views are in the minority. I also wondered if my counterparts also feel poorly represented.

So, do you know anyone that has these stances on abortion.

-Believe that abortion is murder (comparable to an adult shooting another adult) but feel that it should be legal.
Click to expand...

The second part is pretty rational given the first part. The cross-cultural studies I've seen indicate that where abortion is legal and easily available, it also tends to be rare. Opposition to abortion in the US is deeply tied to opposition to contraception. This is most obvious with Catholics, but even Jerry Falwell stated that opposition to abortion was a first step to getting rid of birth control. I think one of the big Republicans stated something similar recently.
 
I used to have a stance similar to your first one - I didn't consider it akin to murder, but I did think it was seriously wrong, and also came to believe that illegality wasn't the best way to tackle it. But this is probable the one topic where my opinion had shifted the most over the years.
 
BobTheCoward said:
A legal killing, like an execution, then.
Click to expand...

Accidental killings, like in a car wreck, are not murder.

Intentional killings in self defense are not murder.

Intentional killings in removing someone from life support if they or their legal guardian signed a do-not-resuscitate order are not murder.

That last one is pretty relevant.
 
It's been said that the anti-abortion movement is in actuality an anti-sex movement. That people who indulge in recreational sex (especially unmarried recreational sex) get what they deserve when pregnancy occurs, and that the resulting child is "the wages of sin."
We are told that there are about a million abortions yearly in the US. I don't know if anyone has any statistics as far as the number of acts of copulation per year in the US... But if the failure rate of contraception is still in the 1% rate... I feel that's going to be a pretty close approximation of the number of unwanted pregnancies.
Add in the failure to use contraception due to ignorance, sudden impulsive sex, or lack of availability.... You'd think that would pretty well account for this.

I'm of the opinion that in an ideal world, abortion would only be rarely necessary. High-quality contraception, high-quality sex education, generally high level of understanding in the population...
Alas, not likely to occur anytime soon.
 
ehcks said:
Accidental killings, like in a car wreck, are not murder.

Intentional killings in self defense are not murder.

Intentional killings in removing someone from life support if they or their legal guardian signed a do-not-resuscitate order are not murder.

That last one is pretty relevant.
Click to expand...

Not for this scenario, it isn't. I believe a significant percentage of the pro-choice movement would draw comparisons to the last one.

I am wondering if any people are technically pro-choice, but have value positions on abortions much closer to the pro-life camp. Professor Yaffle's previous stance is a good example of this.
 
That and I think the whole right-wing-christian anti-abortion bit is a fabrication. So far as I'm aware, abortion doesn't run afoul of christian doctrine as laid out by their bible.

Heck, the bible even describes a way to give an abortion, by a priest in a church! It's near the beginning of numbers five, if memory serves.

It's my personal opinion that the anti-abortion bit is the church's long view towards keeping the pews full. Poorer people tend to be more religious, and the best way of keeping people poor is to make them have children they cannot afford.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom