To pro-lifers?

Question

I agree with you that abortion is bad. I don't think we should change the laws, but I wish abortions never happen. I think part of the problem of the pro-life movement is the extreme measures used to get passed the apathy of the general population. Calling it murder, bombing abortion clinics, these type of things might not be progressing your cause like you might want it to.

I think a new approach is in order, adoption reform like less waiting times for parents who want to adopt, and better services for pregnant women who don't want their babies. More counselling, and free service all around. I think if we worked with pregnant women, rather than battled them we could put a serious dent in the number of abortions.

I understand these and other measures are already in place, but let's stop saying things like "abortion is murder" and more "there are other options, and we are here willing to help you."

Also, maybe adopt a kid or two yourself.

Edit: Nubilin, I totally agree with you, and was going to add that but was running low on room.

Now: "What's your question? also have you adopted any children?"

I think this board is passed the point of Q&A and more an open discussion forum, yes I know there's terms and conditions, but c'mon. And as for me adopting, I don't think they give kids to single men who make $12/hr, but I might in the future.

Answer 1

Every thing you said sounds ok, some what. Abortion is murder. The laws do need to be changed. Your new approach sounds good.

Answer 2

You make good points. I agree that bombing abortion clinics is just plain wrong and stupid. But, abortion is murder. It is the intentional pre-meditated taking of a human life. Call it what it is.

You are totally on the right track with some more helpful ideas to help the young mothers. There are some places that do that, but not enough. There is one in Seattle that provides a home during the pregnancy and helps girls to find families to adopt the baby when it is born. I have a friend who went through there. I'm not sure about less waiting time, you want to check people out to make sure they're fit to be parents still. Counseling and other services are great, we just need more bodies to go help out, more places for these services. I think we're working on it.

Answer 3

i agree with this. yes better policies in other areas may help reduce the number of abortions performed. many people give up their babies for adoption rather than having an abortion but those who still have abortions do it because they don't want to go through the 9 months and the delivery or because they can't afford it or because they're teenagers and afraid to tell their parents. i don't think there's much of a way around this.

funding programs to help women who plan on giving their babies up for adoption pay for their hospital bills is one thing i think would help lower abortion rates. counseling may help some of those who are just afraid, but not all of them. it's a tough issue.

but like you said, i don't think they laws should change. there are always going to be women who want abortions for one reason or another and making it illegal just results in women getting unsafe abortions and causing even more deaths.

and i plan on adopting actually, since i can't have kids of my own :)

the problem with the "abortion is murder" tactic is that those who get abortions don't see it as murder. not everyone believes that life begins at conception, and just like religious issues, this isn't something that can be changed by screams and threats. so no, the current tactics don't work and for real change to happen, there needs to be a new approach.

Answer 4

The term "Pro-choice " is not really accurate. Planned Parenthood makes no effort to help adopt these babies out, they make no attempt to supply the baby's needs nor the needs of the mothers, they make no attempts to improve the laws to provide for the medical needs nor to protect from child abuse.
There is right and wrong. Right and wrong is not dependant on how it benefits one person over another. The current abortion laws are wrong and are covering up murders, being silent about the truth is doing no good. It is equal to being silent about the Nazi Prison Camps during WWII. Just because people were silent does not make it any less wrong and in need of change.

Answer 5

Yeah bombing clinics and killing doctors is just about the stupidest way to get support on this.

I honestly think over the next few years we will see more and more of these baby-step ideas (like you've shared here) being put into play. I'd love to see some of that adoption reform - my husband and I are still talking about the option of adoption for future children, and around here there's like a 2-3 year waiting list and lots of money involved - I would love to see that become a simpler, cheaper, process.

Answer 6

I may be pro-choice, but I agree with you completely. I was shocked to learn that, since I was married (but very broke, nonetheless) when I conceived my son, I was not eligible for Medicaid prenatal services in my state. They bar anyone married or over the age of 21. (I was 20) We are *still* paying for his hospital bill at delivery, years later.

I think that we all have a responsibility to keep women from needing to go to illegal abortion providers, which puts them at grave risk of infection or death, and from "needing" to abandon babies in dumpsters. Clearly a safe, early abortion is better than these alternatives.

However, I think that our society should do more to help women who want to either choose adoption or raise the baby themselves. We seem to be a very anti-baby society, don't we? I know most individual health insurance policies (not work-based) simply exclude prenatal care and childbirth from coverage. This is outrageous, and should be illegal.

One thing to consider might be making it *easier* to obtain a very early abortion (before 8 weeks, for example) or the abortion "pill", and making it *harder* to obtain an abortion later. I think that something like that might recieve a lot of support from all sides of the debate. I think we can all agree that the fetus is much more of a "baby" in the second trimester, and there is something distinctly nauseating about choosing to have an abortion then. (I'm not talking about a woman who is forced to decide between life-saving chemo and carrying her baby to term. That's between her, her husband, and the doctor)

We can also help young couples to get married, if that is their wish. They could certainly do with some free pre-marital counseling, maybe a hefty tax break, etc., which might encourage many young women to keep the baby. Women in our society are right to be alarmed at the very real possibility of going broke or becoming homeless because of the great expense of raising a child. Perhaps all mothers, even married ones, should be eligible for a small monthly stipend for the first few years, before the child goes to school. After all, the number one risk factor for living in poverty or filing for bankruptcy (in the US)? Being someone's mother.

EDIT: Um, pro-lifers, Is a stress-induced miscarriage murder, too? Just curious. It seems like God is the biggest abortion provider of all, when you look at it that way.

Answer 7

I spend a great deal of time being pro-life with my hands and feet instead of with just my mouth. My girls and I put off buying cute summer sandals so we could afford to buy baby clothes for a mom living in poverty. We then gave up our discretionary spending money for a few months by buying this family a stroller and car seat. We open our doors to kids in the neighborhood who have parents that don't care and don't even provide enough food for them to eat 3 meals a day.

Abortion is legal and yet we still have the poor with us and we still have people that abuse kids and teen pregnancy. If abortion were illegal people would put more thought into the decisions they make about sex. Fewer people would be willing to risk pregnancy if they knew they couldn't just get rid of the kid.

Answer 8

I myself was instrumental in saving one innocent from the dumpster,as I convinced her mother 12 years ago to avoid having an abortion,I have helped both financially as well as many thousands of hours babysitting over the past 11 years(though the mother has a boy friend)....I love the little girl, as If she were my own....I can't even imagine life without her...She is absolutly beautiful both inside and out....I never had believed that I could love a child so much that was not my own(even though I am an adopted child myself)....I happily found out that I was wrong.

Answer 9

I agree. From the other side of the fence, the pro-choice side is defined by our extremes as well. The truth is, no one likes abortions. I want to reduce the number of abortions as much as possible, but judging and hating doesn't work. When it's illegal the numbers of abortions doesn't go down, the number of fatalities to women who get "back alley" abortions, or abortions that are performed by unliscenced people, goes up. I think we all want abortion to be as rare as possible, and untill we all come to the table and release our ideologies and talk about the problem, it's just going to continue.

Answer 10

It's bad but we shouldn't change the laws. hmmmm Why have any laws at all then, if we are not going to outlaw that which is bad?

Pro-lifers don't bomb abortuaries. Violent, severely disturbed individuals do. Murder is defined as the premeditated killing of one human being by another, so yes, abortion is murder. Pro-life organizations don't just try to prevent the killing of unborn children. They also offer help in many forms to women with problem pregnancies, including temporary shelter, medical care, baby furniture and clothing, and other aid, free of charge. And, yes, I have adopted a child, but obviously not all people who respect life are in a position to do so.

Answer 11

I agree with some of what you say.

I believe even more than we are here for you. . .there needs to be something to encourage less women to get to the point where abortion becomes an option. And, I am only talking about abortion in the sense of birth control, not health reason, rape, incest, etc. etc.

If women will start taking pride in who they are and expecting more of themselves and not settling for less. There are women who have had multiple abortions. . .I wish there was some way to encourage those women to stop putting themselves in that position. It all comes down to self-esteem, in my opinion.