Are you pro-choice or pro-life? Why?

Question

Putting emotions aside, this is my take on it.
(1) An embryo is growing from conception. Growth to me signifies that it is alive.
(2) It is not a bird embryo or a walrus embryo, but a human embryo. It follows (in my mind) therefore that it is a human life.

I believe that human life deserves to live. I find it interesting how many people are OK with keeping mass-murderers alive, but they will not allow innocent life to continue...simply because they could be inconvenienced by it. What's your take on this?

Answer 1

I also am pro-life (anti-abortion is a better term) for many reasons:
1. the heart beats on the 22nd day (heartbeat signifies life!)
2. embryo is growing from day one (also signifies life)
3. i suffered 9 years of infertility
4. adoption waiting list for a U.S. child is TEN years!
5. a baby is the ultimate gift
6. so many people want children and can't have them...give the child up for adoption
7. no child is unwanted! someone out there will take the child if you don't want it
8. no child asked for the mother to be irresponsible by getting pregnant with a baby she didn't want so why should the baby be punished (murdered) for her mistake, carelessness or stupidity
9. I would not have my oldest son if his birth mother believed in abortion

While I would never deny anyone their right to abortion, they also have no right to deny me my right to believe that abortion is cold blooded, calculated murder (except in very specific situations).

Answer 2

Before I answer, I must state that I am against late-term abortions because I believe that if the mother has not made up her mind at that late date, then too bad.

I am definitely pro-choice, in fact, I am so pro-choice I am passionate about it. I don't think anyone can tell another person what they can do with their body (especially when they are not there after the baby's birth to help with finances/care/etc).

Can anyone here remember what it was like in the womb? NO! That is because, especially in the first tri-mester, you are a blob of cells. You can not feel, think or remember. You may have a heartbeat, but do you remember feeling it beating back then? NO!

A mother may have a variety of different reasons for not wanting a baby, that is her business. We should respect that. We should support the human being who is alive and living among us RIGHT NOW.

Many of the babies that pro-lifers want to save (that would be aborted) are most likely better off being aborted. They would be born into horrible homes and situations. Why do they want to put these children into these situations? They could be abused, malnourished, uncared for and unloved. Abortion for these families, in my opinion, is the natural order of life.

(kelly24592 - Sometimes things don't go as planned, condoms break, birth control is not 100% effective, even vasectomies are not 100% effective.....rapes happen, incest happens, accidents happen. You cannot blanket a law over all women because of what YOU think).

Answer 3

I am personally pro-choice. I am somewhat biased when it comes to abortion however. It would not be the choice for me, under any circumstance. Here are some reasons why I think abortion is okay...
1. If the mother is on heavy drugs, and has damaged the child, or the poor baby will be born addicted to a substance.
2.If a woman is a victim of rape.
3.If the child is conceived out of an incestuous relationship.
4.If the child will have SEVERE physical, or mental handicaps, and can be determined very early in pregnancy. No one should have to be tormented by that kind of ridicule that they definitely would receive from kids. Unfortunately.
I am not one of those people that believes in keeping mass murderers alive either. I am all for the death penalty, when there is no reasonable doubt whatsoever that the person is guilty of the crime.
Well, there ya go...just my opinion.

Answer 4

There are several problems with the premise.

First this is a misnomer, it is not a matter of being ‘pro-choice’ vs ‘pro-life’ that implies that being ‘pro-choice’ would make a person ‘against-life’ and there is nothing further from the truth. It should be called ‘pro-choice’ or ‘anti-choice’ with the former you are stating you are in favor of ‘choosing your destiny’, with the later you are stating ‘you are against making your own choices in life’ you do this by allowing society to choose for you.

Take
(1) is correct &
(2) almost there but not quite.
“It follows (in my mind) therefore that it is a human life” Your definition of human life is very broad. While an embryo has the potential to become human life, it is not ‘yet’. The issue here is not mere semantics, it goes to the root of the debate. When do we ‘become’ human? What makes us different than for instance the walrus? In my view the answer to that is our intellectual abilities, so, since a human embryo does not have the intellectual ability of a walrus or a bird for that matter while it is without a doubt a human embryo and it is alive, it is not at the same level of a bird or a walrus, yet. YET being the qualifying word, in time it will become human but it is not there yet. As of yet it is nothing more than a bunch of cells that can divide and multiply, a cancerous tumor can do that, and those are human cells, yet nobody would say that it has a ‘right to life’ it is not human. What makes us human is the sum of our parts, not any one part, or the potential that any one part may have. So an embryo has the POTENTIAL to become human, but it is not yet.

Now, the vast majority of embryos get simply disposed off in a natural way. Evolution has provided the females of our species with the ability to reject a second pregnancy if the woman is already pregnant. If by chance a second ovum is fertilized when she is pregnant her body will reject this embryo and it will dispose of it in a normal manner. When women take the pill basically what they are doing is tricking their bodies into thinking that they are pregnant and because their bodies think the woman is already pregnant it rejects any future pregnancies. So, if an egg gets fertilized (and they do plenty of times) the embryo is rejected and disposed off during the menstrual cycle. This being the case, you should also be against the pill since according to you ‘human life’ was eliminated.

So in my opinion pro-choice is the only way to be, if it was me I would always choose to have my woman bring my baby to term. However, it is and should be our choice one way or another. There is one caveat though, that choice must be made immediately, one can not wait 8 months and then choose against the pregnancy, the choice (if it is taken) to terminate the pregnancy must be made at the earliest possible option.

One more thing on that subject, it is not a matter of being ‘inconvenienced’, it is a matter of being responsible. While ideally the couple should’ve taken the necessary steps to ensure an undesired pregnancy did not occur, once it has happened if they are unable or unwilling to make a commitment to rear this child as he/she deserves it must be ended as soon as possible. That is the responsible choice to make, this does not preclude considering other options i/e adoption.

As far as keeping mass-murderers alive... I accept society’s right to defend itself by removing those that have proven to be a threat to it from it’s midst. That said, we have no right to take another’s person’s life. We can incarcerated him/her for the remaining of his natural life and we should allow him/her to take his life (euthanasia) is he/she so chooses but we mustn’t take a human life.

Answer 5

Putting emotions aside, your take is not the scientific take. Are you a doctor? Embryologist? Scientist?

A fertilized egg is called a zygote. If growth is a sign of life, then the sperm and the egg are alive as well. Since you have a male picture, I am guessing you are a guy. Do you masturbate? Do you "spill your seed"? Those are alive cells, you know. You are killing millions of lives. Do you have protected sex? With a condom, etc. That's killing too.

Anyways a zygote takes 1 to 4 weeks to implant itself onto the mother's uterus. And it doesn't become a fetus, before 8 weeks. At that point all major organs have formed and you can call it a baby. Before that, not really.

Put your emotions aside. That's a good thing. Now you need to find the scientific facts.

Answer 6

I am pro-choice, because I don't believe you, or anyone else, has the right to demand that I live by your religious mandate. The all-or-nothing view is deadly to the female of the human species. Pro-life makes no concession for the life of the woman having the child, nor if she made the choice of having conceived the child, as in cases of rape and molestation. Pro-life demands a woman deliver life no matter what, she has no choice. I demand that choice. Those who abuse that choice must deal with the consequences of having done so, and that is for them to endure. I do not agree with birth control laws aimed at men or women. The decision to create and sustain life should remain with those involved, not a government body and complete strangers. Spend a day in a neo-natal ward trying to sooth the crack baby from a mother that looks you in the face and says she will have another as soon as she can because its a sin not to. The shoes hurt bad when you really have to walk in them.

Answer 7

I am firmly pro-choice.

If a woman is not ready to become a mother then it should be her choice. The last thing the world needs is another neglected, hungry, unwanted, drugged up, and/or abused child.

I fully understand the argument, "if she was old enough to spread her legs, then she's old enough to deal with the consequences", however... having an abortion is a conseuence... it sucks. Yes, it isn't having a baby, but the situation and aftermath are a hard thing to go through also.

Some women just aren't prepared to deal with motherhood, and most teen and young fathers are prepared to deal at all, therefore they take off leaving the mother to fend for herself and her child.

Who is anyone to say what is right or wrong in this matter. That is why it is a personal choice alot women have to make, and I, for one would be completely devistated if this "country of freedom" would take away one of the most important things this country has going for them... it would be immoral and irresponsible for our government to take that away.

Answer 8

I am pro-choice because i don't think it is right for me to force my beliefs onto others. I think that an embryo has a potential for life, but that it is not a cognizant human being.
I also think that you have a very rational argument and commend you for putting emotion aside in a normally emotionally charged issue. If politicians could debate with the same reserve and openness to new ideas, America would be better off .

Answer 9

Blackacre has a point. Would you give this lecture to a 14 year-old girl who had her legs forced open? Who had her innocence taken from her, who had her life ruined by some sick sonofabitch? Then carry it to term, go through the pain of birth, and put her child, a child of rape, into "the system" where it may spend the rest of it's life before legally leaving for a life on the street? Or, if they're at least lucky to get a home, end up being molested, raped, beaten, and starved to the point of death. But you never heard this point of view, have you? Only the perfect, anti-choice Conservative version.

Answer 10

i used to be pro-life. but i am currently pro-choice for these reasons:

1) what if the mother is an alcoholic? the child will be severely damaged.
2) what if she's a druggie? she's not going to stop, and the will most likely have mental retardation and health problems.
3) what if the mother is terminally ill or severely sick or something and having the child, or even carrying it full term, can kill her?
4) what if the mother is a rape victim and is only NINE YEARS OLD???

what i'm saying is, is it better to have never been born and not know about it, or to have lived for a grand total of say, three hours with severe respiratory problems and deformaties? or never living a normal life?