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Abortion

Do you think abortion should be legal or illegal, why?

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Legal obviously. It's the woman's choice and making it illegal will only drive it underground which will put women at risk

Moved to society
I do not support the slaughter of innocent humans
Can I ask why you think this way?
As abortions are done before the fetus could potentially have a life outside of the womb at that stage.
Regardless, it isn't slaughter as the fetus doesn't experience any feeling so it is not cruel nor violent. Also, it isn't murderous (Clearing this up before you state so) as the fetus has not took a breath out of the womb.

Abortions are good for many reasons, rape victims that fall pregnant may not want that child, failed contraception, knowing extreme health complications for the baby and/or the mother, etc.

But that's just my view.
Original post by AperfectBalance
I do not support the slaughter of innocent humans
I am against abortion in principle, but I think the change has to be societal rather than legal. Ideally I would like To live in a society where they were legally available, but heavily stigmatised and frowned upon.

Making it illegal brings to many practical problems.. it's dangerous, drives things underground, doesn't give solutions for rape victims etc.. whilst I don't like the idea of state sanctioned killing, it would happen anyway, better to be done propoerly.

But it's still killing, and I'd like it to be viewed more negatively then it is now. I really hate the idea that it's ok to end a Human life because it's X or Y.. it is Alive, being dependant on others doesn't change this, a person dependant on a life saving machine isn't less of a human because they would die without the thing they rely on etc. I would like every family who have a daughter who wants an abortion to really think about all the options they have as a collective family group to solve the problem. I would also like the bennifits of motherhood to be sold more. I hate the idea that the baby would 'ruin my life' which you hear so much. Yes it would change your life, and probably end a lot of your current plans, but it also gives you so much new joy and new things to love and experience. I don't think those aspects of motherhood are sold enough to girls these days. 50 years ago young girls dreamed of having babies and the joy of being a mother. Now they dream of careers and travelling. It's fine to dream about anything, and I don't want all young girls forced to do so, like they used to be, but I think that our push towards career women and against families has swung the pendulum to far in the other direction, to the point where careers are presented as the dominant goal in the same way that motherhood used to be, rather than both being represented as equally valid and often complimentary paths

For context, from the decade after abortion became legal (so comparing legal with legal), the number of aborted babies per year has increased by over 250%. I support the legalization, but I don't support the increase in numbers, and the relaxing of attitude that came with it.
(edited 4 years ago)
I think that it should be treated in exactly the same way as killing any other human being.

Just because you arbitrarily give it a different name whilst it’s in the womb (“fetus” instead of “person”) doesn’t change the nature of what an abortion actually is.

Furthermore, I don’t think someone loses their right to life just because they are (at the time) unconscious or dependent on external support to keep them alive. If that were the case, killing a person under general anaesthetic, or killing a person who requires a breathing machine/pacemaker/dialysis would be legal too.

It seems to me that these arguments are just the excuses given in an attempt to post-rationalise abortion. In actual fact, many people become biased in favour of it due to (1) not having formed any emotional connection with a fetus prior to a certain stage of its development, and (2) self-interest i.e. the fact that they stand to benefit from abortion being legal.


I am of course, fully in favour of a woman’s right not to be pregnant and become a mother, and a man’s right not to become a father. But to put it bluntly, they both had their chance to exercise these rights before conceiving the child in the first place. They don’t need repeated chances after that.
(edited 4 years ago)
It's a tragedy of the modern age. One of those things that our descendants will look back on with shame.
I only agree with abortion if the victim has been raped. Other than that there’s no excuse
Original post by Y12_FurtherMaths
I only agree with abortion if the victim has been raped. Other than that there’s no excuse


Ultimately that's not a consistent position to take, because you effectively concede that the unborn has no intrinsic right to life, which means that after that it's up for grabs to argue just at which threshold of adult inconvenience you start justifying abortions.
I think it’s a less than ideal solution, though the alternatives are worse. I would never want to have one myself, but I don’t judge those who have had one. Making it illegal just creates a host of other problems and doesn’t solve anything - just look at Ireland.
I think people should take measures to prevent the pregnancy in the first place, but it should be legal. Everyone has a choice, if they’re willing to give uno their child, chances are the can’t look after it. Its not fair for a child to live a life of suffering. There’s already far too many suffering children in care and not enough people willing to adopt..
Original post by Dreamcast
It's a tragedy of the modern age. One of those things that our descendants will look back on with shame.

I’m sure people have been doing it in one form or another for thousands of years. We didn’t magically invent it.
Original post by happytobehere
I think people should take measures to prevent the pregnancy in the first place, but it should be legal. Everyone has a choice, if they’re willing to give uno their child, chances are the can’t look after it. Its not fair for a child to live a life of suffering. There’s already far too many suffering children in care and not enough people willing to adopt..


"if they’re willing to give uno their child, chances are the can’t look after it. Its not fair for a child to live a life of suffering"

this is not entirely true. A huge number of babies were born to mothers/fathers who didn't plan or want them before abortion became legal. Most of which ended up living in loving families who took care of them well. Having a baby changes people, you may have no interest in it before its born, but once its in your arms - to most people - it changes you.
Legal.

There is nothing scarier than being sat in a doctor's office and dealing with the prospect that you might be carrying a child you don't want, have no means to raise, and knowing that the father would not support you.
(edited 4 years ago)
There is also an interesting societal point to abortion.

We often look at it on an individual level, as that's more relatable and applicable to most people. But on a societal level, there is an interesting trend:

Since legalisation:
8,745,508 abortions have taken place legally in the UK
if you accept that lets say 25% of those would have still happened, even in an illegal system, then we are around:
- 6.5 million potential British people + their potential offspring.

At the same time we have faced years of fear about our aging population, and how we need to solve the crisis through mass immigration. So what have we done. Since 1967, when abortion became legal, we have a net migration of aproximatly 5.8 million people.

6.5million more abortions, and the loss of potential offspring they could have
5.8 million more people brought in, and the gain of potential offspring they could have

---

For me this shows a few things:
1, population growth as a driving economic force will always be the goal, even if birthrates decline.
2, labor will be found by those who need it, and if its not coming from babies, it will come externally.
3, western societies with modern values can't support their own population numbers, with only babies that people 'choose' to have. You need unplanned and accidental pregnancies as well to keep population growth healthy.

to add more context to this:

1, Our birth rate is currently far lower then it was back in the 1960s, and has never recovered to the peaks we were hitting before abortion became illegal.
2, Currently our birthrates are massively compensated for by immigrant families. Their birthrates to decrease by generation when here, but with the constant influx of new migrants, their birthrate as a whole remains high and growing in proportion to native-uk birthrates
3, just under half of babies are born out of marriage today, compared to 10% before abortion became legal (not that these are related, its just the years that I am looking at )
4, infant mortality has gone way down, which compensates a little for the declining birthrate.
5, the average age of women giving birth and keeping their baby is now over 30, compared to early-mid 20s in the 60s

---

I don't think there is anything morally or practically wrong with sustaining a growing working-age population by replacing new-born babies with migrants.. as such. Its certainly 100% not something you can blame the migrants for. And its not even something you can really blame our politicans for either.. they just reacted slowly to a problem. They, and business at large, saw an aging population, and found a solution. For me the root cause, for better or worse, is that we have seen a revolution (no other word comes close to describing its significance) in the structures and perceptions of family and marriages in the last century, that has caused all manner of knock-on effects.
Original post by sinfonietta
Legal.

There is nothing scarier than being sat in a doctor's office and dealing with the prospect that you might be carrying a child you don't want, have no means to raise, and knowing that the father would not support you.


Most families do have the means to raise a child. They just don't want to make the required sacrifices, and work together to do so. Its often not the girls fault, her wider family don't want to put in the support she needs, so she ends up on her own. But in many many cases they could raise the child, if they sacrificed their quality of life and plans somewhat. But they don't want to do that, so they justify it by convincing themselves that it wasn't possible.

Your last bit is very true, and awful - its disgraceful how many men won't be responsible for the consequences of their actions, and actually deal with the baby they created.
Original post by AperfectBalance
I do not support the slaughter of innocent humans


not all lives are conceived through innocents and some women have medical issue hence why they need abortions get educated and dont just have a opinion with no weight
Original post by fallen_acorns

Most of which ended up living in loving families who took care of them well. Having a baby changes people,

Let me fix that for you. Many of which end up living in families who take care of them. And you are right. Kids do change you. They make you both time and money poor.

The choice for society is either outlaw it and send it underground or overseas or manage it. You can not outlaw abortion e.g. stop it happening so attempting to do so is somewhat futile.

How do prolifers feel about miscarraige?
My friend just adopted a few weeks old baby boy she could not have a child naturally and decided to adopt. I have friends who if their parents had not been adopted at birth would not be here. There not just abortion or the child lives with their, biological parents, who might not be able to take care of children there adoption.
Reply 19
Thog don't care

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