Are most Americans pro-choice when a women gets raped or her life is in danger if she goes to term?

Answer 1

Although I still feel it is a life within her, I am willing to concede this area IF she can prove it true...not just say it to get the abortion....Can you imagine the rape statistics if the claims go unchecked?

She should have to be willing to prosecute in order to receive the service. Or Be prosecuted if found to be lying about the rape.

Answer 2

Yes, most Americans do feel that way. Few people believe in the party line of the pro-choicers or the pro-lifers. A clause giving doctors the freedom to do as they need to for medical necessity is reasonable to anyone except hardline pro-lifers. Partial birth abortion is an awful practice that should be banned (except when medically necessary), and anyone who knows what PBA is and isn't a hardline pro-choicer would agree. As for the child of a woman who was raped, a lot of people who lean toward the pro-life side don't mind seeing an exception to this, though there are still some that hold that life is precious and that being born into unfortunate circumstances is better than not being born.

Answer 3

Most Americans are pro-choice no matter what the circumstances are. Most Americans believe that a woman is the only person who can decide whether she should stay pregnant or not.

However, among the minority of Americans who are anti-choice, yes, most of them (not all) will make an exception for rape, and a few will make an exception for the life of the woman. Even fewer will make an exception for the health of the woman (see below).

The rape exception is a difficult issue for the anti-choice groups. If they make an exception for rape, they are permitting a fetus to be killed for the crime of its father. If they DON'T make an exception for rape, they sound like monsters -- how can any decent person be willing to extend a woman's rape from a few minutes to nine months of her life? To the whole 21 years it takes to raise a child?

There is also a lot of confusion about "life or health of the woman." Anti-choice forces always say "life or health of the mother" -- intentionally rejecting the woman's attempt to NOT be a mother. The Supreme Court requires that anti-abortion laws contain an exception for life AND health of the woman, but anti-choice forces disagree. They say this is a way for a woman to "get out" of pregnancy by saying it affects her mental health, and that women's mental health is not important.

Some states have gone even further. Pregnancy is always statistically more of a risk to a woman's life than abortion. Therefore, some states, like Florida, have re-defined "life of the woman" to mean not just that her life is at greater risk from pregnancy than from certain abortion procedures, but that several doctors must agree that her risk of dying from the pregnancy is extremely high (I think 80%, but you'd have to check).

Most people would agree that any risk over 50/50 is sufficient to show risk to the life of the woman; but anti-choice forces have been successful in some states in raising the risk vastly higher. As far as I know, no one has brought a lawsuit against this yet. You could check with Florida NARAL to find out.

Answer 4

You mean of course, are most of us in the United States pro-choice since you are not including South and Central America or Canada.
needless to say it does not matter who is pro-choice and who is not. If a woman is raped it is her choice, not that of the government, or church or any other entity. It never ceases to amaze me how women (and I am a young woman) even give a thought to what others think about a situation such as this. If you are raped and become pregnant, it should be the woman's choice. Period.

Answer 5

I wouldn't say we're pro-choice in those circumstances. As tragic as it is, it would be pretty heinous to force a mother to care for a child she bore as a result of being raped. Since pro-life is concerned with preserving life, if a mother's life is in danger due to complications in giving birth, an abortion in this circumstance is still preserving life. If a choice must be made, it must be made and I think the mother, who has been living longer, has the right to make that decision. Self preservation is a natural human instinct.

Answer 6

" the decision to have sex isn't consent to get pregnant for a woman ". IT IS. If you have sex, you accept the possibility that you may get pregnant. Though the possibility may be small with the use of contraception, you should still be educated to the level where you understand you CAN get pregnant, and accept that. HOWEVER: just because you consent to the possibility of pregnancy does not mean, as our laws currently stand, that you must accept responsibility for an ensuing child. You legally have the option of abortion. Just because abortion is legal does not mean that sex suddenly excludes the responsibility of pregnancy - if you get pregnant, and abort, you are still responsible for that pregnancy. It's not like the pregnancy never happened or anything - it DID happen, and you were responsible for it. BECAUSE you are responsible for the pregnancy, you were able to pick abortion, or to carry the child until it is born. Then you have the responsibility of a child, and must make a decision in that regard - to care for it yourself, or give it away. When a man has sex, he is responsible for an ensuing child. I have heard of instances where the man did not want responsibility for the child, and was able to legally "abort" himself from the responsibilities of fatherhood, legally and otherwise. In this instance, the woman had tricked the man into impregnating her, by lying about using contraception. Obviously this is an exceptional case. Personally, I think that if a man consents to have sex, he should be responsible for any ensuing children. Our society does not advance itself or get any better because people refuse to take responsibility for their actions. Frankly, having sex IS accepting the responsibility of pregnancy. The choices you make during that pregnancy affect your later responsibilities. If you choose to drink while pregnant, you accept the responsibility of damaging your baby's development, and must be responsible for that. If you have sex, you are accepting that you are educated in where babies come from, and that you might end up with one. The same goes for men.

Answer 7

I don't know about most americans but I know that I am pro-choice in any situation but definitally in rape and incest cases, those situations are hard enough without having to be reminded of it every day by being pregnant. For myself, I know that I would never have an abortion, I just couldn't do that to a potentialy living thing but I do support the women's right to choose as long as it is not over board and women are not using abortion as a method of birth control (which I have heard of and should be illegal). Women should be able to choose what happens to their bodies.
P.S. Crosseyed Creep, you are an idiot. Women do not choose to be raped therefore they should be able to choose to have an abortion without being called a murderer or being condemed for it.

Answer 8

You know, I had always thought so... until I asked questions like this over in R&S. I asked specifically in cases of rape and/or when the mother's life was in danger... lots of people STILL opposed abortion and got very mad at me just for asking it.

But I am willing to bet if they themselves were in the situation their tune would change.

Answer 9

Yes. AND I'm entirely pro-choice until around the third trimester, and then I get a little iffy because at that point the fetus is viable.

Answer 10

I think the vast majority of Americans support the woman's right to choose in these instances. Unfortunately these cases make up a negligible number when compared to total abortions. Most Americans oppose abortion for convenience..........