Abortion is the calculated, premeditated killing of an innocent. Casualties of war, especially civilian casualties of war, are at worst no different than abortion, and at best accidental and unintended. In most cases, wars are conducted with the intent of minimizing civilian casualties. Abortion is conducted with the explicit intent of killing one's own child.
Again with the black and white. Abortion can also be the calculated, premeditated saving of an innocent mother. It's said that innocent civilian casualties (aka "collateral") are practically unavoidable in war, yet warfare itself is quite calculated and premeditated. This acceptance about war is pretty much the same thing anti-choice people need to apply to abortion rights. It's going to happen, but let's try to minimize it as much as possible.
But again, children are born. When we start issuing social security numbers and certificates of "personhood" to an 8 week old fetus (lets not forget tax deductions for the parents!), do let me know and we can pick this up.
The mother is the citizen here, like it or not. If you choose to see her exercising personal liberty irt her own body as the same thing as a women throwing her 3year old off a bridge, well, go ahead.[/QUOTE]
Expecting someone who objects to murder to adopt the victim or shut up is indeed astonishing.
It's her body at that point, if in the unfortunate position of having an abortion she is a murderer, then it's in the same sense you are a murderer after drawing a map of the Hawaiian Islands on your wife's stomach. The same way Nature is a murderer for around half of fertilized eggs being reabsorbed into the womb or expelled.
No one is saying that disagreement here equals the need to personally get involved and adopt someone, but for the sake of ideological consistency they should be supporting programs that reduce the need for abortions.
Not actively attacking and defunding them!
I seem to recall a number of people having a problem with the imminent murder of Iraqi civilians, and the response from the very pro-invasion Bill O'Reilly and other pundits was just that, "Shut up! (and get out the way)" No adoption involved obviously but I think you get the idea.
I've nothing against helping mothers cope with single-motherhood.
Cool.
Abortion, however, is an unacceptable weapon in that arsenal.
I can respect that even if I don't agree with it. To return to the warfare theme, I liken it to the use of nukes. Definitely not something you ever want to use, but you don't want to be without it if the chips are really down either. Sometimes, they are necessary (hordes of suicidal troops to fight with little hope of them surrendering, pinching off a horrible oil leak like the Russians did, or hell, maybe even *cough* using a low yield variety to take out hard to get at underground fortifications.
No. For those who are raped, I pass no judgment on those who choose to abort.
Then I commend you for that. I know many that don't choose to recognize that distinction. Guess you're not a Catholic?
No. That doesn't mean it's okay to kill someone because it will ease your pain.
Pain? I'm talking about the possible death of the mother. That 9 year old Brazilian girl wasn't given an abortion because they thought it would be painful. Is there such thing as a pain free birth?? Not according to the mothers I know.
Whenever someone is sticking to convictions, the easiest rejoinder is to accuse them of having a black and white view of the issue. No issue of our time is more clear than abortion when it is stripped of all its emotional appeals. It's black and white at its basis. It's only those who wish to obscure that who insist on seeing shades of gray where there exist none.
Disagree completely.
You just submitted an exception regarding rape, doesn't sound like you're sticking to the conviction that abortion is "unacceptable" in a black or white sense at all. Guess I was wrong about you, but that you're wrong about this color scheme too.
I'm all for stripping the emotional appeals out of the debate, you'll notice I wasn't the one to bring "murder" and "innocent" into this.
Forget for a moment the 'black and white' description, you are not addressing the notion that anti-choice advocates think they can dictate what other adults do to their bodies. Stripped of emotional appeals this is an issue of liberty, and you are in the camp that says to others "I don't care if it's your body, my values trump your rights."
Fuck that.