Question about choosing abortion over life.?

Question

Is abortion ok if the baby might have mental or physical problems under the grounds that they would not have a good life?
What makes a life good or respectable enough to live in it?
I know many people with a variety of disabilities that have a terrific life.
This question is in response to one of the answers I read here:
http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061019192907AAU286v&r=w&pa=FZptHWf.BGRX3OFMhzVWUQLdZHdVhTrKvbv4JQxjPcSYt6D_OWwFq.yAKPE4WRsBExJCuYDRI4A03ORn5w--#Tc16DmDpWDFoodK0HNECIW0jYwwCLYR3944DMp.K9JsdwsJpPq0i

A baby is a baby. How is it we can choose to do that to somebody? Why is it ok, just because the doctor said the baby would have certain problems and not have a good life?
What constitutes a good life? Yours?

Answer 1

Having a mental or physical disability doesn't qualify a "born" human person for the death penalty. Why should we change the rules for the unborn? More than that, why sentence a person to death because they "might" develop a disability?

Assuming this is acceptable law, when and how do you decide a person is disabled enough to excuse killing them? Vegetative coma? Low IQ (how low?)? Deformed/missing limbs? Retardation? Blindness? Deafness? Club foot? Ugliness? Lack of social graces? Mixed race? Parents lacking personal taste? Family history of alcoholism/drug abuse/STD?

The list can go on and on. When do we decide that "this person can't grow up to be a positive contribution to society"?

And why stop with the unborn? Why not extend the death penalty to those people who have already established a "death-deserving disability", and are already living ex-utero?

Where should the discrimination end? If abortion is used for eugenic purposes, it is only a matter of time before we are all "not good enough to live".

Answer 2

abortion is a really touchy subject.

myself i am pro choice. but that is jsut because i do not believe that any religious belief of one person should be a law that effects another person.

if we make abortion illegal they will not stop, they will just be un-regulated, and the so called doctors will be doing it in an alley with a coat hanger again. then we will have dead teenagers and fetuses. at least this way people can get information and counseling from trained medical professionals before they make a decision.

i am against abortion. i think that it is really sad that it happens, but what would be much sadder to me is 4000 babies born every day in america that are unwanted. that would be 1,460,000 kids in adoption and foster care agencies. these places are already over crowded. how many more living breathing babies would we see dumped in trash cans and left to die in back alleys, and thrown into rivers in plastic bags.
how many postpartum mothers would end up killing unwanted kids.

in maryland you can give any baby up for adoption within the first week with almost no paperwork filled out, all you have to do is leave it with any hospital personell and tell them that this is a safe haven baby. these are wonderful programs but they are underfunded.

Answer 3

some illnesses cause the baby suffer so much , mentally or physically , it should be an abortion then. Not because of the parents and their difficulties but because the terrible life the baby would have if he enter to this world. this should be consider case per case. You can not make one single decision about all illnesses and all disabilities.

Answer 4

I am pro-abortion if you know that the baby is destined to have physical and/or mental disabilities. Life is hard enough without having to deal with possible blindness, mental retardation, or some other life-long disability. I am an occupational therapist who has worked with a variety of disabled children and it is terribly hard on the families, especially the parents, who are the primary care givers.

Answer 5

I believe the choice should be made by the woman, not a political figure, but I hope that anyone would always choose life.

How can we kill human life and our own blood? If it is about having the freedom of choice, how does that theory give the innocent voiceless baby any choice?

It is a personal choice. In US culture, we all know babies are made, and its possibly to easily cheaply access to contraceptives and condoms. It comes down to being responsible for your actions.

When a woman is pregnant, she is repsonsible for another human life, it is no longer limited to just "her".

My definition of a good life is having the chance at life. From there, it is what you make of it.

Principles of a good death include giving the dying person a chance at retaining dignity and to die with as little pain as possible.

Why wouldn't we give a human child a chance, dignity, and little pain? How could we kill our very own?

Answer 6

When you say "may have mental problems..." then I say that is not a good enough reason. But if it is a definate thing, then it is the mother's decision.

Abortion is wrong if you are doing it for selfish reasons, not for unselfish ones. Unselfish reasons would be:
1. You were the victim of rape
2. You were the victim of incenst
3. The fetus HAS something definately wrong.
4. You may be in danger for your life if you have the child.
Some of the selfish reasons would be:
1. I don't want to get big
2. I don't want to go through pain
3. I can't raise a child right now
4. I can't live knowing that a kid may be out there that I had. (try living knowing the kid is NOT out there because you had an abortion.)

Which reasons make more sense?

Answer 7

Here is a point I have made over and over. If that baby has a disability and lives a life that is full of struggles and triumphs woulden't that child/adult be someone we could look to in order to see how they have overcome issues in their life? Just because the baby is either blind, deaf, retarded, or handed any other issue does not mean we should kill it. Or does it? Do we think just because they have an issue we should eliminate them from ever living and making an impact in someones life?

Answer 8

I don't think anybody should abort their child even though they have mental or physical problems. They can be more successful than us even though they might have a harder time living their lives. We don't know, maybe that child you are planning to abort would be the one to make our lives even better and they have the right to live in our world. Experience and see things here on earth.

Answer 9

Of course I would say yes, I'm pro-choice. We allow the elderly and the injured to be removed from life support b/c we judge their quality of life. We do the same with babies.

The last girl to die from the Amish shootings a few weeks ago was removed from life support and taken home to die, I didn't hear one peep from anyone about that choice. If we can decide that, we can decide it for a baby born anencephalic or with severe spin bifida and more.

Answer 10

I don't believe in the arbitrary killing of an innocent child. If the situation is so grave that either the mother or the baby is going to die, then an abortion is a defensive measure to save a life. That is the only justification that I can see for abortion...ever.

Hoping the best for you...