Poll: Abortion.. A right?

Should a woman have the right to choose whether to have an abortion?

  • Yes

    Votes: 301 93.2%

  • No

    Votes: 22 6.8%
  • Total voters
    323
Metatron said:
A right to end a life? That can't possibly be a right.
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It depends on what stage you allow abortions until really before you go down this line - at what point does it go from a potential life to being alive? Is it only when the child is viable without the mothers womb for nurture or is there another cut off point that you'd go with? Or is it a life from the second of conception and the morning after pill is also ending a life?

For what it's worth I'm in the right to choose camp, that's not to say that I will always agree with abortions or why people choose to have them but I have to respect their right to make the choice. There is somewhat of an unfairness potentially in that a father may have to support a child that they did not want but ultimately there are two arguments there - the first and most obvious is that they should have been using protection if they didn't want a child (and if they didn't/couldn't trust their partner should make damn sure they were protected) and secondly the major impact here will almost always be on the mother as she has to carry the child to term so the choice must ultimately rest with her.
 
Deep said:
After reading that thread on here and also watching an episode of West Wing about it I'd thought I'd ask peoples opinions.

Should a woman have the right to choose if she can get an abortion or should they not be allowed?

(a poll wouldn't go amiss ;) )

I am predicting a landslide victory for the right, which I totally agree with.
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It is entirely the right of the woman to make the decision. It is her body and she ultimately has to decide which outcome is best for her.
 
Should the right to abortion exist? Absolutely.

Should we be aiming for zero abortions actually taking place, yes.

Should there be a better relationship between rights and responsibilities when it comes to the costs and obligations of raising children. Again, yes.
 
Every woman should have a right to choose. HOWEVER, I am totally against the concept myself. I consider it nothing more than murder no matter how 'old' the fetus. What gives us the right to "play God" (I'm not religious, but you get the gist)

That said, I would support any of my friends or anyone else who took the decision to have an abortion. I have in the past done exactly that. This particular friend was aware of my feelings, but I didn't harp on about it. It is/was their decision at the end of the day. My own feelings on it may be strong, but I have no right to force that opinion on others.
 
Deadbeat said:
I also believe that if a woman chooses to forego abortion in unplanned cases against the father's wishes, she should also surrender any entitlement to child support.
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I would agree with this as long as you could prove that the man took reasonable steps to prove stop any chance of pregnancy.
But I assume that'd be very difficult to prove
 
Its not a right as a right is too much of an overused and over politicised term.

That said if we have to describe these sorts of things as rights then it has to be, way to unfair to impose on everyone the views of some one a topic of this nature (no matter which side is a majority as it would just be tyranny of oppressive laws).
 
TheCenturion said:
Against: It's killing human life.
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No it's not. It's removing the potential for human life.

Objectively speaking, when looking at abortion (especially in the earlier stages of pregnancy) we're only looking at removing a complex collection of cells. There is no individual to speak of, no human being with thoughts, desires, needs or wants. There is no life to kill, only potential. During the later stages of pregnancy however, this line may begin to become blurred, especially when we start to anthropomorphise the embryo/featus. Indeed, the further into gestation we venture, the less it begins to be anything more than potential and actually becomes an actual organism with needs.

I firmly believe that people should have a choice and that abortion is a morally acceptable procedure. However, I do also firmly believe that in many cases, the mothers-to-be in question should not be trusted or indeed, deserve such a choice to be made, nor should they have been breeding in the first place.
 
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[FnG]magnolia;17820319 said:
Woah, I thought it was universally men who were in the "no, it's murder" camp.

e : in response to poster 25 who is, I think, female.
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Yes, I'm female :)

Interesting you should say that because I know quite a few women who have exactly the same view as me.

Also, before anyone asks - I have often wondered what I would do if ever I ended up pregnant due to rape (generally, I wonder this whenever a topic like this one occurs on a forum!). Well - obviously it's hard to say how I would feel in that situation (here's hoping it never actually happens). But I like to think I'd stick by my morals on this and allow the pregnancy to progress naturally. It is not the child's fault that it's Father was a monster and there is nothing to say it'll turn out the same way.. nature/nurture.

My maternal instincts tell me that I would hopefully feel all the normal emotions for the child even considering it's conception.

In reality though - who knows... I still like to think that even if I couldn't bring myself to love the child, I would still carry it to term and perhaps allow it to have it's chance at life through adoption perhaps if I REALLY couldn't face bringing it up.

ETA - anyone who's ever seen a 12 week scan (and especially a 20 week scan) of an unborn baby would find it hard I think to suggest that what they're seeing is not a person in their own right. The detail you can see even at 12 weeks just boggles the mind. How can that not be a life when you can see/hear a heartbeat, see the limbs moving about, make out the eyes, the spine etc?
 
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Of course they should have the right. The most unfortunate example of when abortion may be almost a necessity is in cases of rape whereby of course the women should not be expected to have the child.
 
LawfordLass said:
Yes, I'm female :)

Interesting you should say that because I know quite a few women who have exactly the same view as me.

Also, before anyone asks - I have often wondered what I would do if ever I ended up pregnant due to rape (generally, I wonder this whenever a topic like this one occurs on a forum!). Well - obviously it's hard to say how I would feel in that situation (here's hoping it never actually happens). But I like to think I'd stick by my morals on this and allow the pregnancy to progress naturally. It is not the child's fault that it's Father was a monster and there is nothing to say it'll turn out the same way.. nature/nurture.

My maternal instincts tell me that I would hopefully feel all the normal emotions for the child even considering it's conception.

In reality though - who knows... I still like to think that even if I couldn't bring myself to love the child, I would still carry it to term and perhaps allow it to have it's chance at life through adoption perhaps if I REALLY couldn't face bringing it up.
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This is why the woman involved should always be the one who makes the choice.
 
Dolph said:
Should the right to abortion exist? Absolutely.

Should we be aiming for zero abortions actually taking place, yes.

Should there be a better relationship between rights and responsibilities when it comes to the costs and obligations of raising children. Again, yes.
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A coherent sex education policy would help the latter.
 
LawfordLass said:
Yes, I'm female :)

Interesting you should say that because I know quite a few women who have exactly the same view as me.

Also, before anyone asks - I have often wondered what I would do if ever I ended up pregnant due to rape (generally, I wonder this whenever a topic like this one occurs on a forum!). Well - obviously it's hard to say how I would feel in that situation (here's hoping it never actually happens). But I like to think I'd stick by my morals on this and allow the pregnancy to progress naturally. It is not the child's fault that it's Father was a monster and there is nothing to say it'll turn out the same way.. nature/nurture.

My maternal instincts tell me that I would hopefully feel all the normal emotions for the child even considering it's conception.

In reality though - who knows... I still like to think that even if I couldn't bring myself to love the child, I would still carry it to term and perhaps allow it to have it's chance at life through adoption perhaps if I REALLY couldn't face bringing it up.
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This is astonishing but it is (or would be) your choice if something this awful ever were to happen.
 
For.

But it must be horrible to be the father of a wanted pregnancy and something to happen in the relationship and the woman decide to abort :(
 
[FnG]magnolia;17820416 said:
This is astonishing but it is (or would be) your choice if something this awful ever were to happen.
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Without sounding condescending (and whilst making the assumption that you are, in fact, male). It is something that is very hard to fathom if you're not female yourself.

The hormones and maternal instinct is very very strong in most women (at least as far as I believe) and it's really hard to put that into words to describe it accurately.

Maybe I am an oddity in the female world (and perhaps some of the other ladies on the forum may be able to confirm/deny this) but personally I know that my maternal instincts are so strong that I could do as I've suggested above. I wouldn't find it easy - not by a long shot, but I would do it if I had to.
 
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