A question for "pro-choicers"?

Question

I'm not trying to start a debate or anything, this is just a real question I've been thinking about all day.

I understand that maybe not ALL those who are pro-choice think an unborn child is just a mass of cells or a product of conception, but a lot of them do. (I was doing a lot of reading on this subject today so don't anybody say I don't know what I'm talking about). So, if someone is pro-choice and pregnant (bc they were trying and planned on being that way) do they think of their wanted child as nothing more than a mass of tissue? Do they think of their child as not a person or not alive until they are born? How would they bond with their unborn child beforehand if that is how they view unborn children of mother's who don't want them? Or do they have a different set of values and beliefs for themselves that they do not hold to others?

Again just something I've been thinking about today...hope I didn't offend anyone just looking for some answers

This is for notashygirl:
went to this website earlier today: http://www.abortionfacts.com/online_books/love_them_both/why_cant_we_love_them_both_12.asp

which says that the heart begins to beat 18 days after conception and by 21 days it is already pumping blood. By 18 days they mother had just barely missed her period and may not know about her pregnancy or just found out. Brain waves are detectable at 40 days. So by the time you find out you are pregnant, there already is a beating heart and a brain.

you peeps are getting all worked up for nothing...I don't care what other's choose to do. I don't think it's right but other people have different opinions and I can't change that or push my ideas on others. I'm pregnant myself and only wanted to know how someone with different beliefs views a subject that hits very close to home. I don't need lectures from anyone

Answer 1

That's a good question and I appreciate your respect. I must first make a disclaimer that I am a guy and have never been pregnant, so I can't claim what emotional bonds there are between a pro-choice mother and her unborn child. That being said, I think it is the potential of the child that I would love. What it had a chance to be and experience once it was born. It would be wonderful to see it develop into that potential through ultrasounds etc. To answer your questions: Yes, I would think of it as alive. Yes, I would think of it as a mass of tissue with the potential to become a human being (I assume you are asking about the first trimester, when aborting is currently legal). Yes, I cold still bond with it, knowing that it will be loved and grow up to perhaps be a wonderful person some day. I don't think the same is true of a child that grows up unwanted/unloved/abused/addicted to drugs etc. I don't think I am a hypocryte just because I don't force my beliefs on others. I am pro-choice, not pro abortion.

Answer 2

Without getting into a deep argument....since this topic usually almost always does...

If I were to get pregnant, in a planned and responsible way, I would really truly not consider the result of conception a "child" until after at least the 1st trimester.

You can't bond with something that has no heart or brain. Cells have no heart or brain.

Just my 2 cents.






Thank you for the added info. Very interesting. Luckily for me, I practice safe sex and use birth control, so hopefully this will never be an issue for me.

Answer 3

"So, if someone is pro-choice and pregnant (bc they were trying and planned on being that way) do they think of their wanted child as nothing more than a mass of tissue?"

Of course not. Someone who actually wanted to have a child would probably be very emotionally invested in the one she is carrying.

"Do they think of their child as not a person or not alive until they are born?"

Of course they begin to think of it as a person before birth. Or at least they *imagine* it to be a person, because it's hard to get excited over something that's ten times smaller than the brain of a housefly.

They share the news with their friends and family, they begin wondering about names, they watch with pleasure as it develops and begins kicking, they prepare the nursery and pick out clothes, etc. You know how it goes.

They treat it and feel as if it were a person, because they *intend* for it to be a person.

"How would they bond with their unborn child beforehand if that is how they view unborn children of mother's who don't want them?"

Well, the term "unborn child" itself is loaded. I myself prefer the more neutral term, "womb booger."

As for women who become pregnant against their wishes, they don't need to pretend that the handful of cells clumped together has any resemblance to a child. In fact, their motivations are precisely the opposite of someone who wants a baby, so they would probably be more likely to attend to its unbabylike qualities.

"Or do they have a different set of values and beliefs for themselves that they do not hold to others?"

Well, this part of your question suggests that you are not merely "looking for answers" so much as trying to label pro-choice mothers as hypocrites.

The scientific reality is that there is no physiological distinction between an "unborn child" and a "womb booger." The only important difference is what the mother wants, and what she is capable of. Does she want to carry, deliver, and raise this child, or not? Is she in a position to be a capable mother at this time, or not?

Intentions matter.

Every child should be a wanted child.

Answer 4

It is just a mass of cells until it develops into a fetus. I'm a male, so I can't answer the rest of your question from personal experience.

However, people bond to the idea of their unborn child even before trying to have one. Some couples even have names and rooms set aside for them before they even try to have kids. So, yes, there are feelings associated with having kids.

That really has nothing to do with whether the child is a child yet or not. Before the baby is born, you are really just bonding with the idea of having a baby. It's just plain ole anticipation along with whatever hopes and dreams you have for the child.

If someone wishes to abort the fetus that's still their decision. Obviously, they have to deal with whatever feelings they have about it.

Answer 5

Sorry, i've got no longer time to study your finished spiel. yet certainly some (be conscious 'some') women given the legal precise to make the alternative will surely choose for to to have an abortion and for this reason reason the dying of a foetus, if the being pregnant or the belief of having to enhance a baby is unwelcome to them. on the different hand the 'professional-lifers' tension females who've been raped to hold the ensuing toddler. the two circumstances are unwelcome and easily your man or woman ethics can verify your man or woman place.

Answer 6

I think the answer to that question depends purely on who you ask, since every woman has different feelings and thoughts about her pregnancy. But the real question remains, do you want to put women in jail who do not wish to carry out their term? And then what is next... prosecuting couples and jailing them for using birth control because they are interfering with the initial act of conception?

Answer 7

pro choice means you give OTHERS the right to choose for themselves. you can be pro life for yourself, and still recognize that others have to make thier own decisions.

furthermore, it's not as simple of thinking of a life as a mass of cells. it's about thinking of the fetus as a person. As in- would i want to have a mother like myself? would i want to be the daughter (child) of a rapist? would i want to live in poverty? Would i want to be born to suffer horribly only to die at the age of 4? There are some people who make hard decisions for abortion because they are making the ultimate sacrifice for thier child. Parents have to make decisions for thier children, and sometimes the decisions are hard.

Answer 8

Until it can survive outside the mother WITH HELP, it's nothing more than a mass of cells and quite possibly a parasite.

Answer 9

your question is all about choice:
How a person chooses to see their pregnancy is their choice.

Pro choice not pro dictator

Answer 10

Number One Its her choice
Number Two Its her body
Number Three Its her life
The last is its not your business
But I do believe its wrong
But who am i to judge?