Should Andrea Yates have had the right to choose to end the lives of her five children?

Question

We don't know what situation those children were in. They might have been unwanted, or neglected. Wouldn't it be better for her to simply end their lives than to have them grow up that way?

I mean, who are we to judge her? I personally am opposed to filicide. I think it is HORRIBLE, but that doesn't mean we should tell others how to live their lives! It is HER body, and those children came out of HER body, so she should be allowed to do what she wants with them. Period.

Preventing a woman from practicing filicide is just bringing America back to a different time, a time where a woman was not equal to a man.

I mean, if filicide was legal, she could have at least had the “procedure” done in a clean, safe environment, rather than in the bathtub (or behind an alley)

Besides, you can’t FORCE HER to take care of those children if she doesn’t want to!

So, pro-choice people, are you with me? Should we start the petition to make filicide legal in this modern nation?

Remember, I am NOT pro-filicide, but I am simply pro-choice.

Answer 1

no. good point.

Answer 2

I like it sometimes when an argument gets endlessly followed
till at a certain point it enters the realm of the absurd.
One thing we do know however is the way Andrea Yates felt
her children were growing up.
Because of her being told ( and she believed it ) incessantly she was an unworthy christian and therefore a terrible mother.
She must have been totally convinced her children would grow up to inevitably burn in hell.
Years and years of this kind of pressure must slowly have driven her mad, she was undergoing treatment.
Before fundamental Christians rise up in arms against me, I
hasten to add she was a follower of Michael Peter Woroniecki who's particular brand of born again Christianity has by his own admission so far saved 8 people to wit Himself, his wife and their 6 children. A bit of a dissapointing result after 26 years of throwing Hell and Brimstone about to the left, right and center.
Suffice to say the rest of us can look forward to a rather warm afterlife according to his teachings.
Your question however does bring home the point that no matter how you change, rearrange, repeal or augment or choose to interpret certain rights tragedies of some kind will probably always happen and can not be avoided altogether.And there will always be people screaming out ' Immorality' or 'Fry the guilty party'.
'I told you so' is probably high on the list as well'.
So congratulations on an extremely provocative question,
but I'll pass on a definitive judgment, unless you start a petition to force politicians to actively combat the circumstances that lead to abortions and unwanted pregnancies.
But that would take a real effort, force people to really show
and act on 'Christian' values, break down race and class barriers, and actually step out of your safe sheltered world.
Far easier to claim the moral high ground, drop a penny on the plate every sunday, and cry shame on the rest of society
pretending you're not a member of THAT part of it.

Answer 3

This question sounds like its coming from a sarcastic Pro Lifer and/or anti abortionist nut trying to get a rise out of true Pro Choicers.
Once the fetus becomes a baby and exits the womb, and they are killed-THAT is murder. And murder is never acceptable.There was obvious mental imbalance in Andrea Yates' mind. That should not be an excuse or an acceptable means to kill anyone let alone your children.

Answer 4

I am pro-death, and I feel the state already has too much involvement in the way parents raise thier children. So that proposal doesn't appal me as much as you might expect. Parents already kill thier children every day by making bad decisions for them, anyway. I'm not convinced that making it formally legal for them to do so would greatly increase the numbers.

Giving up parental rights still strikes me as a viable and better alternative to killing your kids, though. That option does not exist for abortion (short of artificial wombs provided for the gestation of unwanted fetuses).

Answer 5

Wow, what a ludicrous way of trying to make a point. If you, and the other anti-choicers out there actually think this way, its scary.

I'll say this again, please read it slowly so you get it. Once the children are born, they're human beings. A fetus is different than a human being. If it is still part of the mother's body, then it's still part of her body. Once it's not, it's not. Why is that so hard to understand?

Answer 6

Yeah we should based on that argument. Or we could just do it the conservative way and cut off all social programs so when she doens't kill them and kicks them to the street and stops taking care of them they just die because there is no one left to help.. Of course this is their fault for being lazy and not working hard enough at such a young age. Funny how this stuff can twist right back at the pro-lifers and the conservatives isn't it. I did hear one smart con say on here that we have churches to help those types of people. Ok when the church runs out of money because they have spent all of it taking care of these people, who is going to start giving money to the church? the govt?

Answer 7

Andrea Yates was the mother of these children, she is not an "owner", they were not her property, or even part of her body! This is not a pro choice issue, it is an absurd question, and equally absurd are the rationale you gave for her doing it. Sounds as if you are trying to justify murder.

Answer 8

In this world, we all have our agency. Exercising our agency can at times affect or even end the lives of others (even the innocent). Our right to choose our own actions is inherit in humanity. It is the purpose of our existence. If you believe in a life hereafter, it isn't such a tough circumstance to face.

Answer 9

What you ARE is a blatant liar and a clueless reatioanry at that. Confusing early-term abortion with infanticide.

Only in America can you have a far rabbid Right THAT deliberatly deceptive.

btw, you dont give a rats asss about stoping abortion, you just want to make a fool of yourself and show the world how clueless and manipulative hot-headed reationaries are. Thanks.

Answer 10

That woman should FRY!!! Actually she should be chased down and put in a tub full of water with someone she loves and trusts so dearly with her life holding her down!!!!!

PS: All murderes, rapists, molesters should get what they give, maybe it will make them think twice!!!!

Answer 11

Oi! Grasp for straws much?