Abortion: Would you let your wife/girlfriend have one?

[Revhard]

I was just wondering what everyone's insight on this particualr issue is. You never know when you might be caught up in a situation where you have to make a choice whether or not to let her have one.

[GOD]

I would say that I'm against it but I really dont know if it were to be me if i would do the opposite . I think I would be scared as F$%@# and me not being financially ready or mature enought to take care of another human being like that ....I really don't exactly know what I would do I can say that there have been close calls and things if shit did hit the ceiling fan I dunno what I would do but to suck it up and take responsibility for my actions . I'm thinkin thats what I would do b/c I sure as hell wouldn't want to have any part in taking anyones life away . B/c I am NOT GOD ....except on AF but I will not play God with anyones life !

[taranaki]

Originally posted by Revhard
I was just wondering what everyone's insight on this particualr issue is. You never know when you might be caught up in a situation where you have to make a choice whether or not to let her have one.

No disrespect,but I really don't think it's a matter of "letting" or 'not letting'.Like it or not, if you are facing this situation as a male, you have very litte say in the matter.Personally,I believe that if you don't want to have children,you can and should take any number of measures to avoid pregnancy in the first place.In the unlikely case that your protection fails you,and you do end up fathering a child the current trend in law accross many countries is that not only will the mother have full and final rights to the future of the child,you as the father will almost certainly end up paying child support if the child is born,regardless of wether or not you ever wanted to be a parent.The balance of power in law has swung very definitely in favour of women in recent years.Thesedays there are sound financial reasons to behave in a responsible manner.

But it's still o.k. to....you know..

[YogsVR4]

I think this should be on the philosophy forum - however

I do think that as men, we need to step up to the plate and have a lot to say about the situation. Saying, its all up to the woman is a major mistake. It took two to do the deed so you both are responsible for the repercussions. It doesn’t matter at this point what side of the abortion debate you stand. Its important that an abortion takes place because a woman feels abandoned by the man. I believe it’s in a woman’s nature to want to have the child, even if its given up for adoption. Using abortion as a means of birth control is both dangerous and emotionally draining. Guys need to take responsibility for what they have done.

If the decision is only up to the woman, then should they be the only ones financially responsible for the baby? The courts say otherwise, so the man should be involved with the decision making process. Clearly he cant demand the woman get an abortion against her will, but he can sure make sure that he’s their for the new life they created.

[whttrshpunk]

If the baby was mine, which is very unlike since I'm celibate , I would certainly say no. (I've had this conversation before with an ex...friend of mine. )If I was irresponsible enough to father a child, then I should have to deal with it. But then she asked me, "what if I was raped, would you still want me to have the baby?". Ouch. I didn't know what to say at first, but I finally came to a conclusion. It's my personal belief that anytime any human being takes the like of any other human being, it's a very bad thing. If it's self defense, or in times of war, it's understandable but it's still bad. So I am against abortion, at all times. I was also asked(by a different person) "what if a girl was raped, and having the baby would probably kill her? What then?" That's an even more difficult situation, but I still don't think it would be right for the mother to take the baby's life, even to save her own(and no that doesn't qualify as self defense). Anyhow, on a final note I don't think using birth control qualifies you as being responsible in respect to pregnancy, if you know you aren't ready for a child, or you wouldn't want a child with the intended partner, KEEP YOUR PANTS ON. Ok, I'm done.

[GSr32]

Well, some people say that your killing someone. Abortion is too early to say that, the child hasn't even been born, you haven't yet given life.

If someone doesn't want to have a child, and maybe it was an accident that the pregnancy occured, then I don't see why an abortion is bad. It's better that you do something about it now, before the child is born and the parents can't take care of it.

This subject is a bit like euthanasia, which I am totally all for. I think it is cruel to keep someone alive that is suffering. If the person wants to die, then put them to rest.

[YogsVR4]

Originally posted by GSr32
Well, some people say that your killing someone. Abortion is too early to say that, the child hasn't even been born, you haven't yet given life.

If someone doesn't want to have a child, and maybe it was an accident that the pregnancy occured, then I don't see why an abortion is bad. It's better that you do something about it now, before the child is born and the parents can't take care of it.

Understand that the people who believe abortion is killing a life truely believe that the life of the baby is sacred. Other classes of humans have been considered less then people, Jews to the Nazis, slaves of all creeds (which still goes on today), Chinese and Koreans to Imperialistic Japan, Christians to the Romans and the list goes on and on. Any rational person would agree that fighting and spilling blood was necessary to halt these travesties. Those who believe that an unborn fetus is a person is waging a war to save lives.

You’ll hear abortion supports claim that the right to life people are trying to control a woman’s body. Perhaps some of them are, however, the right to life people are trying to save what they consider to be the life of a child. The supporters of either side will try and frame the arguments in the best way to demonize the other side. Pro Choice. Of course everyone supports having a choice. But, there are already restrictions on choice. You cant go down the street and chose to kill someone without repercussions. Pro Life. Of course everyone supports life. Only a mentally ill person (terminal, elderly, the stupid and lazy) doesn’t want to live any more.

Since nobody knows when sentience occurs or when the fetus gets it soul (assuming you believe in one) is impossible to tell, nobody can say for certainty if they are not killing when they are performing an abortion.

I frown on abortion, I think its wrong. I believe that conception is the starting point of life. I have no problem with birth control that prevents conception (been using it for fifteen years so I gotta be comfortable with it now), but slicing up a fetus and sucking it out with a vacuum hose is not the way to go. I am a strong advocate of personal responsibility. If you take the chance, you have to live with the outcome. Our society is always looking for a scapegoat and in this case, it’s an unborn fetus who has no way to defend itself.

I understand there are circumstances like rape and the life of the mother being in danger, and those are moral dilemmas that have to be dealt with (on a later thread).

As to the specific quote to "do something about it now, before the child is born and the parents can't take care of it" is shortsighted. You're suggesting that action be taken because of possible future events. Then I guess we should consider killing every Palastinian male under the age of 10 because they could grow up to be a suicide bomber. Obvously that logic is flawed.

[SickLude]

Originally posted by YogsVR4



I frown on abortion, I think its wrong. I believe that conception is the starting point of life. slicing up a fetus and sucking it out with a vacuum hose is not the way to go. I am a strong advocate of personal responsibility. If you take the chance, you have to live with the outcome. Our society is always looking for a scapegoat and in this case, it’s an unborn fetus who has no way to defend itself.

agreed. people use abortion as an excuse because they could not take the responsibility for their actions. there are other circumstances however, such as rape and everything, but thats for another topic. but there is one situation i think it would be ok to have an abortion....when a child is raped. 11, 12, younger. and that child is now pregnant, she will die because she dosent have the physical ability to give birth. this is all so sad. 50 years ago, this wasnt even known. 20 years ago, it wasnt talked about. now, its considered mainstream. its sad really.

[taranaki]

I'm surprised and delighted that this thread hasn't turned into a shouting match with people simply digging their toes in without explaining their reasoning.Abortion is a major ideological issue that requires a lot of thought before any medical procedure is performed.Unfortunately,the worst possible time to try and figure out your options is after you have discovered that you need to make a decision urgently.

Ifeel that sex and parenting is one of most important issues facing today's teenagers and the obstructive attitude by some people towards giving young people access to sex education is not helping.There are too many downsides to sexual ignorance,teenagers should be encouraged to avoid the propaganda,seek out the facts and take the neccesary steps to avoid being placed in a situation that is often beyond their control.

[LjasonL]

Originally posted by GSr32
Well, some people say that your killing someone. Abortion is too early to say that, the child hasn't even been born, you haven't yet given life.

technically, the unborn child, from the minute of conception, is made of living cells, even if it is just one living cell. so yes, the unborn child is alive, and abortion is killing it.

[GSr32]

killing living cells is about as far as it goes, not a life.

p.s I was going to ramble on about other ways we kill living cells, but who cares.

[JD@af]

This is a quasi-repeat thread for this forum. Here is the first one: Abortion.

As for letting my wife/girlfriend have one... if it were to happen tomorrow, I would have to say yes, I would let her if she wanted to. If she didn't... I would probably then push her to do so There are some things I would rather not have sprung on me, so given the option to do something about it, I believe I would (I just hope that I am never faced with that decision, and that if pregnancy does rear its head in my life, I am ready for it).

Originally posted by Revhard
I was just wondering what everyone's insight on this particualr issue is. You never know when you might be caught up in a situation where you have to make a choice whether or not to let her have one.

Man, I am not going to touch this one. I can only imagine how many far right wing conservatives rumage these boards. I don't want some Pat Buchanan type e-mails sent to me over some opinion on AF.

[YogsVR4]

Originally posted by Sham365


Man, I am not going to touch this one. I can only imagine how many far right wing conservatives rumage these boards. I don't want some Pat Buchanan type e-mails sent to me over some opinion on AF.

Thats ok. However, send in a conservative if you find some. It might offset some of the liberal leaning folks out there.

[Jay!]

Originally posted by YogsVR4
You’ll hear abortion supports claim that the right to life people are trying to control a woman’s body. Perhaps some of them are, however, the right to life people are trying to save what they consider to be the life of a child. The supporters of either side will try and frame the arguments in the best way to demonize the other side. Pro Choice. Of course everyone supports having a choice. But, there are already restrictions on choice. You cant go down the street and chose to kill someone without repercussions. Pro Life. Of course everyone supports life. Only a mentally ill person (terminal, elderly, the stupid and lazy) doesn’t want to live any more.

In my own mind, I call them Anti-Choice and Anti-Life avocates.