What's your stance on abortion?

You'll recall I did this last year. Just looking for some insight from smart, informed people. Vote, and, if you wish, explain why/argue your position.

Since we're all adults, we'll keep it civil. It was last time and will be again.

 

You need to have a pretty good stance if you're going to reach all the way in and grab that sucker.

 

This will not end well.

 

I support legal abortion.

I prefer that no one I care about ever has one - heck, I prefer that no one ever finds an abortion necessary in their lives - but I think it should be kept legal, and as safe as it can be. Just like asking for abstinence among young people is naive, it is foolhardy to think there will never be couples (and/or single women put in a bad situation) for whom an abortion is the best option.

 

Sigh, I'll bite.

I went with choice number one.

Personally, I could never do it but it's none of my business if someone else wants to do it.

 

My personal belief, and I'm being serious although I imagine I'll take flak for it, is that men ought to not be involved in the politics or debate about this issue.

It reminds me of a joke. A chicken and a pig are talking in the barnyard. Chicken says, "I think we ought to do something to help feed the poor." Pig says, "What do you have in mind." Chicken says, "We could feed them ham and eggs." Pig says, "I think that's an easier decision for you than it is for me."

Since I don't believe men ought to be involved in this issue, I don't believe legislators or courts ought to be involved, either.

 

I'm against them. I think it's the wrong choice and they should be put up for adoption instead.

But...I don't think it should be illegal for some of the reasons Piotr mentioned. Plus, I think there is serious debate as to when life really begins. Without starting a link-to-this-story war, there's eveidence both ways.

 

On an individual, case-by-case basis, I believe the father should have some say on the matter. But the woman should make the ultimate decision.

The Future Mrs. Omar and I discussed our feelings on this issue even before our relationship became serious. We both agreed that abortion was not right for us personally. However, I think it is wrong to deny those rights to others.

 

I voted against unless in extreme or life-threatening cases. To me, those exceptions include or should include cases of rape or incest. No mother should have to go through that. No child should have to grow up with the stigma of being born out of those circumstances.

Frankly, I'm ambivalent about the issue. I hate abortion, especially if adoption is a legitimate alternative, but I also don't think it's the government's place to tell a family what to do unless a baby can survive outside the womb. Once it can, I think it's murder. I also believe the father should have some say. After all, it takes two to tango and it's his kid too. A woman didn't become pregnant by osmosis.

No matter how you look at it, abortion is a very difficult decision that I don't wish on anybody. I can't imagine living with regret if you decide to abort and then you go on wishing you'd brought the child to term. It would tear me up and I wouldn't be the one carrying the child.

 

On the national debate-level, that's my stance as well.

Like Omar, my wife and I talked about years ago when were dating. While we support a woman's right to choose, we agreed it's not for us.

 

I am morally against abortion, but that's only part of why I think it should be illegal.

I believe life begins at conception, and my M.O. on most things governing social behavior is that anything is cool so long as it doesn't interfere with the life of another person. Gay rights for example. I'm all for it, but even if I were against it, how does it affect how I live my life? Same goes for legalization of drugs, basically anything that is governed in the privacy of one's home, I object to. It's also why I don't have a problem with smoking laws, per se, because someone's smoke affects how those who don't smoke live their lives.

Abortion is different. The choice to have an abortion not only affects the life of the child, but ends it. I can't abide by that, I don't care how far along the fetus has developed, it WILL eventually constitute a life. I don't think it's a choice that should be on the table when a life is in the balance. I do believe it should be allowed if the life of the mother is in danger.

I am liberal, sometimes extremely so, in every other way, and like a lot of people, I'd parse it in the past by saying my moral objection to abortion shouldn't influence the way it is governed. But that's just not good enough when there's a life at stake. Frankly, I felt like a chicken shit for hanging on to relativism for the sake of remaining consistently liberal, etc.

And I felt that way before I lost two unborn children a couple of years ago. I began to consolidate my opinion on abortion in the late 90s and it was cemented when I heard the heartbeats of my two healthy children in their first month or two in the womb. To me, it's about morality, but it's also about the rights of the unborn child.

 

I think birth control should be free.