If abortion is murder, then why is it legal in this country?

Question

Murder is a legal term. The average citizen is not qualified to determine whether or not something is "murder."

Since the government has deemed that abortion is not murder, could one of you hysterical pro-lifers who constantly screeches about how it is please provide the legal statute defining abortion as murder?

Not your interpretation - a currently valid legal statute put into place by our government.

youjust: Actually, it isn't, always. Check your statutes. Next time, try answering the question I asked instead of trying to avoid spending five of your points on your own question.

sway: I have no issues with people smoking where it is legal to smoke. Do you have some evidence to the contrary?

Just an FYI: claiming hypocrisy where you fail to prove it exists is not an answer to the question I asked. Why are so many of you having trouble coming up with an answer to such a simple question? Legal statutes can be found online quite easily.

A Person: Thank you for that highly emotional, irrational rant, but you did not answer the question.

yupchagee: Could you point me to the portion of the Constitution you claim was rewritten to suit a "handfull" (otherwise known as a "handful") of judges? I'm curious to see the original text as compared to the revisions you say were made. Thanks.

DevilDog: Juries do not determine what charges are filed; they determine, based on the charges put before them, the LEGAL DEFINITION of those charges as explained to them by the Court, and the evidence presented to them, whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty.

Master Fufu: Ah. Leviticus. Yes. The part of the Bible that requires that we make a sacrifice to a priest after sex.

Open4one: Actually, determining the Cnostitutionality of laws is exactly what the United States Supreme Court is supposed to do.

(Constitutionality.)

YOU asked: No. The fact that abortion was illegal doesn't mean it was murder. You don't get to choose what charges are pressed; you are not the district attorney. Not every law that is broken is "murder."

Answer 1

You are correct. It isn't even manslaughter or unintentional homicide. It isn't murder. It isn't illegal.

It also isn't up to the masses to determine the personal decisions of the individual. If all the people who think they should have the right to do so had that turned back on them - they'd think more than twice about the decision.

Answer 2

Because we are all hung up on how to define 'murder' in the event of an individual with no specific identity. An unborn child is a child none-the-less. The twist in that is simply that personal discretion is a liberty we as Americans are guaranteed. When a woman is pregnant, that is her body with another inside of it, that is not yet considered a citizen of anything at all. You could not claim a second trimester fetus as a dependent, b/c they are unborn( that doesn't have anything to do with this, it's just meant to illustrate what I'm saying). We are all uncertain as to where when and how to draw the line between what is using your own personal liberties and encroaching on another's. Abortion will be a hot issue for a long time, b/c realistically there is no way to clearly define the status of an unborn individual or enforce it's rights. All the progress we've made in the way of guaranteeing nobody is taken advantage of in the medical and professional field unfortunately will only stand to impede the progress of this issue's resolution.

Answer 3

The supreme court jurists have tried to avoid defining abortion as murder. Individual states have laws in place defining the age of the fetus when the abortion is performed. At four months termination of the pregnancy is considered murder in these states.
I am not a pro life activist, nor am i a pro choice activist. I do, however, reject abortion as a means of birth control. Contraception is a very reliable way to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Reproduction is probably one of the most important events in our lives, and should not result from irresponsible sexual activity.
There are so many children who are the product of irresponsibility it is almost frightening. Most of them are unwanted, rejected, abused, neglected
and living in foster homes. Some of them are adopted, but most of them are not. The impact of feeling unwanted is visible in the correctional institution throughout our nation.

Answer 4

So wait a second.

Murder is a legal term, so the legal system defines what murder is. Okay, I'm with you so far.

Suppose the legal system starts calling self defense murder. Suppose they start saying that any human death whatsoever is murder, even if it's accidental.

Suppose, as long as we're on this, that they start defining killing animals as murder.

Murder is not a legal term. Our laws cannot infringe on natural laws. Murder is an objective truth. It's deliberately killing a human for no acceptable reason, such as self defense. The notion that our legal system has complete sway over the definition of a term like murder is ludicrous.

The legal system once said that slavery was legal. Should that also be honored, since after all, slavery could be a legal term too?

Answer 5

Are you an above average citizen? Seeing how I come from a class of higher reasoning levels, I will assume that I am qualified to determine the nature of murder.

First, you have somehow managed to degrade yourself. As you define murder by the bounds of legal statutes you yourself are admitting that you are not qualified to determine the nature of murder as well. Therefore, you obviously are no moral authority whatsoever, hence, your entire argument discredited.

Second, the government is an institution, and as an institution of man, it is imperfect. I, as a citizen of the US, do waive my right to give them full law-making and enforcement authority. But, as a citizen of this great nation, I also have free will and voting power. Therefore, government is not absolute.

Third, by acknowledging the moral authority of the government, you have voided your ability to think for yourself, and ignored other things such as the implied powers, the necessary and proper clause, and countless other failsafes in the system.

WHO ARE YOU TO SAY THAT ABORTION IS NOT MURDER!

Answer 6

You're getting dangerously close to the Truth here.

The fact is that determining what is "Murder" is a job for the legislature of each individual state.

The fact is that this is precisely what Texas did, and what was at issue in Roe v. Wade.

The fact is that the USSC doesn't have the jurisdiction to tell Texas what their definition of "Murder" may or may not include.

You're right, abortion isn't "murder", but that might change if the USSC ever realizes that they were as wrong to take jurisdiction over that question as they were to decide Dred Scott under principles of Property Law.

That's right! They are supposed to rule on Constitutionality! That's why the Constitution vests them with the authority to decide "cases and controversies arising under the Constitution", but since they focused on the concept of "privacy" which does NOT appear in the Constitution, they were wrong!

Answer 7

Just because the government made abortion "legal" doesn't make it right. Slavery was "legal", but it was not right.Women not having the vote was "legal", but it wasn't right. Income tax is "legal", but it's not right. The government doesn't get much of anything right.

If it's wrong for an individual to murder a baby, then what makes it "right" for the government to legalize murder?

Have you ever noticed that the only people who favor abortion have already been born?

Answer 8

God deemed it to be murder. The U.S. government nor its constitution or any ruling since can override the law of God. If you don't like it, take it up with Him. He speaks quite thoroughly through the Bible if you want to find out for yourself. Abortion is not a legal vs. illegal issue. It is a good vs. evil subject. God and the devil are involved in this issue of ours a lot more than pro-choice people are willing to admit.

Answer 9

Kiling my people was the national past tie and legal for many years until the governemtn woke up, hopfully the same will happen in abortion cases, and the unbornwho are live and well until being ripped out of the womb are slaughtered

Answer 10

IF "The average citizen is not qualified to determine whether or not something is "murder." " why do we have a jury of peers to determine guilt or innocence. Do they not determine if the defendant committed murder?

The HOV lanes in Atlanta requires 2 people to be in the vehicle and I recently found out that a pregnant woman CAN use the HOV lane as her child counts as a passenger.

I think the point of your question is the dispute, some want to make abortion illegal. Because it isn't now doesn't mean it never will be.

Answer 11

Look ,when You have witnessed
"first hand"
a
Partial Birth Abortion
and then feel you can
Morally
and
Ethically
"State" before God and your fellow human beings
that it isn't
Murder
Come back and ask this
Question again.

In some country's this forum here,where we discuss issues like this is considered
"Illegal"
does that mean that
it's right?

Your confusing what is "legal" and what is right.
You know in your GUT what is and isn't Right.
Abortion is
against that "gut" feeling for 95% of the people reading this.

Just because something is LEGAL does not mean it is" right".
Look at some of the things that have been a"legal right" over the course of History:

Slavery
Denying Women the VOTE
Child labor
Execution and torture of numerous indigenious peoples
In Germany the treatment of the Jewish people was "legal"
the list goes on....

Oh and BTW everything done to
Jesus
was Legal
does
that
make
it
right
?