I imagine I will not understand your position but I will try as I am interested. How is having an abortion not "tak(ing) responsibility for their actions"?
You say that a woman should have a "bloody good reason" for having an abortion. Why isn't the desire not to have children a good enough reason? Who gets to decide what is or isn't a good enough reason?
Are you really concerned about taking up a doctors time? Every abortion provider I have met (only a handful) worked in that field because of a strong emotional desire to provide that service. They didn't feel patients were taking up their time.
Contraceptives have a pretty high failure rate so using them is hardly a guarantee a woman will avoid pregnancy. What constitutes "reasonable" precaution and who gets to make that decision? Men? Women? Doctors?
How is having an abortion not "tak(ing) life seriously"? The women I know who have had abortions take life very seriously. It is not a cavalier decision to have or not have a child. Choosing to abort is not something they did on a whim. They weighed their options and made a decision. It is serious but so is the decision to buy a house. Why the moral judgement about abortion and not house buying?
Is it all about control? Women who cannot control their desire to have sex in a manner others deem responsible should be forced to procreate against their will or be stigmatized because they fail to live up to someone else's ideas about responsible behavior?
Women have been aborting as long as we have been human. It is now safer than it has ever been at any time in our history. Why fuck that up by attaching a bunch of moral baggage to the decision?
You say that "women (who) come to abortion through circumstances they had little or no control over certainly deserve no stigmatization." This implies that women who have control over some unnamed circumstances deserve stigmatization doesn't it?
You say that "There are many legitimate reasons for abortion in society today." This implies that some reasons are illegitimate? How can a consenting adult making a decision to terminate a pregnancy ever not be legitimate?
The desire for sex, to feel that orgasm, is extremely powerful. Because a woman becomes pregnant by following through with that desire why does it follow that she must complete that pregnancy? Why be forced to care for a child for the next 18 years because of that one moment? Certainly some actions have long reaching consequences but since we have a reasonably safe medical alternative to avoid unwanted motherhood why should any woman forego that option because some people have attached some moral baggage to it?
How can having an unwanted child somehow be a "better" option than terminating a pregnancy? Is the planet short of people?
My life partner had an abortion (I did ask her if she minded my posting this and she had no objection) and neither of us believes that it was irresponsible. The use or non-use of contraceptives did not even come into the decision making process when deciding whether or not to abort. Why on earth should it have? We discussed the situation and she decided that bringing a child into the world at that time was not something she wanted to do. I didn't either but really that carried very little weight. It mattered some, but very little. We behaved as reasonably and responsibly as any humans can. How do you come to the conclusion that somehow having that child would have resulted in a greater positive than aborting? How is having a child you do not want or do not feel that you can properly care for "better" than ending the pregnancy? How is not wanting a child selfish? I have very little faith that the next 75 years are going to be pleasant. Bringing a child into this world to face the problems I believe humanity will be struggling with in the near future is unconscionable to me.
I am really interested in how one comes to the conclusions you seem to have. I have wracked my brain to understand this issue from another perspective and the only thing I come up with that makes any sense to me is that many people do not understand fetal development and somehow believe that immediately after implantation in the uterus a human embryo becomes sentient. If this is not the case why would anyone get so worked up about it? Only by mistakenly equating abortion with murder would one come to oppose abortion. At least it seems so to me. I know that this is a divisive issue that obviously will not be eliminated on LBO-talk but I am curious about the mind-set that believes potential humans carry greater moral weight than actually living humans or that women should be made to suffer the consequences for engaging in behavior that is perfectly consistent with normal healthy humans. You make sexual gratification sound like something that should be punished or avoided. Some sort of "you had your fun but now you have to pay" patriarchal attitude. If you could explain it in a way that makes sense to me I would be interested in hearing it.
John Thornton
>I would agree some women come to abortion through circumstances they had
>little or no control over and certainly deserve no stigmatisation. There
>are many legitimate reasons for abortion in society today, my complaint in
>this case is "I, too, had an abortion -- simply because I did not want a
>child."
>So because Yoshie wants sexual gratification, wants to feel that
>ejaculation, exalt in that orgasm and she just doesn't give a shit about
>contraception. Why the hell should she, she can get an abortion.
>Never mind that now she is taking up the time of a surgeon, aneasthetist
>and perhaps a couple of nurses because contraception just isn't the thing,
>takes away from the moment. Let's all do it, fuck away to our hearts
>content and open abortion clinics on every corner. Contraception ? Nah,
>just pop round the clinic, it's outpatient service, they're really quick
>now. Another money maker for consumer society.
>Take life seriously ? No way, it's in the constitution ' pursuit of
>happiness'.
>We demand people take responsibility for their actions, oh, except for sex.
>I think there should be a bloody good reason for abortion.
>
>Gary?
>ride si sapis