About abortions?

Question

Since this seems like the hot topic of the night. Let's break it down and discuss it at a more detailed level.

Excluding abortions due to rape, incest, fetal abnormalities, and the health of the mother which account for less than 5% of the abortions in the USA.(thanks to Morganie). Do you agree that having an abortion is a completly selfish act?

If you do not agree, tell me why, something else beside the "couldn't give the child the life he/she deserved".

We could have the "couldn't give the child the life he/she deserved" as a follow up question. Do you think this argument is used so the person having the abortion can feel like they made a sacrafice? Again, if you don't agree please tell me why.

The exceptions I listed were just to filter out the most common pro-choice arguments for abortion. Otherwise this would be flooded with answers bringing up rape/incest/ect. and that is not what I was interested in.

Wow, is it just me or are some people completly missing the point of the question. The odd thing is that most of the pro-choice crowd completly understands it and the pro-life crowd is somehow thinking I am pro-abortion.

I am saying that I think abortions are selfish acts, and I'm not excusing the rape/incest/etc. abortions...I just didn't want those included in the discussion.

Maybe I just didn't phrase the question right...but it is kind of funny.

Answer 1

My wife and I aborted a child. She was my girlfriend at the time. Yes, it is a completely selfish act. Even though I'm pro-choice to deny this fact would be an outright lie.

Edit：Wait a minute! I cant believe that people are dodging this question. Don't be a hypocrite, people do not have an abortion for the child's best interest. Come on now lets be for real, it is a completely selfish act there is no way of getting around that.

Answer 2

Well i agree with you that the "couldn't give the child the life he/she deserved" is a cop-out, i mean anything is better than not existing at all. But, biologically what is aborted isn't a child, or a baby and that is what makes the whole abortion thing viable in the first place. If there weren't valid reasons for abortion to be legal and available then it wouldn't be. Also, while you could call abortion a 'selfish decision', women have rights as well as fetuses and to go through pregnancy and birth and caring for another human is a really big deal when someone doesn't want to do it. And don't say adoption is the answer, while it is a good and selfless thing to do, and preferable to abortion, i think most women wouldn't want to give up their child and never see it ever again. Whoever mentioned Scott Peterson is an idiot, abortion isn't legal in the 8th month of pregnancy.

Answer 3

I agree it's a selfish act. So is eating, but no-one goes around trying to pass laws against that. Selfishness is not inherently evil.

The thing that makes abortion a complicated issue, is that life does not begin at conception, or at birth. It began billions of years ago and continues on today. But person hood emerges over time. There is no single point at which you can definitively claim a conceptus is or is not a person. The line has to be arbitrary for that reason.

Answer 4

It's because people don't actually take the time to read your entire question.

Yes, abortion is clearly a selfish act. You should read some of the reasons why women say they got abortions...
"I didn't want to have to give up my body for 9 months"
"getting pregnant makes you fat"
"there's no guarantee on a return for my investment"
"I can't afford a baby"
"I want to have a life"

etc, etc, ad nausea.

Answer 5

If you can't give your child the life they deserve, there are families who can. Adoption is a better choice.

There are waiting lists to adopt infants and the advertising costs and legal fees to find mothers willing to give their child up for adoption are outrageous (30-40 thousand dollars per adoption if you do a private, domestic adoption through an agency)

Answer 6

The world is overpopulated. I'm not sure I care if it might be selfish. Should a 16yr old ruin her life, education and future potential because she made a mistake or accidentally became pregnant. NO.
If someone wants to adopt the world is full of needy babies and children. Take care of them before you start worrying about the ones that might have been.

Answer 7

No, I think it's more selfish to have a child you don't want and neglect it. I hear so many stories about women who neglect or abuse their children because they are on drugs and only care about themselves and support themselves with welfare.

Why put a child through all that? If you plan to do that ****, get an abortion or your tubes tied.

Not to mention that neglected child will most likely end up in foster care, or special childcare or mentoring service :(

Answer 8

Seriously though, I will never need an abortion, so I can't decide... but hey,. if a woman can opt out of raising a child for economic reasons, why can't a guy be afforded the same reproductive right of refusal? Not forcing the woman to abort, but absolving himself of financial responsibility given proper notice?

Answer 9

it seems like the pro life movement only cares about the fetus. its like once the baby is born its forgotten about, and if your mother and father can't provide for the child, i bet people like you are against welfare, huh? or free health care? oh, that's right the mom should carry the baby for 9 months and then give it to someone else? who are you to decide what women do with their wombs? it's a personal choice, just like the fact your mother and father decided not to use a condom that night when they got pregnant with you.

Answer 10

I disagree because remember, we live in a democracy. Therefore this is a free country, and people have the freedoms to choose whether or not they should keep a child. It's not selfish, this is not involving morality, but this is voluntary freedoms. And remember, that child is just a cell, not fully developed yet. Although that statement is controversal, it still isn't full life. Not yet.