Abortion from a Atheist viewpoint

Hivemind187

I am against abortion entirely

I've made my feelings about the subject of abortion very clear in the past (much to the apparent dislike of many folks here) so I wont go into that again.

I would question why this is a valid question in the first place though (no offense intended to the OP) since I have ever understood why abortion is most often considered a theological question (or at least one with a heavy weight of theology). As an atheist I have bugger all opinion other than it not being a theological question.

As a libertarian (politics) and human being my opinions are rather strongly in favor of pro-choice.

limerick_woody

I am against abortion entirely

I would agree that there are not enough options. I voted pro-choice but that doesn't really cover it.

I think that abortion if justified for rape in all cases.

I would also contend that if the medical opinion is that the pregnancy, taken to full term would result in no quality of life for the baby - abortion is also justified.

I also feel that if the mother doesn't feel capable of rearing a child, perhaps because she is still a child herself, or feels she could offer no quality of life for the child, there is also a case to be made.

I wouldn't like to see 'abortion on demand', and i would like to see all abortions carried out as early as possible.

JimiTime

May i ask to anyone who only agree's with abortion for rape cases, or if the mother is deemed too young etc. Why is it wrong apart from these cases? Not looking to argue btw, just curious.

Orion

Tim Robbins wrote: »

I am mainly against the concept of abortion. The problem with "pro-choice" is you never specified the choices. It's quite a complex issue so there would be quite a range of potential choices.

Agreed. It's a much more complicated issue that allowed in the poll.

I wouldn't necessarily be in favour of abortion nor against it - but undecided doesn't suit me either. As Tar said - in life threatening cases the arguments for me would be in favour of saving the life of the mother - that's not catered for in the choiced. Similarly in rape cases or rape+incest cases there are just too many variables to consider.

MrPudding

I am against abortion entirely

I am pro choice, for reasons other posters have already mentioned. Mostly as I believe the rights of the woman supersede those of the embryo growing inside her. I would say , though, that I am not particularly pro abortion. I believe in a woman’s right to have one, but I would prefer if they were not needed.

I have to say though, I do have a problem with late term abortions, past the point where the foetus would be viable should it be delivered. So, my views could be summed up as follows. I believe a woman should have freedom to have an abortion for whatever reason up to the point where the foetus is viable on it own or with medical assistance. I may not necessarily agree with the woman’s reason for having it, but I believe she should have that right. I won’t get caught up in the rights of the embryo or foetus because as far as I am concerned the rights of the woman are greater. So that is nice and simple for me. For late term abortions my personal opinion is they should only be available in cases where there is a risk to the mother (be it physical or mental) or the quality of life of the child is questionable.

MrP

pH

I am against abortion entirely

MrPudding wrote: »

I am pro choice, for reasons other posters have already mentioned. Mostly as I believe the rights of the woman supersede those of the embryo growing inside her. I would say , though, that I am not particularly pro abortion. I believe in a woman’s right to have one, but I would prefer if they were not needed.

That I agree with, the "prefer they were not needed" bit in particular. Where medical problems exist or in case or a forced or non-consensual pregnancy (rape and child abuse primarily) I am in favour of abortion. As a means of dealing with unwanted pregnancies I'm not so sure. Clearly there's not real problem aborting a cell that fused with a sperm 10 minutes ago, and also clearly no one is in favour of allowing parents kill their children post-birth (though the act of birth is not that relevant in terms of development) Therefore it's the perennial problem of looking at this continuous process of embryo development and drawing a line through it somewhere.

What really cheeses me off is a substantial number of religiously motivated people being both anti-abortion and anti-contraception (see Ireland up to 1985). Hopefully through contraception and education we could get to the stage where women don't get pregnant when they don't want to and therefore we only need abortion for the medical/criminal cases above.

herya

I am against abortion entirely

I voted pro-choice, but I am against late term abortions. I think that the date limit for possible abortion should be set somewhere between the moment the nervous system is developed and the brain is developed, this one is for the scientists to decide. There should still be plenty of time for the rape/incest victims to make their decisions and act, as a woman I don't think you need months and months to do that.

Malari

I am against abortion entirely

I'm pro-choice. And I think that is a better description than pro-abortion - the woman who is pregnant should have the free choice. Anti-abortionists don't call themselves "anti-choice" because of the obvious negative connotations!

Despite the fact that I would have an abortion in the morning if I found out I was pregnant today, I can't say it would be easy, a carefree decision or something that wouldn't be a cause of emotional strain for the rest of my life.

DinoBot

I am against abortion entirely

Galvasean wrote: »

Hmmm, it would seem the poll is not public. I could have sworn the box was ticked...

As I voted that I will only condone abortion after rape has occurred (assuming this can be proven too, so people don't yell rape every time they were careless win the bedroom) I should explain my position. If a woman has had to go through the trauma of being raped one can only imagine the stress of pregnancy would be detrimental to her mental health. Also, giving birth to the offspring of one's rapist would, I can only imagine, be very traumatic.

Hope this helps. If anyone wants me to elaborate please don't hesitate to ask.

Hi,
So you are pro-choice because "the stress of pregnancy would be detrimental to her mental health" in the case of a rape victim.

So, if a woman was not raped but the stress of pregnancy would be detrimental to her mental health, would you be pro-choice for her then ?

Dades

DinoBot wrote: »

So, if a woman was not raped but the stress of pregnancy would be detrimental to her mental health, would you be pro-choice for her then ?

Just playing Devil's Advocate here, but wasn't there already a choice in that situation?

all the stars

im pro choice.
Abortion wouldn't be my choice, but i do believe it should be a choice for others.

Malari

I am against abortion entirely

Dades wrote: »

Just playing Devil's Advocate here, but wasn't there already a choice in that situation?

I know you're playing devil's advocate, but if you think all pregnant women choose to be that way, you're being a little naive.

All methods of contraception can fail, no matter how careful you are.

DinoBot

I am against abortion entirely

Dades wrote: »

Just playing Devil's Advocate here, but wasn't there already a choice in that situation?

I dont think so.

He (or she, not sure, sorry) did give his reason for allowing abortion was due to the mental health of the woman and not actually because of the rape act itself. So, by that logic, anything which effects the mental health to that extent should come under the same conditions to allow abortion.

Dades

Malari wrote: »

If you think all pregnant women choose to be that way, you're being a little naive.

Never suggested that!

Malari

I am against abortion entirely

Dades wrote: »

Never suggested that!

OK So what was the "choice" that you refer to?

DinoBot

I am against abortion entirely

raah! wrote: »

Unfortunatly when dealing with laws, we cannot take these things into account. If you murdered hitler you woudl still be sent to jail for murder, and since we are talking about making it legal/illegal that is really all that should matter

So if a soldier had shot and killed hitler during the war would he have been put on trial for murder ?
Is killing illegal during war ?

CerebralCortex

Reductio ad Hitlerum

Tim Robbins

Undecided

Hivemind187 wrote: »

As a libertarian (politics) and human being my opinions are rather strongly in favor of pro-choice.

This is a silly argument. Surely if you give the choice to the baby they'd want to live and by enforcing death on them you are taking choice away from them.

Dave!

I am against abortion entirely

I am teh pro-choice.

Dades

Malari wrote: »

OK So what was the "choice" that you refer to?

To engage in something that may result in pregnancy!

Malari

I am against abortion entirely

Dades wrote: »

To engage in something that may result in pregnancy!

I was afraid you'd say that. Of course abstinence is the surest way to remain baby-free. I think by discussing abortion we are beyond that point?? I think you meant god's advocate, rather than devil's

Delirium

I am against abortion entirely

I would be pro-choice. As a guy I don't think its my place to tell a woman what to do with her body. That said if I found out I got someone pregnant, abortion wouldn't be my first suggestion.

DinoBot

I am against abortion entirely

Dades wrote: »

To engage in something that may result in pregnancy!

So will you be hoping the government take away cancer health care to people who smoked as well ? How about car crash victims, their fault for driving, let them die !

Man, I haven't seen an answer like that since primary school !!

CerebralCortex

I'm probably pro choice, I think its important to be allowed to decide when it comes to things like severe disability. Saying that I know so little on how easy it is to find that out in the womb that I couldn't really comment on when abortion is ok. Certainly I think if a woman feels like she has to destroy that which is growing inside her then society has really failed to help her but hey whats new?

Dades

Malari wrote: »

I think you meant god's advocate, rather than devil's

hehehe.

I think my main sticking point with abortion is not the termination itself, but with potential change in people's behaviors knowing it is available to them. My faith in the teenage pregnancy risk bracket to maintain all precautions is limited.

So although I feel it should be an option, it pains me to think of how casually it might be taken.

CerebralCortex

DinoBot wrote: »

So will you be hoping the government take away cancer health care to people who smoked as well ? How about car crash victims, their fault for driving, let them die !

Man, I haven't seen an answer like that since primary school !!

see post 56.

DinoBot

I am against abortion entirely

CerebralCortex wrote: »

see post 56.

Eh ? Nothing to do with my answer to Dades . Please re-read.

"To engage in something that may result in pregnancy!"

To engage in something which may result in cancer,..................... penny drop ??

CerebralCortex

DinoBot wrote: »

Eh ? Nothing to do with my answer to Dades . Please re-read.

"To engage in something that may result in pregnancy!"

To engage in something which may result in cancer,..................... penny drop ??

I think he was referring to the point that it shouldn't be seen as a safety net for those that are irresponsible with their sexual endeavors.

kmick

I am against abortion except for in cases of rape

I voted anti-abortion. However life is not black and white so I wont judge anyone else. All I know is I would never ask a partner of mine to have one.

At 24 weeks which is the limit of UK abortion the baby can recognise its mothers voice and feel pain. That to me is very sad.

DinoBot

I am against abortion entirely

CerebralCortex wrote: »

I think he was referring to the point that it shouldn't be seen as a safety net for those that are irresponsible with their sexual endeavors.

I know, thats why I asked if cancer care should be also taken from people who smoked and use it as a safety net for their irresponsible behavior.